The much-publicized issue over thefts in Auburn's Department of Public Works earlier this year has become a topic of discussion leading up to the city council election.

The candidates have shared their thoughts in recent days on the amnesty granted to department employees who took city property for personal use.

All three are saying the new policies must be enforced, while pointing to the recently cut human resources department as a necessary player in prevention of future incidents.

And in some cases, criticism is being directed at the way the city handled and communicated to the public about the internal investigation that led to a one-week opportunity for workers to return items without fear of prosecution or termination.

Some of the strongest words come from William Graney, an incumbent who was on the council as the situation unfolded.

Graney said earlier this week during a televised forum that the entire department was “railroaded” because of the actions of four individuals. Those individuals should have been “taken to task,” he said.

“Those poor people (in the DPW), they got marched in front of the district attorney, the police chief and the city manager,” said Graney, who has been endorsed by the Democrat, Independence and Conservative parties.

“Those men and women down there were drawn into this,” Graney said.

Though no official numbers have been made public, city officials in the past referred to three people who were suspected in the investigation.

Two retired employees were named in March after the city released police documents from an investigation into missing water meters. The city's attempt to obtain arrest warrants in that investigation was denied due to lack of evidence.

City officials also said an unnamed public works employee was investigated in connection with the selling of scrap metal. The Cayuga County Sheriff's Office was brought in for that aspect of the investigation, which resulted in no charges or arrests.

Graney said Wednesday that an outside agency should have been brought in from the start to remove any public suspicions.

“I would have wanted an outside investigation to clear everyone's names,” he said.

The city council and City Manager Mark Palesh requested after the amnesty became public that the state Commission on Investigation look into the matter. But the commission lost its funding soon after the request and no longer exists.

Matthew Smith, also seeking re-election, was one of the first councilors to publically call for an outside investigation. Smith said one of the major problems with the public works incident was poor public relations.

The city took too long to announce and explain what had happened, he said.

“The city did a terrible job of informing the public. (The city) was not proactive, it was reactive,” said Smith, who is backed by the Republican, Conservative and Independence parties.

Smith said he could have pushed more for another agency to investigate early on. But he also looked forward and stressed enforcement of the now-instituted policy of zero tolerance when it comes to misuse of city resources.

“We just need to discipline and be consistent in carrying out a policy,” Smith said.

Jack Hardy, the challenger on the Democrat ticket, was not on the city council when it all went down.

But Hardy has 25 years of experience working in the corporate world, and he said the private sector would likely have responded to the situation with “stop-loss and security procedures” like scheduled inventory, bar coding and other steps for accountability.

He also said that losing one's job would be the harshest penalty for similar transgressions by corporate employees. Other steps could be taken before that one, he said.

What you don't want to do, Hardy said, is turn the situation into a witch-hunt scenario.

“The city government should work with its employees, and educate them of the right things to do and the wrong things to do,” he said.

“You have to build up a partnership ... at all levels,” Hardy later said.

Palesh said Wednesday that, at the time, the internal investigation showed equipment was missing. But officials did not know with any certainty who or how many people took what.

Palesh pointed out that several agencies were involved in the investigation, and he stands by the program. All three candidates have recently given positive reviews of his overall performance.

“The right decision was made,” Palesh said. “We did the best with what we had, and we couldn't have taken it another route.”

In a private business, something like this would likely be handled by a human resources department. But the city council got rid of the Auburn's human resources department in July when it passed the 2009-2010 budget.

All three candidates said they believe a human resources presence is necessary in government and could help prevent a similar incident in the future.

Graney said he expects the council to look into bringing back human resources, whatever the outcome of Tuesday's election.

“Next budget year, it is probably going to come up again,” Graney said.

Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.