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[In the News] Paladino update
Posted By: John Rodriguez
Date: Thursday, 14 December 2006, at 9:16 a.m.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
By ERIC HSU
STAFF WRITERThe Cliffside Park school district superintendent was suspended Wednesday amid a widening investigation into whether he made improper payments to municipal employees and skirted bidding laws in his dealings with a borough restaurant.
Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said his office had launched a probe into the 2,600-student district's finances, in particular $22,000 Superintendent Robert Paladino paid to the Cliffside Park clerk and deputy clerk, and more than $60,000 spent at the Villa Amalfi restaurant.
Questions about the payments were first published by The Record two weeks ago, after the expenditures were flagged during an independent audit of the district's 2005-06 finances. Molinelli said his office began the investigation as a result of the article.
"I'm not classifying anything as criminal, but because of the amount of the payments I felt it warranted our review," Molinelli said.
Board of Education President Martin Murtagh hastily called an emergency closed-door meeting Wednesday evening to discuss his decision to remove Paladino from his post. Murtagh stressed that the board had not drawn conclusions about any impropriety, but said the questions about spending were serious enough to spur the board to act.
"Under these circumstances, until all of this is cleared up, the board feels very strongly we should relieve him of his job," Murtagh said.
Paladino, 58, of Teaneck, is the only senior administrator in the Cliffside district, and holds the positions of superintendent and business administrator. He was appointed to the post of superintendent nearly six years ago. Paladino could not be reached for comment.
The board named Cliffside Park High School Principal Michael Romagnino as acting superintendent. In addition, officials were negotiating an arrangement with the Fairview school district that would allow them to share their business administrator, Murtagh said.
Officials will now focus on tracking a variety of payments made by Paladino from the district's $33 million budget. The audit of the district's finances -- released in late November -- focused on checks Paladino cut to two borough employees, including $12,000 to Borough Clerk Brian McGuirt and $10,000 to Deputy Clerk Carol Lynn Palma, both of whom, Molinelli said, are also under investigation.
Paladino had said the checks were a one-time payment meant to reimburse the clerks for time they had spent helping the district run annual school board elections in recent years. But district and borough officials said a further review had shown that payments had also been made in at least three previous years.
"It appears numbers have increased as time has gone on," said Bill Maer, a spokesman for the borough. "It's under review to determine how much money was spent, the exact time frame and to make sure it was done properly."
Cliffside Park Mayor Gerry Calabrese said McGuirt and Palma were still working for the borough, but he said the municipality had started its own investigation of the payments and is cooperating with the Prosecutor's Office. Calabrese said he had no knowledge of the payments and would not have allowed them.
"If I knew about it at the time, it would have never happened," he said. "We would have discussed it further."
Paladino had said the payments were the result of a change in the way school board elections are run. The elections, held each April, were once administered by school officials. But in the late-1990s, a state law required elections to be administered by municipal clerks, and allowed towns to charge districts for the clerk's time.
In Cliffside Park, the district paid the clerks directly, without notifying the borough and without any agreement about the cost of the services.
Calabrese said McGuirt has been an employee of the borough for more than 30 years, and has worked in the Department of Public Works before becoming the clerk. He also serves as the borough administrator. Palma has worked for the borough for about 25 years, Calabrese said.
Both declined to comment through a secretary at the Borough Clerk's Office.
The board and Prosecutor's Office will also closely examine a series of payments made by Paladino to area restaurants for a number of school-related meals.
Paladino, who served as the district's business administrator for more than a decade before becoming superintendent, authorized payments of more than $60,000 to a Cliffside restaurant, Villa Amalfi, where the district held six athletic award dinners and special dances.
The audit found the expenses had no supporting invoices and other documentation. Moreover, Paladino's payments to the restaurant far exceeded the district's $25,000 expense cap, which requires that any expense above that amount to a single business be put out to bid. The board raised the bid threshold to $29,000 this year, officials said.
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