City staffers not being properly managed, Mammoliti says

Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti speaks to reporters in Toronto, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013.

City employees are not being properly managed and service in some facilities is suffering as a result, a long-time city councillor says.

Ward 7 Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti made the comment in the wake of a brewing controversy over a photo that appears to show a city worker sleeping on the job.

The photo, which was taken by Mammoliti's assistant last Wednesday and then distributed to the media, shows a worker at the Carmine Stefano Community Centre with his head resting on his arm on a desk. The employee's face is not shown in the photo.

Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti's office released this photo of a person who appears to be sleeping at a desk at the Carmine Stefano Community Centre on Oct. 16. 2013.

"I think it is much more than an individual perhaps taking a snooze or a break. This is about how the city does its job and how the managers are looking out for this sort of thing," Mammoliti told reporters outside the North York community centre Monday morning. "I think we are lapse and I think we have to do a better job of managing and a better job of progressive discipline. We need to ensure our tax base that we are going to provide better service."

Mammoliti has been criticized for publicly outing the employee before a full investigation has been completed.

The president of CUPE Local 79, the union representing the staffer in the photograph, event went as far as to call Mammoliti’s comments a "media stunt" while speaking with reporters last week.

"People can criticize me all they like," Mammoliti said Monday. "I don’t care, I have a job to do and going into the next election I will be able to tell people I have done my job in trying to improve the quality of service. I am going to hold firm and I am going to continue taking pictures and I encourage anyone out there to send me any pictures they want."

City Manager Joe Pennachetti is looking into allegations that the community centre worker was sleeping on the job and will announce his findings in the coming days, Mammoliti said.

In the meantime, Mammoliti said he is looking into other allegations of employee misconduct at city facilities.

"I am going to hand over some more allegations, some of them are very serious I might add, to Mr. (Joe) Pennachetti and his staff sometime today and we will see where that goes," he said. "As we speak more and more complaints are coming in about other community centres."