PETERSBURG – It didn’t take long for tension to build among Upper Township Committee, at its April 11 meeting, as they reached discussion early regarding certain items on the agenda.
Although listed as a resolution to be acted on after a closed session, and specifically addressing the “separation from service of Scott Morgan as township administrator” and “appointing Gary DeMarzo as township administrator on a temporary basis,” members soon engaged in putting forward their thoughts on the matter.
Committee member John Coggins called upon each committee member, including Mayor Curtis Corson, to honor “your earlier promises to advertise this position” made during public comment sessions to residents at previous meetings.
Each member declined to support Coggins’ request for a measure not to appoint temporarily “pending a search” a new business administrator, identified as former Wildwood Mayor DeMarzo, at an annual salary of $75,000.
Committee members, in their remarks among themselves, seemed to indicate that the position would be advertised as soon as it was made “permanent.”
Coggins said that the municipal administration and committee never gave Morgan time to improve upon his “fairly well-performing” tenure and, according to Coggins, would prompt union activists to come into the municipality to organize because of the unfair treatment of this employee.
He also criticized the committee for not conducting an interview with DeMarzo, and that the hiring action never went through the municipal personnel department.
He added that there are already “allegations of political payoffs” to which Committee member Kim Hayes said she was objecting to “these allegations in a public forum.”
Coggins added that since “each committee member is a department head and under township organization, the municipality is not required to even have a business administrator, why was this action being taken in such a rushed and haphazard manner with no proper search.”
Corson replied that “compared to other municipalities of similar size, all have administrators.”
During public comment, several residents objected to the lack of advertising for the position, the sudden addition of the hiring on the agenda, and “untruths” and “lies” from the committee as to what was really going on.
Blanche Adams, representing the Upper Township Business Association, noted that the committee’s action left impressions of a lack of transparency and an overall “bad feeling” about what was going on.
“There are numerous qualified candidates in our own community. Why is committee not hiring locally? Committee keeps going back to the fact this is a ‘temporary’ measure, so when will the permanent position be advertised,” Adams asked, with no answers from the committee.
Another resident described past negative experiences involving DeMarzo. “Google his name and you’ll see all the problems,” the resident said, at which point DeMarzo left the meeting with his son.
A resident summed up the frustration of the citizen attendees with “what’s being hidden? Is this just to support the county Republican Party?”
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.
