Jan 14, 2016 3 min read

CANONSBURG – A former Canonsburg police officer is questioning the transparency of municipal hiring practices after two part-time officers were hired in December without advertising the positions.

Canonsburg Councilman Paul Sharkady, a 30-year member of the department who retired in 2001, read from a prepared statement at Monday’s council meeting, accusing mayor and council of skirting ethical hiring protocol by not listing open positions in the department in a legal ad in area newspapers. Manager Bob Kipp confirmed at the meeting the jobs were not advertised.

“I will no longer stand by in front of blatant ethical violations. I have concerns the borough is not being an equal-opportunity employer,” Sharkady said.

At the Dec. 21 meeting, Rhome broke a 3-3 tie to hire Joshua Smith and Michael Pasquale as part-time officers.

“I don’t treat public safety as a political issue. … I have nothing to hide,” Mayor David Rhome said Wednesday in response to Sharkady’s allegation he either knows or is somehow related to one of the candidates.

Sharkady said it’s his opinion that it would be a conflict of interest if Rhome voted to break a tie if he personally knows either job candidate.

“I will not compromise on public safety, especially when (a council member) wants to be an obstructionist,” Rhome said. “Mr. Sharkady seems confused and does not differentiate between the hiring practices for full- and part-time officers. To hire a full-time officer, we must abide by the Civil Service Regulations … (which require) open positions to be advertised publicly, which we have always done. To my knowledge we have never advertised for the part-time positions,” Rhome said in an emailed statement.

Also at the Dec. 21 meeting, Rhome broke a 3-3 tie to pass the 2016 final budget, which included in it the hiring of Jason Brown of Carnegie as a full-time fire inspector and firefighter. Councilman John Severine asked why the full-time employee wouldn’t be required to live in the borough, since part of his duties require responding to fires. Kipp said residency was not a contractual requirement of the position. Former council member John Bevec said Brown would serve as a firefighter while on duty. Brown was scheduled to work 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every weekday, according to meeting minutes.

“We cannot compromise on public safety. Mr. Brown will be visiting with businesses, homeowners, owners of structures that may be problematic, and verifying routes of egress, making sure those facilities are equipped with proper firefighting equipment like extinguishers,” Rhome said.

Canonsburg fire Chief Tom Lawrence said Brown’s duties go beyond a code enforcement officer’s purview by way of expertly analyzing electrical issues, clutter and alarm systems.

“We’re looking to work with businesses. Those who we’ve asked already to go through safety walkthroughs have agreed, because the big thing we’re trying to make sure is we have information and access,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence was referring to Knox-Boxes, which contain master keys to all a building’s doors and important safety information about the property

“It’s a voluntary program. But again, that’s something Brown will be checking for so we can get in and deal with a situation as safely as possible,” Lawrence said.