Dumbest Employee of the Year!

**James** · #1 (**permalink**) 12-28-2006, 08:55 AM

This is also the same guy who allegedly threaten to killed a witness in the asbestos case.

John M. Chick, the Cayuga County buildings and grounds worker already facing federal charges over asbestos removal at the Board of Elections building, was suspended with pay Tuesday over allegations he replaced personal tools at county expense without authorization.

Chick was placed on indefinite administrative leave, according to county Legislator Ann Petrus, who is serving as county spokeswoman on the asbestos issue. She said Chick will stay off the job until the tool-purchase matter is resolved.

As a carpenter in the buildings and grounds department, Chick is paid $19.91 an hour. County Manager Wayne D. Allen said Chick is entitled to a civil service hearing in the dispute with the county.

Chick, contacted by telephone Tuesday, said he replaced only a fraction of the tools that were either contaminated by asbestos and thrown away by a cleanup contractor or damaged during the asbestos cleanup at the Board of Elections building on Court Street.

Petrus said Chick has turned in his county keys and other county property, although he kept his cell phone in case county officials need to contact him.

He has been ordered to stay off county property, she said.

Dec. 20, Chick was named in a 10-count federal indictment accusing him of violating the Clean Air Act and lying to federal investigators regarding the removal of an asbestos-laden boiler and piping earlier this year in the elections building.

Each count carries a possible sentence of up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. On Friday, he was accused of threatening a witness in the asbestos case, a crime punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

The county suspension Tuesday was unrelated to the federal charges pending against Chick, Petrus said.

At issue in the county action is Chick's request to have the county reimburse him for his personal tools that either disappeared or were damaged during the asbestos cleanup.

Allen said Chick submitted an itemized list of 37 tools and other equipment - valued at $2,684.81 - he wanted the county to replace.

Although he sought reimbursement from the county for several expensive items, including a table saw valued at $407, a jigsaw at $107 and a jointer at $288, Chick said he replaced a number of small tools, like pipe benders. The total amounted to not more than about $600, he said Tuesday afternoon.

"My tools were shut up for six months," Chick said. "The tools that I got, I had to have to work.

**James** · #2 (**permalink**) 01-11-2007, 08:42 AM

A former county worker is prepared to plead guilty in U.S. District Court in Syracuse later this month regarding his role in supervising the alleged illegal removal of asbestos from the Cayuga County Board of Elections last winter.

The worker, John M. Chick, 64, has agreed to plead guilty to one court of conspiracy to violate the federal Clean Air Act, said his lawyer, Paul Carey, of Syracuse, Tuesday evening.

All other charges against him - including his most recent arrest following allegations he issued a death threat against the whistle-blower in the case, Anthony Garropy - are to be dropped as part of the agreement, Carey added.

The situation began last February when Chick and former county worker Anthony J. Garropy removed a defective boiler from the basement of the county board of elections building on Court Street in Auburn. Two months later, Garropy said he and five inmates from the county jail loaded the materials on a truck and then he and Chick dumped it at the city landfill.

Garropy filed a notice of claim against the county in August, saying he was exposed to asbestos and fired for telling his supervisors of the problem. Now more than 30 individuals have notices of claim pending against the county, alleging exposure to the asbestos.

On Dec. 20, a grand jury indicted Chick on seven counts of violating the federal Clean Air Act and three counts of making false statements to federal Environmental Protection Agency officials about his actions.

Then on Dec. 23, an obstruction of justice charge was filed against Chick related to allegations he issued a death threat against Garropy.