YONKERS, NY: Yonkers will get a new DPW Deputy Commissioner

Yonkers will get a new DPW Deputy Commissioner.

Yonkers will get a new DPW Deputy Commissioner his name is Martin Bellew, a 23-year veteran of the New York City Department of Sanitation. He is expected to receive approval of his appointment at tuesday's Yonkers City Council Meeting. His salary is $128,000. Bellew, a Yonkers resident, retired Dec. 30 as director of New York's Bureau of Waste Disposal and the Bureau of Solid Waste Engineering.

Bellew replaces Michael Ruggiero, who stepped down from the position after a drunken-driving accident and conviction more than two years ago to return to his previous position as manager of refuse collection. The city also is seeking a replacement for Ed Courtney, another public works deputy who retired in 2004.

Bellew's duties in New York City included coordinating the transport and disposal of material from the World Trade Center site after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and managing the closing of the Fresh Kills landfill, according to his resume. He also represented the Department of Sanitation at City Council hearings on environmental issues.

Ruggiero has served as acting commissioner since 2004, while manning his $102,060 civil service job as manager of refuse collection.

He was never suspended from his $128,960-a-year deputy commissioner job after his October 2003 drunken-driving arrest in Hastings-on-Hudson. Ruggiero totaled his city-leased 2002 Mercury Mountaineer in the incident, in which he hit two parked cars.

The city reached settlements with the owners of the parked cars, costing more than $5,000. Ruggiero pleaded guilty in December 2003, had his license suspended and enrolled in court-mandated alcohol treatment programs.

In closing, it will be good to move past the scandal of Ruggiero & The Yonkers Insider wishes the new deputy DPW Commissioner in keeping our City clean. Let's hope the City shows good vision in the hiring of the 2nd Deputy DPW Commissioner.