Quoted Text

GLENVILLE
Police top list of town earners
BY MICHAEL GOOT Gazette Reporter

    Nine of the top 10 earners in Glenville last year were members of the Police Department, including a retired detective who was the subject of an internal investigation.
    Retired Det. William Gallop earned a base salary of $52,031 and $69,799 in other compensation in 2011, which included a $41,091 cash out of his sick time and $16,799 cash out of comp time. Other compensation, including retroactive pay, longevity, overtime and clothing allowance, brought his total compensation to $122,100.
    Gallop, who was a 21-year member of the force and a detective since 2007, left active duty in June upon the start of the internal investigation and used his personal time to continue collecting a paycheck. Officials never disclosed the focus of the probe, other than that it was about internal police procedures. Gallop decided to leave before the department made a determination.
    He officially retired in September. As part of his retirement agreement, there was a gag order that prohibits Gallop and town offi cials from making derogatory statements about each other. Gallop said in a previous email that after many years of police work, he was ready for something different.
    The second-highest earner was former Deputy Highway Superintendent Jeff Gemmette, who also retired last year and earned $120,737. This includes a base salary of $64,017, $42,711 worth of sick time cash out and miscellaneous other benefi ts.
    Town Supervisor Chris Koetzle said the town has little control over cash outs because they are in the current police and highway contracts, which expire at the end of the year. When asked if he wanted to explore reducing the amount of time that can be accumulated, Koetzle said everything is always an option during contract talks.
    He is pleased, though, that the town spent a little less in overtime in 2011.
    “A lot of our overtime was managed better by our department heads than in the past,” he said. “We’ll probably see overtime savings in the 2012 budget because of the winter we’re having now.”
    The town is currently under a six-month hiring freeze. Another person was promoted to fi ll Gemmette’s spot, and the detective position has not been fi lled. Koetzle said because the town is down a few employees, they may have more overtime expenditures.
    “It’s hard to forecast year to year what emergencies are going to pop up when,” he said.
    The third-highest earner was Police Chief Michael Ranalli, who received a base salary of $99,622 $5,733 for opting out of the town’s insurance plan and $3,155 in retroactive pay.
    The other earners in the top 10 were Lt. Stephen Janik, with $102,463; Lt. Rick Conley, with $101,030; Detective Michael Lamb with $99,605; Officer Timothy Mell $97,155; Sgt. Scot Straight, $95,190; Officer Mark Agostino, $93,147; and Detective William Marchewka $90,446.
    Agostino received the most overtime, with $22,823 on top of his base salary of $66,030. ..................>>>>......................>>>>..................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01103&AppName=1