Frank Caliva, formerly the city's chief administrative officer left Mayor Ben Walsh's administration on Monday. Caliva's departure came two days after Central Current reported on the city's inability to get payroll modernization off the ground, a key initiative under Caliva's purview. Credit: Courtesy of the City of Syracuse

Chief Administrative Officer Frank Caliva, the senior staff member who led the city of Syracuse’s payroll modernization effort, resigned Monday.

His resignation will be effective Jan. 2. He is leaving the city to pursue a role at a private practice in dispute resolution.

Caliva’s resignation comes two days after Central Current reported on delays in the city launching its payroll modernization program.

He joined the city in 2019, overseeing a variety of city functions, including finance, budget, assessment, human resources, information technology and other departments.

“During his tenure Frank made significant contributions to the City,” Mayor Ben Walsh said Monday in a statement. “I am grateful for his work and his involvement in ensuring a smooth transition. We wish Frank the best of luck in his future endeavors. The city is reviewing how the chief administrative officer’s duties will be filled.”

City officials have been attempting to update its payroll system since about 2019. At the time, the state’s Financial Restructuring Board recommended the city update its system.

In 2020, the Common Council voted to accept a grant from the FRB to complete the project. About a year later, the city signed a contract with Cherry Road Technologies to complete its payroll modernization.

By 2023, when the city launched the payroll modernization system Kronos, the system did not entirely function, according to sources within city government. Those sources were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record. Some employees abandoned the system, choosing instead to manually track their hours, sources said.

Ultimately, the city hired additional consultants to implement Oracle Human Capital Management, also a payroll modernization software. The city signed contracts with Advanced IT, a local firm, and Ernst & Young, national consultants to complete the project.

Earlier this year, two city department heads told the Council that Oracle could launch at the start of 2025. Chief Financial Officer Mike Cannizzaro told city employees Friday in an email that the system would not launch at the start of the new year.

read more of central current’s coverage

Chris Libonati is the managing editor of Central Current. He is a founding editorial member of the organization and was hired as Central Current's first reporter. He previously worked at the Syracuse Post-Standard...