The city of Niagara Falls begins the New Year in search of both a new police and fire chief.
In both cases, the men in those positions stepped down, but didn’t retire.
Instead, they took demotions and continued on with their departments in positions where they could potentially make more money.
After six years as Police Superintendent Bryan DalPorto is now returning to his former post as a patrol captain.
Fire Chief Thomas Colangelo left his post in November to return to being a battalion chief.
Payroll data obtained by SeeThroughNY indicates that in 2017 (the last year for which data is available) both DalPorto and Colangelo earned decent money, at $149,843 and $117,945 respectively.
But in both cases, they now stand to potentially make a lot more.
This is due to better opportunities for overtime through the union contract the city has with its public safety workers and which – as they no longer serve as heads of their departments - the two former chiefs can now fully avail themselves of without the burden of leadership.
“There’s not a current financial incentive to want to be the police or fire chief,” said City Administrator Nicholas Melson during an interview in September of 2017 regarding a related story.
Melson, who now finds himself charged with finding replacements to lead the departments, noted that there were literally dozens of DalPorto’s and Colangelo’s subordinates who have been making thousands, and sometimes tens of thousands more than their bosses were.
Neither former chief was available for comment Tuesday, but DalPorto – who has made no secret of the disparity in the past, recently told the Buffalo News: "If I told you money wasn't any consideration, I don't think anybody would believe that and I don't think I'd be being honest."
DalPorto told the paper, however, that his decision was not entirely about money, noting that if it had been, he could have done this years ago.
“He’s missing out on $30,000 to $40,000 a year and he’s doing what's best for him and I don’t blame him," said Niagara Falls City Councilman William Kennedy regarding DalPorto, whom he praised for the job he did as police superintendent.
In recent years both the city council and the mayor here have mulled over proposals to raise the salaries of those top jobs to make them more competitive.
“I don’t necessarily disagree with that," Kennedy said.
However, in a city which finds itself cash strapped with casino revenue payments halted amid a dispute between New York State and the Seneca Nation of Indians, pay raises don’t seem to be in the cards, according to Kennedy.
“At the moment, in the situation we’re in, it's just not feasible," he said.
Of the 81 Niagara Falls city workers who made than $100,000 in 2017, 80 of them were either employed by the police or fire departments.
In their new roles, the former chiefs could not only make more money now, but also in retirement, as their state pensions are based on their three highest earning years.
Thus, maximizing income in the final years of on the job has been a long established practice in New York, which is certainly not unique to any particular public servants or municipality.
Melson told 2 On Your Side on Tuesday that the process of interviewing candidates to become the next leaders of the two departments will begin this week.