O’Connor Is Interim Administrator As Middle Twp. Seeks Replacement

COURT HOUSE – At a special meeting of Middle Township Committee Nov. 30, Steven O’Connor was tapped as the interim township administrator.  
The post had been filled by Connie Mahon, who resigned 90 days ago to accept a similar post in Wildwood Crest. Mahon’s last day with the township was Nov. 29.
The position had been advertised and a pool of candidates identified, but no actions have yet been taken to select likely candidates for interviews. 
Mayor Michael Clark admitted that he was waiting for the results of the election which could have changed the composition of the committee. “I wanted to be fair,” Clark said in response to a question from Daniel Lockwood, who ran against Clark for the committee position.
O’Connor is a familiar name in county government. For over a decade he served as county administrator, a position from which he retired in 2012. At the time he also served as executive director of the Cape May County Bridge Commission.
Even before assuming the county position, O’Connor was the principal of a political and government operations consulting firm, South Jersey Consultants, LLC.
As a consultant, O’Connor has worked on numerous local political campaigns as well as taking on consulting projects for county municipalities. In one such role, he is currently working with the City of Wildwood on its beach project.
O’Connor serves as the administrator in Cape May Point, the county’s smallest municipality.
At the Nov. 21 meeting of Middle Township Committee, Committee member Timothy Donohue placed a proposed resolution on the agenda calling for the appointment of current Clerk and Deputy Administrator Kimberly Krauss, as interim administrator with a stipend of $500 a week over her current salary as what he called “reasonable compensation.”
Deputy Mayor Jeffrey DeVico opposed the move. With Clark absent from that meeting, Donohue’s resolution was not seconded by DeVico and no action could be taken.
At the Nov. 30 meeting, DeVico proposed the hiring of O’Connor as a contractor to serve as the interim administrator at a rate of $80 per hour with a not to exceed maximum of $15,000.
DeVico said he was concerned that Krauss could be an applicant for the administrator position and he was looking for an interim who could be fully involved in the search for a permanent administrator.
Both Clark and DeVico appeared to place the greatest emphasis on the role of the interim appointee in managing the process for selecting the next administrator.
Donohue disagreed. He placed greater emphasis on the collective roles of committee and department heads in a selection process. 
He said he looked to the interim administrator to “keep the ball rolling” on the many projects underway in the township. His emphasis was on operations, and he saw Krauss as the most knowledgeable person available to achieve the least disruption to operational efforts.
He also pointed to the fact that the option of using Krauss would most likely be cheaper even with the proposed weekly stipend.
DeVico said that bringing in O’Connor was the best option for getting a comprehensive and fair process for selecting the next administrator. Donohue countered that he had not even had an opportunity to meet O’Connor and that O’Connor’s other duties as Cape May Point administrator and Wildwood consultant may leave little time for Middle Township.
About 30 members of the public attended the meeting, and public comment was mixed. Some pointed to the fact that the outside consultant would likely cost more but others pointed to the stipend Krauss receives as deputy administrator and questioned why she should be in line for any extra stipend at all.
Sam Kelly, who ran unsuccessfully against Donohue two years ago, strongly supported DeVico and Clark, accusing Donohue of politicizing the issue.
Addressing Donohue, he said, “This is a reaction to your action at the last meeting.”
Madelyn McCarroll argued that the township needed to support its employees and going to an outside consultant was “a slap in the face.”
In the end, O’Connor was approved on a 2-1 vote that split along party lines. 
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.