State investigation of Revere DPW under way

REVERE – The two-pronged state investigation into city Public Works department operations is underway with state Auditor’s investigators poised to pore through stacks of city records.At the req-uest of city officials, the Auditor is reviewing department time keeping and attendance records for DPW employees and the practices the department followed in purchasing supplies and equipment.Investigators plan to confine their review to department paperwork dated from July 1, 2006 to Dec. 31, 2007.The city is paying for the $25,000 audit even as Mayor Thomas Ambrosino and other officials prepare to testify March 24-26 at the Ethics Commission’s Boston offices about bribery allegations issued against DPW General Foreman Joseph Maglione last December.Two former DPW workers testified before the commission that Maglione approached them in 2002 and asked for $200-$250 for every new water or sewer service installation they performed.Randy Adamson and Anthony Giannino were paid by homeowners or business owners to install pipe connections between city main lines and homes or businesses between 2002 and March 2006.It is not city policy to install the connections. Instead, property owners must arrange for a private drain layer licensed by the city to obtain a drain laying permit from the city and do the work.Adamson and Giannino, according to the commission, were not licensed drain layers.Maglione is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the commission hearings.Ward 4 City Councilor George Rotondo for months has urged to colleagues to investigate DPW operations. Councilors approved the state audit and Ambrosino agreed this month to have city inspectors assess the condition of DPW’s Charger Street facility and also requested that any video surveillance tapes used in the facility’s security cameras be saved for review.Rotondo also wants a review of work performed by Public Works employees in September 2005. He claims the permit issued for the work was dated October 2005.”How can work be done in September and permitted in October,” he asked his colleagues Monday.Ambrosino told councilors, “There is no evidence DPW employees were involved in back dating.”