Thursday, February 10, 2000
Ludlow in market for a clerk-treasurer
Meanwhile, city making payments
BY CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LUDLOW — The mayor of this financially troubled city would like to see the soon-to-be-vacant clerk-treasurer's job filled within a month.
However, Mayor Tom Stacy said that decision will be up to City Council.
“We're in the middle of putting (temporary accounting employees) in (City Hall) as a stopgap measure,” Mr. Stacy said Wednesday. “I'd like to see the job filled within a month, but it could be that the temps work out so well that they stay on. Really, it'll be more up to council.”
This Kenton County city of 4,700 has advertised to fill the job of Clerk-treasurer Richard Abney, who gave notice last week that he is resigning Friday. City staff, which has fallen a year behind in billing for water service and is late paying some Ludlow vendors, recently caught up city employees' pension and 401(k) plans after they fell a couple of months behind, Mr. Abney said.
“It just seems to me that they're beating a dead horse here,” Mr. Abney said of city employees who raised questions this week about the delinquent payments. “We're caught up with payments to the state retirement system as of now. I do have a payment that I need to send in that's due (today), but the city has the money, and it will be going out. The 401(k) payments are caught up too.”
Bill Hanes, general counsel for the board of Kentucky Retirement Systems in Frankfort, confirmed Wednesday that Ludlow's pension payments — including about $300 in interest and penalties due — have been caught up.
The city of Ludlow has 14 full-time employees who have retirement benefits, Mr. Abney said. He would not say how many employees are on the voluntary 401(k) program.
Mr. Abney said he has asked state officials to tell him how the city can make up interest lost on the 401(k) plans because of its delinquent payments, but he hasn't gotten an answer.
Ludlow's retirement plan problems can be blamed on several factors, including a delay in receiving some payments on federal police grants, and lack of administrative help in City Hall, Mr. Abney said.
“Just the three of us have been keeping the city going for a year without a city administrator,” Mr. Abney said, referring to himself, a secretary, and deputy clerk Angie Foulks, who quit last Friday. “If the mayor doesn't want to come in and do the job, we have to have a city administrator.”
The city administrator's job has been vacant since last February, when Mike Moehlman was placed on six months paid leave for reasons that city officials will not divulge.
“We do need a city administrator,” Mr. Stacy said. “There's no two ways around that. We need to fill that position.”
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