The mishandling of the firing and rehiring of Lawrence Building Inspector Greg Arvanitis has gone from bad to worse.
Arvanitis was fired in February for lying about an inspection and falsifying a report. But outgoing Mayor Michael Sullivan rehired him in October.
Arvanitis had appealed his termination, and Sullivan said the city's lawyers told him the city would not be able to defeat the appeal.
The attorneys said the opposite. City Attorney Charles Boddy said in a memo that none of the city's lawyers had recommended that the city settle with Arvanitis or prepared the settlement agreement, because they believed they could have successfully defended the firing.
He said Sullivan had decided on his own to rehire Arvanitis, and give him back pay. Who is responsible for rehiring Arvanitis is still in dispute. And the entire matter is far from settled, thanks to yet another political fiasco.
Five weeks after he returned to work, Arvanitis has not yet received a paycheck. That, according to Sullivan, is because a building inspector with less seniority has to be laid off in order for there to be money to pay Arvanitis.
That junior inspector is Peter Blanchette, brother of City Council President Patrick Blanchette. Sullivan contends it is "political fear" that is keeping Blanchette on the job, and complained that department heads should handle such things, when the policy on bumping rights is clear.
Myles Burke, Inspectional Services director, who oversees the Building Department, said he would need another $40,000 to carry a third building inspector instead of two.
This is a travesty.
The city has a budget gap of $9.5 million, according to the state. It obviously can't afford $40,000 to increase the building inspector staff by 50 percent. Yet the city has been carrying two employees for one job for five weeks.
It is yet another example of city leaders who either won't make decisions or won't take responsibility for the ones they do make. Arvanitis should not have been rehired. But he was. So he must be paid for working. The city will face yet another lawsuit, and spend yet more money it doesn't have, if it doesn't resolve this mess quickly.
