POUGHKEEPSIE – City taxpayers have paid for repairs and maintenance for the DPW Commissioner’s personal vehicle totaling more than $1,700 and the repairs were not authorized by the City Administrator.
Commissioner Chris Gent was hired on April 1, 2014, and has been using his own 2008 Toyota 4Runner for work for most of his time on the job. According to Gent, he estimates that he has put approximately 40,000 miles on his vehicle while working in the 5.7 square mile city since being hired. There is no written policy about the use of personal vehicles for work because, according to City Administrator Marc Nelson, it was never expected to be more than a “temporary” use situation. Nelson said that while the expenditure was not pre-authorized, they are in line with the work Gent performs. “I cannot think of another municipality that does not provide their DPW Commissioner with a government-issued vehicle.” “His job requires the use of a vehicle. It’s absurd that we ask Mr. Gent to use his own vehicle to perform his work duties.” Nelson said that a request was made to the Common Council to provide Gent a vehicle earlier this year and the council chair, Ann Feeney removed it from the list of the others that were requested. Gent has recently been assigned a vehicle from the city’s fleet.
Gent had the parts ordered through the city’s garage and had the city’s mechanic perform the labor. The Commissioner’s vehicle had a new exhaust system installed, along with a front axle, radiator, sway bars, tires, windshield wipers, and other minor parts. The vehicle was also inspected and the cost was passed along to the taxpayers. The total dollar amount of parts and labor performed in April of 2019 was $1,723.82., not including the inspection and oil change. An email from Gent to the city mechanic, dated April 9, 2019 said “”I’ll drop off my car tomorrow for servicing. Until I get a city car I need to get my personal vehicle repaired since most of the wear and tear comes from city use.”
Nelson pointed out that the city has made significant progress in the last few years as it pertains to replacing and rebuilding its aging fleet of vehicles. Approximately eighteen exceptionally old vehicles that had been driving up repair costs have been replaced.
