County amends favoritism policy

CATSKILL — Greene County lawmakers Wednesday approved revisions to the county’s favoritism policy following debate about its legality.

Questions about the policy first arose when former Greene County Sheriff Greg Seeley hired his son Matthew Seeley as a provisional employee following his graduation from police academy in May 2019. He took his civil service exam for the position in September.

Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden initially said Matthew Seeley could not be hired until December, when his father retired, provided he qualified through civil service.

Five weeks later, Groden said Seeley was hired in May and that hiring provisional employees was not uncommon.

“Matthew Seeley is employed as a provisional employee, pending his completion and successful scoring of a civil service exam,” Groden said in August. “If he passes the exam and is reachable, meaning he must score in the top three spots, he will be appointed as a permanent employee. Provisional status is very common in governmental employment as civil service tests are only given infrequently and eligible lists have expiration dates.”

Groden also suggested that the county’s favoritism policy, which had been in place since 2007, may be illegal.

“I reviewed this policy, which is years old,” Groden said in August. “Now there is debate as to whether or not the policy is even legal. Denying someone career opportunities for no other reason than family ties is questionable. This county has many employees who are related to each other, even including spouses both working for us. Plus, we have a civil service system that reviews an applicant’s credentials to determine if they qualify for employment. DNA is not a disqualifying event. We will be updating our Administrative Manual accordingly.”

Groden said he was working on language changes with the state Civil Service Office.

The Department of Civil Service has not been contacted by Greene County on the matter, according to a statement from the department.

County lawmakers approved a nearly identical policy Wednesday night.

“Greene County will avoid the practice or appearance of favoritism in hiring and the assignment of employees,” according to the policy. “Therefore, an employee’s immediate relative will not be hired or assigned to a position under the direct supervision of the current employee.”

The policy previously used the phrase “within the chain of command” instead of “under the direct supervision” and also prohibited immediate relatives from working in the same work unit — a section which was removed.

An immediate relative is defined in the policy as a spouse, mother, father, brother, sister or child. The policy also applies to employees transferring into a position under the direct supervision of their immediate relative.

Legislator William B. Lawrence, R-Cairo, serves on the Administrative Manuel Committee, which reviewed the proposed changes before they came before the Legislature.

“From what the county attorney told us, the concern was having an employee work under a direct relative, not having relatives work in the same department,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence predicts limitations in the policy.

“If they get the score [on the civil service exam], it’s hard to keep that from happening,” Lawrence said. “We can’t really do that.”

When asked if that meant the policy is unenforceable, Lawrence said, “It might be,” adding that potential conflicts may need to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

In Seeley’s case, Lawrence said, “We couldn’t change that because the sheriff was an elected official.”

Lawrence stressed the importance of a candidate’s qualifications.

“The overriding factor is, Can they do the job and do it well?” he said. “I don’t see the problem if they’ve got the qualifications and can do the job.”

Matthew Seeley scored first among Greene County residents, Sheriff Peter Kusminsky said, and third overall. He was appointed a full-time deputy sheriff on Dec. 23 — one week before his father left office.

Public employees are subjected to a level of scrutiny that private sector employees are not, Lawrence said.

“Only in public employees you get that argument,” he said. “I think that’s unjustified. People who are employed want to do the job and go home.”

Lawrence does not believe that hiring based on bias is a large issue in the county, he said.

“In Greene County, I just don’t see it as a big problem where relatives are working for relatives, or being supervised by relatives,” he said.

Columbia County does not have a policy regulating favoritism, Human Resources Director Michaele Williams-Riordon said in August.

Albany County does not have a policy, Director of Communications Mary Rozak said.

The Albany County Legislature had discussed an anti-nepotism policy, Rozak said, but it did not come to fruition.