Two “City Slackers” back to work

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - The City of Providence has fired two Providence Parks Department employees following a Target 12 Investigation that aired last May. Four men in all were implicated.

The most serious action fell on the shoulders of Parks worker Anthony Micheletti and one of his foremen, Joseph Tombleson after Target 12 undercover cameras caught Micheletti at home while on the clock over several days.

On two occasions, it was foreman Tombleson that dropped Micheletti off, only to return hours later to pick him up again.

Two other workers implicated in the sting are back on the city payroll, however. Foreman David Mambro, who spent an hour and a half with Micheletti and another Parks worker inside Micheletti’s home, has been demoted and moved.

He is now an equipment operator for the Department of Public Works Sewer Department. The demotion means a cut in pay for Mambro.

The fourth worker caught on tape in the Target 12 Investigation dubbed “City Slackers,” Giovanni Carderelli, has returned to work with the Park’s Department after two months of unpaid suspension.

Providence Mayor David Cicilline vowed to terminate all four employees the day after the investigation aired. Spokesperson Karen Southern declined to elaborate on the difference in discipline, saying personnel records are not of public record.

Target 12 has learned, however, that the two terminated employees – Micheletti and Tombleson – have filed a grievance through their labor union, the Local 1033. City attorneys and labor lawyers are now embroiled in arbitration over the firing.

The investigation caught Micheletti being dropped off at his Providence home six times, disappearing for hours on end sometimes twice in one day. On every occasion, it was a foreman that was behind the wheel of the beat-up green Park’s truck.

Eyewitness News totaled 10 hours and 15 minutes in which Micheletti was in his home, all while the city time clock was ticking. Target 12 attempted to question Micheletti and Tombleson after the sixth time, but a weary-looking Micheletti just emerging from his front door, declined to comment.

Tombleson also refused to comment about the findings. Of the two that were fired, the City Pension Administrator says only Tombleson will be eligible for a partial pension when he turns  55 years-old in 7 years.