John Pilone, CSC Docket No. 2026-200

BackgroundJohn Pilone, represented by Dudley Burdge, Senior Staff Representative, CWA Local 1032, requests reconsideration of In the Matter of John Pilone (CSC, decided June 11, 2025).

As background, the subject examination was announced with a closing date of July 22, 2024 and was open, in pertinent part, to employees in the competitive division who had an aggregate of one year of continuous permanent service as of the closing date in any competitive title and possessed a Bachelor’s degree, including or supplemented by a minimum of 18 semester hour credits in mathematics, computer science, information technology, and/or computer information systems, and four years of professional experience in the development, implementation, and maintenance of multi-network, multi-user Local Area Network (LAN), Metropolitan Area Network, Storage Area Networks (SAN), and/or Wide Area Network (WAN) environments. Applicants needed to attach a copy of their transcripts to their applications. The resulting eligible list of five non-veteran names promulgated on February 6, 2025 with an expiration date of February 5, 2027. A certification of those names issued from the eligible list on February 6, 2025 (PS250186) with three eligibles receiving regular appointments and two being retained. A second certification, consisting of two names, issued on March 26, 2025 (PS250480) and was cancelled.

On his application, the petitioner indicated possession of a Bachelor’s degree. He also listed his experience as “Network Administrator 2 OIT” with the Office of

Information Technology (OIT) from May 2015 to July 2024;1 Systems Engineer with Konica Minolta from November 2013 to April 2015; Technical Support Analyst with SRSSoft from February 2012 to October 2013; Technical Support Specialist with Med- Metrix from May 2008 to January 2012; Network and Computer Systems Analyst with Liberty Consulting and Billing from May 2007 to November 2007; and Computer Technician with the Township of Union Board of Education from June 2005 to April 2007. The Division of Agency Services (Agency Services) credited the petitioner with three years and three months of experience based on his Systems Engineer and Technical Support Analyst positions but did not credit the other listed positions. In that regard, for the “Network Administrator 2 OIT” position, the petitioner listed his duties as follows:

Network Service Level Management Team - Providing secure, efficient, and highly available IT Support Services for the State of New Jersey computing platforms located within the NJOIT managed facilities and data centers as well as for all State of New Jersey Executive Branch

Departments and Agencies through the Garden State Network. •

Providing and maintaining Enterprise Network Monitoring and

Application Performance Monitoring Services in support of a highly available and efficiently operating data center and network infrastructure. • Leads and participates in the planning, development, implementation, and maintenance of new hardware device monitoring systems (Cisco Prime Infrastructure, IBM Netcool Omnibus, and Solarwinds). • Acts as a liaison between current department and various state agency representatives regarding their hardware equipment hosted in the Cisco Prime Infrastructure application. •

Generates documentation for new application, upgrades, enhancements and changes to existing infrastructure. Documents changes to critical systems in accordance with the organization’s processes and procedures, change control methods and configuration standards. • Analyzes informational reports, server / application processes, and operational reports to detect monitoring system issues and hosted device issues.

Provides recommendations for and physical environment enhancements as needed.

For the Technical Support Specialist position, the petitioner listed his duties as follows:

Domain based network administration of Microsoft Windows Server

2003 and Microsoft Windows Server 2008 environments, server roles including: Active Directory, DHCP, DNS, File Services, Network Policy,

Print Services, and Web Server (IIS). • Hardware and software

1In fact, the petitioner had lumped three positions together: Information Technology Specialist; Administrative Analyst 3 Information Systems; and Network Administrator 2 OIT.

workstation end-user technical support in Microsoft Windows 7 and

Microsoft Windows XP environments.

For the Network and Computer Systems Analyst position, the petitioner listed his duties as follows:

Maintaining and allocation of technology resource budget. • Domain based network administration of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 environment, server roles including: Active Directory, DHCP, DNS,

Network Policy, and Print Services. • Hardware and software workstation end-user technical support in Microsoft Windows XP and

Microsoft Windows 2000 environments.

For the Computer Technician position, the petitioner listed his duties as follows:

Hardware and software workstation end-user technical support in

Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, and Microsoft

Windows 98 environments. • Management of the Township of Union

Public School District employee, teacher, and student accounts in

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 environment using Active Directory services.

Agency Services determined that the petitioner’s descriptions of his “Network Administrator 2 OIT,” Technical Support Specialist, and Network and Computer Systems Analyst positions, while including some relevant aspects in terms of the maintenance and support of multinetwork LANs and WANs, did not indicate the development and implementation of multinetwork SANs, LANS, or WANs. Agency Services also determined that the petitioner’s description of his Computer Technician position did not reflect the required experience. Agency Services further indicated that there was no transcript available to verify the petitioner’s possession of the required specific credits. Therefore, Agency Services deemed the petitioner ineligible since he lacked the specific credits and nine months of experience and thus did not meet the education and experience requirements set forth in the announcement.

Subsequently, the petitioner was admitted to the subject examination for prospective employment opportunities, and his name was added to the eligible list. Specifically, he supplied a copy of his transcript evidencing his possession of the specific credits and clarified his “Network Administrator 2 OIT” experience. The petitioner also listed the three titles in which he served; revised the second set of duties to read, “Providing and maintaining Enterprise Network Monitoring and Application Performance Monitoring Services in support of a highly available and efficiently operating data center and LAN/WAN network infrastructure;” and added “Manages network based equipment (firewalls, routers, switches) in both the Cisco Prime Infrastructure and Solarwinds network monitoring applications used in

LAN/WAN deployments across the state of New Jersey.” However, the petitioner maintained that this relief was insufficient and urged that he should have been admitted with retroactive effect because Agency Services’ determination was erroneous. The request for retroactive relief was denied. See Pilone, supra. Specifically, the Commission upheld Agency Services’ review of the “Network Administrator 2 OIT,” Technical Support Specialist, Network and Computer Systems Analyst, and Computer Technician positions, and found that Agency Services did not err in finding the petitioner ineligible on the basis of the information he had provided on his original application. Thus, there was no basis for a retroactive remedy, and the prospective remedy was affirmed.

In this request for reconsideration, the petitioner renews his request for retroactive relief, repeating his contention that Agency Services’ review of his original application was in error.

Appellant's argumentRegarding the “Network Administrator 2 OIT” experience, the petitioner maintains that he repeatedly described his job as a network administrator by referring to the State’s networks, and “any reviewer with even a limited knowledge of computer networks would have understood that these were LANs and WANs.” Moreover, he referred by name to the Garden State Network, which happens to be the WAN that links State agencies. Indeed, Agency Services, in reviewing a similar description of the petitioner’s duties without the use of the terms LAN, WAN, or LAN/WAN found in a 2023 classification determination that he was performing Network Administrator 2 OIT work. The petitioner insists that his work description should have been “understood to include LANs and WANs.” Also, per the petitioner, it should be noted that the job requirement actually refers to the “development, implementation, and maintenance of . . . [n]etwork . . . environments.” As the petitioner stated in his application, his job as a network administrator involved the “planning, development, implementation, and maintenance of new hardware device monitoring systems . . .” (petitioner’s emphasis). Since monitoring systems are a crucial part of a network environment, it seems clear to the petitioner that he showed the requisite experience.

The petitioner also argues that his Technical Support Specialist and Network and Computer Systems Analyst positions ought to have been credited since he mentioned network administration work in these positions.

In support, the petitioner submits copies of his 2022 position classification questionnaire; the ensuing 2023 classification determination; and letters of recommendation.

CONCLUSION

RuleN.J.A.C. 4A:2-1.6(b) provides that a petition for reconsideration shall be in writing signed by the petitioner or the petitioner’s representative and must show the following: (1) the new evidence or additional information not presented at the original proceeding, which would change the outcome and the reasons that such evidence was not presented at the original proceeding; or (2) that a clear material error has occurred. A review of the record reveals that reconsideration is justified. The Commission finds that while the petitioner may not have utilized the precise language of the experience requirement, his original application reflected that he met the requirements for the examination. Thus, the petitioner should be added to the eligible list retroactively, and his name should be added to the February 6, 2025 (PS250186) certification.

ORDER

Therefore, it is ordered that this request for reconsideration be granted and John Pilone’s name be retroactively added to the eligible list for Network Administrator 2 OIT (PS7665U), Office of Information Technology and to the February 6, 2025 (PS250186) certification. Additionally, it is ordered that the February 6, 2025 (PS250186) certification be returned to the appointing authority for proper disposition.

ClosingThis is the final administrative determination in this matter. Any further review should be pursued in a judicial forum.