Administrator’s Reappointment Under Fire, Called Back Room Deal

CREST HAVEN – Freeholders, in a 3-1 vote, reappointed Cape May County Administrator Stephen O’Connor Tues., Dec. 28. Outgoing Freeholder Ralph Bakley Sr., abstained. O’Connor was given his third, five-year term.
O’Connor, who has served two, five-year terms in the top administrative post, and, at just over $133,000 annually is the county’s highest paid employee, knew the onslaught that faced his reappointment foretold by e-mail messages that circulated earlier this week.
Freeholder Gerald Thornton, who cast the vote against the renewal, sought to have the resolution tabled until after Jan. 4 when his running mate, Susan Sheppard, will take her oath. He proposed offering a three-year reappointment with 90-day escape clause.
Thornton chided the board, prior to the vote in its “lame duck session” for what “amounts to a very costly decision. Without debate, discussion or without any real consideration of Freeholder-elect Susan Sheppard, this board wants to award a permissive, five-year contract to the county administrator that does not expire until Jan. 31, 2011.
“This vote is designed to exclude …Sheppard from the discussion. This is wrong,” he said.
“Suddenly, this board wants to ignore the voters, and disregard the intent f the voters by taking a vote now, at the end of this year, in the last possible moment on this most important decision,” Thornton continued.
He claimed the vote had been scheduled “now in the hope that voters would not be paying attention and that Susan Sheppard would not be included as a voting member of the Board of Chosen Freeholders.
“Again, this is wrong,” Thornton said. “It is an insult to the voters of Cape May County.”
He was also against the reappointment because of “difficult economic times, for us to be awarding a five-year contract with a cost of $650,000 in salary plus another $100,000 in fringe, when we are not required to.”
Thornton then rattled off “real concerns” about decisions made in recent years with O‘Connor‘s backing, including the purchase of the Beesley’s Point Bridge for $1 “placing an extreme burden on the taxpayers of Cape May County.”
“What was the crisis that drove us to that decision?” Thornton asked. “Or was it a purely political move that has now come back to haunt us?
“Right now, even after Mr. O’Connor has abandoned the plan to reopen the bridge, it represents a multi-million dollar potential burden on the taxpayers…It is a bridge to nowhere and nothing but financial trouble,” he said.
Sheppard stood before the panel of which she will shortly become a member and said the matter was not a vote of confidence, but rather was “about good governing.”
She urged the board to table the resolution with consideration for a three-year term. She said that would be “extremely reasonable. There is no urgency here. The term will not expire until the end of January. I respectfully request you honor Gerald Thornton’s request.”
The remainder of the board reacted, as expected, in concert to O’Connor’s reappointment.
Director Daniel Beyel: “It was my idea to bring up the reappointment. I have not received complaints in e-mails or by phone about Steve O’Connor’s conduct.”
He also said it was partly O’Connor’s idea to jointly share the Medical Examiner’s Office with Cumberland County, and jointure with Atlantic County for the Atlantic Cape Community College. O’Connor spearheaded the county’s defense when the county prosecutor “decided to ask for more money than we though reasonable.” The case went to the state Supreme Court.
Beyel said the Beesley’s Point Bridge was a “necessary link” for county residents that would be rehabilitated with the “majority paid by the state…The bridge is not going to be a burden or debt to the taxpayers.”
Ralph Bakley Sr.: “I am the lame duck you are all talking about. In seven years on this board, I have seen the administrator busy at work. I find no fault with anything he has done. He is a known quantity and quality. His character speaks for itself.”
Leonard Desiderio: “I support the reappointment of Steve O’Connor as administrator. He has done an excellent job. He’s our negotiator who came up with some very good ideas. The county has the lowest tax rate in the state. There is no need to change his term. I will vote for a five-year term.”
Vice Director Ralph Sheets: “I have known the man for a long time before he worked for the county. He is an excellent worker. This is pure politics. To me it stinks. I don’t like politics, I’m not that kind of guy…He has done nothing but good for Cape May County. It makes me mad to see this go political.”
Members of the public who spoke against the reappointment included Marie Hayes of Ocean City, retired from the Prosecutor’s Office.
“…If you vote to extend the contract of Steve O’Connor, whose contract does not expire until Jan. 31, 2011, you will be conducting business exactly the way the people of Cape May County said they will not tolerate any longer. This is obviously the same good old boys back room deals that has taken place over many years, and will not be tolerated any longer.
“The constituents of Cape May County have the right to weigh in on the discussion regarding the issuance of a five-year contract being pushed by a lame duck session… How can you justify the issuance of a five-year very expensive contract, when you have consistently voted cutting spending and cutting county jobs? The proposal to issue a five-year contract to the county administrator’s position appears to the same logic you used to justify the buying of a bridge. Have you now learned from that lesson?”
Jay Young from Lower Township said, “Is it prudent to extend a five-year contract in tough economic times when council is in flux?
Larry Trulli of Ocean City: “The bigger man admits mistakes and moves forward. I think, given the economic times, your being reappointed to a three-year contract would not be unreasonable.”
Glen Glembocki of Dennis Township: “Why not appease the people of Cape May County instead of causing problems for the next election? The people spoke. Table it until the next meeting. You will still get your way. That’s part of the reason I ran in Dennis Township, the same people are in control. The people of this county are fed up with it.”