SUNBURY - Northumberland County's director of public safety - who was praised for his efforts just two months ago when commissioners removed "acting" from his title - has been fired.
Steve Reiner, 43, of Kulpmont, was notified Tuesday morning of his dismissal.
He called his firing a "political move" prompted by his friendship with newly elected commissioner Steve Bridy, who has been at odds with incumbent Commissioner Vinny Clausi since their well-publicized dispute Nov. 16 in Clausi's office.
Commissioner Merle Phillips and Clausi signed a termination letter effective Tuesday that said Reiner was fired because the commissioners wanted to move in a new direction.
Commissioner Chairman Frank Sawicki did not approve Reiner's firing. Phillips and Clausi have appointed Jerome Alex as acting public safety director. Alex, who formerly was the administrative officer for the human services department, will receive a salary of $48,235, his existing pay rate.
Alex has been a county employee since Feb. 1, 1984.
Reiner's wife, Tressa, addressed the board of commissioners during the public comment period at the end of their bimonthly meeting Tuesday afternoon. Clausi, who continues to recover from a blood clot related to a recent surgery, was not present.
"Why was the best and most honest 911 director the county ever had terminated today?" she asked. Her husband was also at the meeting, but had left the room just prior to his wife speaking.
Following the question, Sawicki conferred with county solicitor Frank Garrigan and Phillips before having Garrigan address Mrs. Reiner. Garrigan said the termination was a personnel issue that couldn't be discussed at a public meeting.
After hearing Garrigan's response, Mrs. Reiner said, "Well, Merle, you can come meet my two children tomorrow and tell them 'Merry Christmas,'" she said to Phillips. "And tell Vinny I said hi."
She then left the room before meeting up with her husband outside.
After the meeting, Phillips said he agreed to fire Reiner because he wasn't performing his job correctly. He said Clausi informed him that Reiner was leaving work early and coming to work late on various occasions. He also claimed internal problems existed between Reiner and other employees in the public safety department, but declined to go into specifics.
Sawicki reserved comment about the firing except to say he didn't approve it.
Bridy, a native of Kulpmont who now resides in Elysburg, said he didn't know anything about the firing until it was mentioned by Reiner's wife at the meeting. "It's unfortunate," he said.
Rick Shoch, another commissioner-elect, added, "I don't know a lot of specifics about it, but I plan to discuss it with other employees to get an understanding of what went into the decision-making process to fire Mr. Reiner."
Contacted after the meeting, Steve Reiner stated, "There is no legitimate reason as to why I was fired. The only explanation I received from the chief clerk (Gary Steffen) on Tuesday morning was that the commissioners wanted to move forward in a new direction. I don't know what that means."
He added, "I performed my job to the best of my ability. I inherited quite a mess from my predecessor. I received praise from the commissioners and the people out in the field, including many of the first responders, for the job I was doing. I had reconstructive surgery on my ankle and foot on Sept. 1, but I still went to work when the flooding conditions started several days later. I worked many 16-hour days coordinating the flood relief efforts and now I get fired."
Reiner, who earned $42,766 a year, was hired May 3, 2010, as fiscal officer for the public safety department. He was named acting public safety director on April 15 of this year following the resignation of Paul Froutz, and promoted to director on Oct. 4.
He said his termination came as a "complete surprise."
"This just doesn't add up," he said.
As for claims by Phillips and Clausi about his time away from the job, Reiner said most of that was related to doctor appointments.
"I'm not going to deny I left early or came in late at times, but what about all the 16-hour days I worked during the flood and other times I worked extra hours?" he said. "They are just looking for reasons to support their decision to fire me."
Other allegation
Another allegation made against Reiner involved him hitting a fellow employee with a crutch he was using since his surgery. Asked about it, Reiner said he couldn't help but laugh.
"That's unbelievable," he said. "There was an incident about three months ago when several of us were having lunch and poking fun at each other. I nudged one of my buddies with a crutch and now I'm accused of hitting him in the ribs. That's crazy."
He also was annoyed that the commissioners directed Steffen to inform him of his firing at Reiner's office instead of getting the news from the commissioners.
"They displayed no professional courtesy," he said.
"This is a political move because of my friendship with Steve Bridy," he said. "Steve and I have been friends for about 30 years. I didn't help him with his campaign, although some people think I did. I attended a function at his house after he won the election because I'm not going to turn my back on a friend just because one of the commissioners doesn't like him."
Reiner said he attended Tuesday's meeting to hear if anything would be said about his firing.
Asked if he would file a grievance or lawsuit in an attempt to regain his job, Reiner replied, "I have to see how things pan out. I don't know what my next course of action will be at this point."
Informed of Reiner's response, Clausi, who initially said he wouldn't comment about the termination because it was a personnel issue, denied the firing was political.
"I didn't even know he was friends with Bridy," Clausi said. "The allegation of his firing being political is nonsense.
"He didn't do his job," Clausi added. "The county lost $175,000 this year in that department and he would come and go as he pleased. Many complaints were made to Gary Steffen about him, including a claim that he hit someone in the ribs with his crutch. People must come to work to get paid in this county. The picnic is over."
County was proud
At the time of his title change, Clausi had said the county was "proud of the job" Reiner had done.
Reiner was complimented specifically for his handling of issues related to the historic flooding the county experienced in September. In his eight-month tenure, he also dealt with a tornado, a hurricane and an earthquake in Northumberland County.
Reiner had management experience and worked for several years as a local police officer prior to being hired by the county last year.
Froutz resigned after serving in the position since Sept. 29, 2008. His departure came three weeks after allegations that mismanaged 911 services were putting area residents' lives at risk. Froutz said at the time his resignation was not related to those issues, and that he had other job offers.