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By MELISSA M. JANOSKI melissaj@leader.net
Friday, February 04, 2000 Page: 1A
A power struggle between Mayor Tom McGroarty and City Council is putting
the spotlight on a little known practice with a hazy background: free lifetime
health insurance for retired politicians with 10 years of service.
The practice is not authorized by any city policy or ordinance, McGroarty
said. Current and former leaders don’t know exactly when or why the practice
started, but this much is clear: it will cost the city $13,444 this year.
McGroarty has not moved to end the practice, but challenges City Council to
have the “intestinal fortitude” to halt it, at least for future retirees.
“Let them make the hard decisions,” he said.
Council Chairman Michael McGinley said he needs more information before
taking a position. He can’t predict what council will do, he said.
The practice allows former Mayor Lee Namey to carry two taxpayer-funded
Blue Cross-Blue Shield indemnity plans, the most expensive type of coverage.
The premium for each plan is several thousand dollars.
He receives insurance as principal of West Side Area Vocational Technical
School. And last month, Namey signed up for a city policy.
Namey, who underwent the most recent of two open heart surgeries in
September, said he wants the security of two policies. He fears he might
someday reach the lifetime spending limit on his school district policy. Like
many government workers and retirees, he does not have to help pay the
insurance premium.
McGroarty began focusing on retiree insurance last month when retiring
Controller Mercedes Leighton, retiring Councilman Phil McCabe and Namey signed
up for insurance. Namey didn’t take the insurance in the first four years
after he left office, opting instead to collect an annual $1,020 buyout as a
reward for saving the city the cost of insurance.
The three former retired officials are apparently the first to benefit from
the informal policy.
McGroarty, who would be eligible to continue his insurance coverage after
he retires, says he won’t take it.
McGroarty’s protests have focused on Namey and McCabe. He has rocky
relationships with both men. Namey said he suspects McGroarty is retaliating
for a dispute over the Keystone Opportunity Zone program. Namey works
part-time as Luzerne County’s KOZ administrator and is critical of McGroarty’s
handling of the program.
McGroarty said he didn’t object to the practice during his first four years
in office because no one was using the insurance. McGroarty, who writes the
budget, did not cut money for the retirees’ insurance from his 2000 budget.
Instead, he wants the council to make the move.
On Thursday, he gave contradictory answers to questions about whether he
wants to cancel insurance for Namey, McCabe and Leighton immediately, or
simply ban future retirees from getting free insurance. He said the decision
rests with the council.
Tension between McGroarty and the usually compliant council is running
high.
Council members receive free insurance and some are angry McGroarty wants
them to accept cheaper plans. Two new members, Shirley Vitanovec and Kathy
Kane, have sharply questioned McGroarty on other issues.
But on the issue of free insurance, Vitanovec sides with the mayor. She
doesn’t accept insurance and also objects to insurance for retired officials.
“Its very hard to accept that the taxpayers that are paying the benefits
are often not insured themselves.”
Call Janoski at 831-7331.