City Of Cortland 2008 Cover Up--Mayor Stages Bogus FBI Investigation (Part Two)

     I was an alderperson and my intention at the time was to have a fuel usage policy in place. I never expected such a big deal over a few questions. Andy finally agreed to a new policy for gas usage when I began to question why the wastewater treatment plant personnel used credit cards without any documentation at Sunoco stations in the city and Polkville. All other departments used the county highway garage for fueling.
     After reviewing the Sunoco receipts, it's my guess that Andy fueled his personal vehicle, as there were many receipts from the Syracuse area where Andy lived.
     This is now PAST practice. ALL fuel is now purchased at the county highway garage since Bruce Adams took over at the wastewater treatment plant. The employee stopped fueling his personal vehicle as soon as I became mayor and now gets reimbursed for work-related mileage.
     David Hicks, Don Chambers and John McNerney all said initially that they couldn't talk to me because Mayor Gallagher told them there was an FBI investigation.
     I have documented the stages of the 2008 incident. On July 15, there was a discussion regarding the need for a vehicle gas use policy for city employees. On July 16, there was an article and an editorial in the Cortland Standard about the discussion. Three pages of meeting minutes and the Cortland Standard items appear below. (Click on pages to enlarge.)

Mayor Susan Feiszli

     On July 17, 2008, I emailed Andy Damiano, Director of Administration and Finance, and told him a county employee saw a city employee fuel up his private vehicle at the county garage. I asked if there was a special agreement with the city employee, and Andy responded: "No--absolutely not!"  Then he sent my email to the police chief, who contacted Investigator Paul Sandy. Investigator Sandy contacted me via email asking me to phone him.
     On July 21, I phoned the mayor who said the city employee had an agreement with a former department head to fuel his private vehicle. I also spoke with county Fleet Supervisor Dave Hicks, who confirmed that the city department head had been fueling up his personal vehicles since he was employed in this position in 2001. I emailed Andy Damiano and asked why he hadn't told me about the department head (John McNerney) having this special permission. Andy sent me a separate email stating that he sent my email to the police chief because he didn't want me to try to "hang" him.
     On July 23, I asked for and received from Andy Damiano a copy of a memo giving authorization to fuel the department head's private vehicle at city expense.
     On July 24, I phoned the county garage to request a copy of last month's fuel bill to the city by department. I was told by Dave Hicks that Mayor Gallagher had called his supervisor Don Chambers, who said that any information that I asked for should be sent to the mayor's office first. He was told by the mayor that the city was under investigation by the FBI in connection with fuel usage by city employees.
     On July 28, I requested from Andy Damiano a copy of this county bill.
I also spoke with Don Chambers who is head of the County Highway Department. Don confirmed that Mayor Gallagher had phoned him. Don Chambers suggested any information that I requested should be obtained through the county administrator. Don said the mayor had told him the city was under investigation by the FBI.
     On July 29, I phoned NYCOM and spoke to Richard Sinnot. I asked if it was required that city employees keep logs/records of personal vs. business use of vehicles and fuel. He said they must keep records.

Mayor Susan Feiszli
City of Cortland