Ousted Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority Executive Director Greg Tutsock will stick around as a consultant with his salary and benefits intact, the authority's chairman said Tuesday.
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl fired Tutsock and Bureau of Building Inspection Chief Ron Graziano, another veteran bureaucrat, in a Sept. 13 shakeup and promised to conduct a national search for replacements who would manage both agencies differently.
"I was unsatisfied with where we were going," Ravenstahl said Tuesday of the PWSA. "It needed a shot in the arm and a fresh approach to look at being more friendly to both the consumers, the residents of the city, as well as the development side of things."
That fresh approach will be delayed, and "(Tutsock) is helping us through the transition phase at the PWSA," Ravenstahl said.
The authority is expected to approve a consulting contract with Tutsock that likely will pay him a salary of $116,000 -- the amount he made as executive director -- to guide the leadership transition following the loss of his own job, said state Rep. Don Walko, D-North Side, who chairs the authority board.
Walko said that doesn't run counter to Ravenstahl's call for a fresh approach.
"He has a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge," Walko said of Tutsock.
Tutsock, 53, of the West End did not respond to requests for comment. He had worked for the authority since 1979 and became its director in January 2001.
Walko said Tutsock could work as long as six months on "very complicated issues" such as handling labor contract negotiations, complying with state Department of Environmental Protection's new wastewater management requirements and completing the final details of a refinancing that's expected to save the authority $28 million.
He said the former executive director will keep his employment benefits through the end of the year.
City Councilman Bill Peduto said Ravenstahl demonstrated bad management when he asked Tutsock, Graziano and nine other directors to submit letters of resignation in June with little explanation.
"I can't even begin to figure out the administration's handling of directors," said Peduto, a frequent critic of the administration. "I've never heard of a situation like this in government or private business."
Acting PWSA Executive Director Mike Lichte previously worked as director of engineering and has received a pay raise to $116,000 a year from his previous salary of $80,000, said Cliff Levine, the authority's legal counsel. Lichte has worked for the authority since 1999.
Graziano no longer works for the city and won't be hired as a consultant, Ravenstahl said. Daniel Cipriani, a longtime city code administrator, is acting director of the Bureau of Building Inspection.
