(September 18, 2003) A month has passed since we broke the story concerning a cleaning company, owned by a cop’s wife, incorporated for less then the two years required to bid, with an employee who was arrested his first day on the job as an illegal alien having already been deported once before. One would think these disclosures might lead to a termination, but so far, not in Kingston.

After the story appeared, Cheryl Wager, owner of Off Hours Management and wife of nine year patrolman Mike Wager called this writer. "I wish you had spoken to me before you ran the story." Wager must remember she started the conversation with "I’m returning your calls." Wager said she wanted to set the record straight on several levels, let’s examine them:

Two Year Corporate Requirement: Wager said she has been in business for well over two years under the same company name. We reminded Wager the bid called for two years of incorporation prior to bid submission. All the accompanying bid paperwork was signed by Wager as corporate president. Shockingly, Town Administrator Kevin Donovan told the Observer that Town Counsel was not "overly troubled" by that transgression. "It could cost more money to overturn the bid on that issue" according to Donovan. We were under the impression that "cost" is not an issue in these matters. What about the nameless companies that might have bid but didn’t because they were not incorporated for the two prior years. Wager should not become a beneficiary of her own transgression, and the town should not become a co-conspirator because it’s cheaper.

Previous Company Was Terrible: Wager went on to tell us how Royal Cleaning, the company that held the contract for the past 18 years "Did a terrible job." She said nobody was satisfied with their work. Our question here is, how did you know? Certainly people within the department would not be making public statements about another company, even if we believed it. As the wife of someone on the inside, it is conceivable that Wager was privy to something others weren’t, thus the low bid. Certainly Royal Cleaning owner Bill Rosenberger takes exception to the assertions.

Illegal Alien Status: Here is where we have a big problem, and even Donovan says he is concerned. Wager said we gave her a bad rap by saying she should have checked the Green Card status and done a CORI investigation on the employee that was assigned to the station. Wager said she hired the services of Casa Brazil, a North Plymouth organization that must provide employees for local companies. "They should have done the background checks. I never paid the guy, I sent my checks to Casa Brazil, he worked for them." In effect, during this post 9/11 era, we have a guy, already deported once and still living here illegally, being whisked out of our police station by INS. A place where guns, ammunition, private records and equipment are housed, and we don’t even know who the employee is because they don’t, in actuality, work for Wager. Wager has denied that she ever made the statement to the Observer. Donovan said she uses Casa Brazil for other work assignments but not for the police station. She claims we must have gotten it wrong. We got it right, it’s what she told us. In effect, Wager has "assigned" a part of her responsibilities to a third party which in itself is a breach of contract. Donovan has asked for proof that the individuals at the police station work for Wager’s Company. So far the only response was a letter asserting that. Donovan says he wants more, "A cancelled check, FICA report, something like that." Donovan insured the Observer he was interested in the time period from July 1 when the contract began, to August 22 when the Observer ran the story. As of press time there has been no response from Wager.

What Should Happen? This should have been a no brainer from the beginning; the vender should be given the opportunity to resign. Failure to do so should result in a termination. Wager is currently enjoying special consideration that would never be afforded a company without a local connection. We will follow this story to its conclusion, and we’re beginning to see what that may be.