Perrotta to stay as housing authority solicitor

February 11, 2006

PAT LITOWITZ
plitowitz@ncnewsonline.com

The solicitor is in. A contract is out. And a supervisor loses a title and gains a boss.

The search for a new Lawrence County Housing Authority solicitor ended Feb. 9 when attorney Louis Perrotta rescinded last month's resignation request. In a pair of 4-0 votes, the board agreed to keep Perrotta and end its search for his replacement.

"We have some things that we are dealing with right now, and we are going to be dealing with," Perrotta said. "In the interest of the housing (authority) and the board, I've decided to stay and see these things through."

On Feb. 6, Evanick received a letter from Perrotta, stating his intention to remain.

Three housing authority employees were scheduled to review proposals from five county attorneys looking to replace Perrotta. Evanick said the proposals were not evaluated.

The New Castle-based attorney said he is prepared for public criticism about his about-face.

"If I had to worry about what everyone thought about me, I'd never leave the house again," said Perrotta, whose contract ends in August.

The board also sent a 10-day contract cancellation notice to the New Wilmington company that had been awarded a $329,463.32 lawn care and paint pact in May 2004. State Rep. Frank LaGrotta had criticized the authority for the manner in which it had selected A. General Maintenance, owned by Steve Catale.

This week, the legislator wrote to authority chairman Robert Heath and asked that the board reconsider combining the two services under one contract.

"Before we terminate a contract, don't you think we should look into our other options?" board member Donald "Ducky" Conti asked.

"I just feel now is the time to terminate that contract," Evanick said. "It's the best interest of the housing authority to hire personnel to do our own painting and lawn care."

Evanick said the authority will hire five part-time painters and five or six part-time lawn-care workers through Lawrence County CareerLink.

"I think in the long run we'll save money," Heath said.

The authority's maintenance supervisor, Robert Ratkovich, will see two changes in his role with the authority. The board stripped Ratkovich of his title of deputy director and placed him under Evanick's direct supervision.

Ratkovich's pay will not be affected by the changes, both of which received no votes from Conti.

Section 8 supervisor Gene DiGennaro is the remaining deputy director. Ratkovich, who was out of town, was unavailable for comment.

"(H)aving two deputy directors, I felt, added to confusion among the employees over who was supervising who," Evanick said. "This gives a clear line of how the organization should be administrated."

Ratkovich now will report to Evanick. Under the authority's prior management structure, Ratkovich reported directly to the board.

"He's got to be responsible to the person who's running the place on a day-to-day basis," Evanick said. "That's why I felt it had to be corrected."

Evanick said that, to date, he is satisfied with Ratkovich's job performance.

Copyright (c) 2006, New Castle News