Johnstown firefighter criticized at meeting

Chief defends employee in response to remarks from Mayfield resident

By MICHAEL ANICH, The Leader-Herald

JOHNSTOWN - City Fire Chief Bruce Heberer on Friday defended one of his firefighters who was criticized by a Mayfield man during Monday's Common Council meeting at City Hall.

Paul Czupryk of 9 Woodside Ave., Mayfield - a local public-access TV host - addressed the council during the public speaker portion of the meeting.

He said he wanted to speak about the work habits of a Johnstown Fire Department employee who lives in Mayfield and is a member of the Mayfield Town Board.

Usually, such discussions about employees' job performance are limited to discussions by council members during closed-door executive sessions.

Czupryk did not name the city employee he spoke of, but Mayfield Town Clerk Dorothy Hart confirmed Town Board member Shawn Humphrey is employed as a city of Johnstown firefighter.

Czupryk said the firefighter in question earns $35,000 to $38,000 annually and "seems to spend more time at his Mayfield home" than the Johnstown fire station. Czupryk claimed he has compiled some records of the firefighter's personal time habits based on what he's seen, and he presented them to Slingerland and Heberer.

He said he would be requesting a copy of the employee's work records from the city.

Czupryk said the taxpayers of the city of Johnstown should be aware of the employee's work habits and that the firefighter in question has allegedly been home on certain weekends he should be working.

"I believe he should consider moving into Johnstown," Czupryk said.

Earlier this year, Czupryk made an unsuccessful run for election to the Mayfield Village Board of Trustees. In a March 12 letter to the editor of The Leader-Herald, he criticized one of his opponents in that race, incumbent Paul Wilde, claiming Wilde had been absent from several board meetings. Wilde was re-elected.

After Czupryk's remarks Friday, Heberer defended the firefighter, though he did not confirm Humphrey is the person in question. He said the firefighter joined the department in October. The chief defended the employee's work habits.

"He's never missed a day of work," Heberer said. "He's an outstanding employee and we've never had any problems with him."

Humphrey couldn't be reached for comment.

Mayor Sarah J. Slingerland on Friday defended the city's policy of allowing members of the public to speak at the bimonthly Common Council sessions.

"I still think we should have a public speaker section at our meeting," the mayor said. "I would not like to limit that."

Slingerland said her administration encourages public comments and she tries to remind speakers that city officials may not always respond.

"Our employees and our department heads are in compliance with their work duties," Slingerland said. "We monitor it very closely."

She said she "supposes" she could have limited Czupryk's statements because he is from Mayfield, but that wouldn't be right. The mayor said anyone has the right to speak to the council on city issues, even if they don't live in the city.

Michael Anich covers Johnstown and Fulton County news. He can be reached at johnstown@leaderherald.com