Ogdensburg council defers action on city manager’s firing

OGDENSBURG — The crowd that came to learn the fate of City Manager Arthur J. Sciorra was left wanting Wednesday night.

After two hours of negotiations, the City Council adjourned its special meeting without taking any action on the firing of Mr. Sciorra.

“Essentially, we adjourned the meeting to have another meeting,” said Councilman Daniel E. Skamperle.

Mr. Sciorra was suspended with pay on Dec. 19 when the council passed a preliminary resolution to fire him for allowing a family to live in the house at 819 Knox Street for three years without paying rent or taxes to the city. A final resolution completing the firing process was placed on the agenda, but not voted on at Wednesday’s meeting.

Before the crowded chamber, the council entered executive session to discuss the future of the embattled city manager. Frequent discussions took place between the council and Mr. Sciorra, his attorney, Gilles R. Abitbol of Syracuse, and the city’s attorney, Kevin C. Murphy of the Wladis Law Firm, East Syracuse, as the session went late into the evening.

After the negotiations, members of the council declined to comment on their progress, but Mr. Sciorra emerged with a smile.

“We agreed upon a process that will bring this to a resolution,” he said. “I am very hopeful that we will come up with a solution that will benefit both sides.”

Before the closed session, the Mr. Sciorra was given a public hearing to tell his side of the story.

“I certainly take responsibility as city manager for anything that occurred,” he said. “That doesn’t mean I take the guilt for it.”

Mr. Sciorra said that he cannot be held solely responsible for the 819 Knox Street issue.

“The report shows I made attempts to resolve the situation,” he said. “The council failed to show persuasive and substantial evidence of my guilt.”

After city staff called for the property’s occupants to be evicted, the situation was allowed to fall through the cracks despite his directions to his department heads to resolve the issue, said Mr. Sciorra.

“As far as I was concerned, the eviction was being handled like the rest of the evictions the city had to that date,” he said. “Afterward, I demanded the payment of rent. My department heads did not follow my directions.”

Mr. Sciorra claimed that City Comptroller Philip A. Cosmo was responsible for following up on both eviction and the collection of rent for the property.

“The city charter allows for autonomy or authority for the heads of the city’s departments,” he said. “Mr. Cosmo is to supervise all city staff on financial matters.”

Nevertheless, Mr. Sciorra said he wasn’t trying to hand off responsibility for the property.

“There was never any finger-pointing,” he said. “I am just applying the charter.”

Mr. Sciorra also said the council knew about the matter before it became a public issue.

“I reported this to the council in June and July in executive sessions,” he said. “They acknowledged the facts surrounding 819 Knox Street and directed me to clean up the mess. I faithfully carried out all the directives given to me by the council.”

Mr. Sciorra’s arguments were accepted by some of those attending the meeting.

“At least 21 staff members touched the 819 Knox Street matter,” said Richard Fisher, who addressed the council. “There is enough blame to go around.”

Mary M. Peccolo also spoke on Mr. Sciorra’s behalf.

“This is a good man,” she said. “He cares about Ogdensburg, he cares about his job, and I think he should keep it.”

Not everyone in attendance agreed.

“This is an ugly thing,” said John Oakes. “Mr. Sciorra said ‘I lied’ to the council. If you lie, you’re done. Can you really trust that person again?”

Mr. Sciorra denied lying to the council during his public hearing.

The council will take up the issue again at a special meeting on Tuesday at 5 p.m.