TIMES
MID
HUDSON
Vol. 28, No 4
3
JANUARY 27 - FEBRUARY 2, 2016
ONE DOLLAR
Double
overtime
win for NFA
Page 44
SERVING NEWBURGH AND NEW WINDSOR
Fire chief charged with fraud
Vatter resigns; Ahlers named acting fire chief
By SHANTAL RILEY
[email protected]
City of Newburgh Fire Chief Michael
Vatter has been charged with wire fraud.
Vatter is accused of double dipping to
the tune of $95,000 in pension benefits.
Assistant Fire Chief Terry Ahlers has
been named acting fire chief.
According to the New York State
Comptroller’s Office, Vatter fraudulently acquired the money after failing to
report his return to work in the public
sector.
“Mr. Vatter collected over $95,000 in
pension payments he was not entitled
to by deceiving the New York State
and Local Retirement System,” state
Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a
statement last Tuesday.
“Under New York State law, a public-sector retiree who is receiving a pension and who returns to public service
cannot receive both pension payments
and a public-sector paycheck,” the press
release stated.
Vatter is alleged to have received a
total of $95,106 in pension payments
he was not entitled to. He was charged
with one count of wire fraud, a federal
offense which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Vatter served the City of Newburgh
Fire Department from 1980 until he
retired in 2000, prosecutors said,
and later attended law school. Vatter
returned to the fire department as chief
in 2009. Prosecutors allege he failed to
report his return to the job, “despite
knowing he had a duty under state law
to do so.”
Public sector retirees are entitled to
earn up to $30,000 per year from public-sector jobs before their pension benefits are cut off, the Comptroller’s Office
3
NFA
competes
to become
‘Super
School’
By SHANTAL RILEY
[email protected]
Former City of Newburgh Fire Chief Michael Vatter has been charged with wire fraud.
states.
City Manager Michael Ciaravino
immediately addressed what he
described as “the elephant in the room”
at a city council meeting on Monday
night. “I want to formally announce
Continued on page 3
WWW.MIDHUDSONTIMES.COM
What would a high school designed to
prepare students for the real world look
like?
The question is being asked by Newburgh
Free Academy students and faculty for the
XQ Super School Project, a competitive initiative challenging students, teachers and
communities to reimagine the American
high school - one that is modern, innovative and able to prepare students for the
global economy.
NFA will submit a super-school design
as part of its bid to win a $10-million grant
to become a “super school.” The high
school has already made it through the
first phase of the contest. The Newburgh
Enlarged City School District is now
reaching out to the community for ideas
in the design process.
“American public high schools have
failed to keep up,” a narrator stated in a
short film presented by the district at the
Board of Education Auditorium last week.
“Classrooms serve relatively the same
purpose as they did in the 60s, 70s, 80s and
90s,” said Newburgh Superintendent of
Continued on page 22