County to Appeal Pay Increases For Prosecutor 6.21.2006

CREST HAVEN – The county will appeal Judge William Todd’s ruling that it hike the pay of 18 members of the Prosecutor’s staff retroactive to Jan. 1 at a cost, the county said, of some $64,761.
And Prosecutor Robert Taylor will cross-appeal to reopen collective bargaining agreements affecting some 33 persons whose salaries Judge Todd left unchanged.
When Todd’s ruling came June 8, both sides said they were “pleased,” but the county hinted all along at an appeal.
County Administrator Steve O’Connor told this newspaper the county also will ask Todd for a stay in his ruling because “we don’t want the employes to have to repay it if the county is successful.”
Taylor said he didn’t think that would fly because “the county has to show the likelihood of prevailing on the appeal, and I don’t think they can show that.”
Taylor said he intended all along to advise the people getting raises to put that money aside in the event the decision was reversed.
“Our appeal is not based on the cost of this,” said O’Connor, “but because we feel the judge’s decision went beyond the scope of Bigley,” the legislation cited in Taylor’s action.
“Not just for Cape May County, but for all county governments throughout the state,” said O’Connor, “it’s real important the Bigley application be applied as restrictive as we believe the statue states it should be.  It has to be fair and balanced and, as interpreted by Judge Todd, it’s not fair and balanced. The funding source, the freeholders, do not have equal standing, and that has to be rectified.”
Said Taylor: “After clearly being told by Judge Todd and the New Jersey Attorney General’s office that the prosecutor’s office employes have the highest work load of the 21 counties and the lowest pay scale, you would think the freeholders would want to correct the unfairness in pay.
“No,” said Taylor, “what do the freeholders do? They decide to pay more legal fees and  costs to appeal in a case they have little likelihood of winning rather than give the money to the employes.
“I believe it shows a callous disregard of the welfare of the employes in the prosecutor’s office,” said Taylor.
O’Connor told the Herald that attorney Russell Lichtenstein is paid $225 an hour.
A veteran negotiator, O’Connor said Todd’s ruling that Taylor would negotiate future pay and contracts with his employes “has to be straightened out. He (Taylor) is strictly an advocate for the employes; really there is no collective bargaining process. There have to be three components: employer, the prosecutor; employes, the unions; and the freeholder board, the funding source.”
O’Connor said the county also will argue “the unfairness” of Judge Todd ordering increases to management personnel “even before the freeholders had the opportunity to provide raises.”
The county was slated to do that next month.
The Bigley premise – that the courts can order freeholders to pay the costs of a prosecutor “discharging his duty” – dates to 1874, and has been the subject of numerous amendments and court interpretations through the years.
With the support of the state Attorney General, Taylor filed his action on March 15, the day after freeholders approved their $126-million, 2006 budget that failed to give him much of what he requested for additional manpower and equipment.
The county and prosecutor compromised on major issues before going to court on the pay hikes question.
The county agreed to fund the hiring and equipping of three additional investigators, one assistant prosecutor and two part-time secretaries, at a total cost of $382,000, according to the county.
Both also agreed to have an architect do a facilities assessment of the current prosecutor’s building and the third floor of the courthouse, which Taylor has eyed for his department.
There is no agreement on what would follow that assessment, with the county arguing the court has no authority to deal with that.
On the issue of additional hires, the county and prosecutor agreed each would submit to Judge Todd the names of two firms or agencies that would study manpower needs and make recommendations.
If they cannot agree on one, the judge would pick the agency. There is every indication that’s what will happen.
Contact Zelnik at (609) 886-8600 Ext. 27 or: jzelnik@cmcherald.com