Could Mayor Roefaro's appointment of longtime friend as chief cost him his own job?

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Could Mayor Roefaro's appointment of longtime friend as chief cost him his own job?

Mayor David Roefaro at the Tuesday, June 16, 2009 announcement that he was appointing longtime friend, Daniel LaBella to the position of Utica Police Chief. (Earl Davis / WKTV)

By JOLEEN FERRIS

Story Created: Jun 18, 2009 at 10:36 AM EST

Story Updated: Jun 18, 2009 at 12:07 PM EST

UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - He appointed his long-time friend to a $100,000+-a-year job. But will the move cost Utica's mayor his own job?

Utica Mayor David Roefaro on Tuesday appointed acting Public Safety Commissioner Dan LaBella to the position of police chief. LaBella scored lower on the civil service test for the exam than the two deputy chiefs, and has less supervisor experience within the department. The three had been on the force for about the same amount of time.

Roefaro knew that some would view his appointment of his close friend as nepotism at its worst. Many of those people have been voicing scathing opinions of the appointment on blog sites and news sites. On the WKTV website, the vast majority of comments have been negative.

"What was Roefaro thinking? Did he really think the city would give him a pass on this one?" writes one individual.

"Just like the Utica of old..." writes another.

A handful of comments were neutral or supportive of the Mayor's appointment.

"Now that LaBella is clearly in charge, let's see if he moves the department forward," wrote one commentator.

The mayor's assistant, Angelo Roefaro, says the mayor is in New York City meeting with developers and declined to comment on public opinion regarding LaBella's appointment, and about whether he fears it would hurt his chances at re-election-if he decides to run in 2011.

Angelo Roefaro says that feedback to the mayor's office has been very positive, and invites anyone with concerns about the new chief's appointment to contact city hall.

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