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Warren must uphold firing of city worker

Now that longtime Warren city worker Dennis Griffing was convicted and sentenced Wednesday for stealing a lawn mower from the city operations department, the city must not delay on enforcing the settlement agreement that calls for Griffing’s firing and ensuring that he is not permitted to retire and collect his full taxpayer-funded pension.

Warren Municipal Court Judge Thomas Gysegem found Griffing guilty on Wednesday and sentenced him to pay a $100 fine plus court costs, three years probation and a 180-day suspended jail sentence.

Griffing, 57, has managed to stay on the city payroll for years since the first time he was convicted of theft in 2013, and during the last three months since he was charged in this latest case of theft.

It’s apparent that Griffing had been hoping to delay this case until next month when he would have accrued 30 years of public employment — enough time to retire from the job he has held with the city since 1988 and collect full pension benefits. He already has submitted a letter to the city announcing his plans to retire effective Sept. 30. But according to Warren Safety Service Director Enzo Cantalamessa, his employment terminated immediately with his conviction on Wednesday.

Good.

After Griffing was charged criminally in June, the leadership with his labor union American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employes Local 74, had made a plea to Cantalamessa in an attempt to delay any disciplinary action until this case was disposed of.

In fact, Griffing has continued on the job despite signing a termination agreement in July and despite his 2013 theft conviction in which he acknowleged stealing a large number of newspapers over a year’s time from Tribune Chronicle coin boxes.

At the time, Griffing admitted to police he routinely stole stacks of newspapers out of different coin boxes and gave them to fellow city employees. He pleaded no contest to a charge of theft and was placed into a diversion program by Municipal Court Judge Terry Ivanchak. Griffing was told if he completed the diversion program and made full restitution, the case against him would be dismissed.

But he didn’t make full restitution, and in fact, he still owes the newspaper $1,705.50 of the $2,235.50 he was ordered to pay. The court turned Griffing’s case over to a collections agency.

Hired in October 1988, Griffing, brother of former city Auditor David Griffing, has been earning $19.67 per hour as an equipment operator in the Warren operations department. He would have reached his 30th year of employment with the city in October, increasing the likelihood that he would have been able to retire and collect his full taxpayer-funded public pension.

We are glad to see this case disposed of before he reached that threshold. Now we urge city officials to keep their word to the residents of Warren on Griffing’s termination.

editorial@tribtoday.com

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