Jeffersonville City Councilman Ed Zastawny takes city job

Clark County

Discussion

October 29, 2009

Zastawny working on contract, analyzing TIF income for Jeff

By DAVID A. MANN The News and Tribune Thu Oct 29, 2009, 10:40 PM EDT

Jeffersonville City Councilman Ed Zastawny has taken a contract job with the city’s Redevelopment Department where he will work a minimum of 20 hours per week at a rate of $30 per hour, Zastawny said.

He’s the second member of the council to work for the city; Council President Connie Sellers works as a city code-enforcement officer.

Zastawny will be analyzing how a recent property value reassessment will affect money garnered under the city’s tax increment finance district, often known as a TIF district.

Tax money captured in a TIF district is generally flagged for redevelopment and used for infrastructure projects in a designated area. Zastawny, who started Monday, said so far he’s been working out of the county auditor’s office, making sure TIF income is going to match projections the city has developed.

However, he noted that the contract is opened-ended, meaning that he could be pulled aside to work on other redevelopment and economic development matters.

Redevelopment changes

The city’s Redevelopment Department has been through changes in 2009 after its director, Gayle Robinson, was fired during the summer.

The role of city Planning Director Jim Urban has expanded since then. He took over Robinson’s corner office at City Hall and some of his responsibilities.

A reporter contacted Urban on Wednesday afternoon to ask about Zastawny’s contract. Urban confirmed that the contract existed and gave a brief explanation of the position, but declined to answer further questions and hung up on the phone on the reporter. He didn’t return a follow-up call asking for an explanation.

It’s unclear how long the contract is in effect. Zastawny said it was a one-year contract. Urban said it was through the end of the year. The Evening News did not have the contract for review as of press time.

Redevelopment Commission member Charlie Reisert said he voted in favor of the contract and was confident in Zastawny, but was unsure of the details of the agreement.

Councilman Nathan Samuel, a redevelopment commission member, said the vote took place at a meeting at which he had to leave early.

However, he noted that Zastawny had asked him about the job prior to the meeting and he was comfortable with him having it.

“If there’s work to be done and we’re going to contract with someone, I’m OK with Ed [Zastawny,]” he said.

Where’d it come from?

Zastawny said he became interested in the job after noticing that a TIF replacement line item that had normally appeared on his tax bill was blank.

“That put red flags up in my mind,” he said, because he was unsure how that would impact the city’s tax income. The job offer came after he approached Urban about the issue, he said.

Zastawny — who was laid off from his job as a marketing manager for Louisville-based Grant Insurance on Aug. 1 — was available for the work.

He admits that the work he’d done for Grant isn’t related to the redevelopment job. However, he said he served on the Redevelopment Commission for several of the years he’s been on the council and added he’s familiar with advanced finance because of his master’s degree in business administration.