Stone Harbor Discusses Administrator Role

STONE HARBOR – An agenda item on the Aug. 16 Stone Harbor Council work session said it was to be a discussion of the structure of the Public Works Department. It quickly became a discussion of the role the borough administrator should play with regard to department heads. 
Administrator Robert Smith was absent from the meeting, but Mayor Judith Davies-Dunhour advanced the proposition that the department head in public works should report to the administrator rather than to the council and the mayor. Councilwoman Bunny Parzych pursued the issue, asking if this was a first step toward a model like that used in Cape May.
Cape May City’s ‘council-manager’ form of government establishes a city manager as the CEO of the city, with council as the legislative body. All department heads in this system report to the city manager, who in turn is responsible to the council.
Stone Harbor operates under a ‘borough’ form of government in which there are six council members and a separately elected mayor. The ‘borough’ form of government used in Stone Harbor is a ‘weak mayor/strong council’ form in which council members are the legislative body. The mayor presides at meetings and is only able to vote in the case of a tie. 
In a ‘weak mayor’ form, the mayor does not automatically have overall executive power. In a ‘strong mayor’ form, the mayor serves as head of the executive branch. 
As Davies-Dunhour read the duties of the administrator, the word that provoked debate was “liaison.” The written list of responsibilities states that the administrator is the liaison between departments and the mayor and council. In the discussion, those supporting the change to have the public works director report to the administrator defined liaison in hierarchical terms, including a reporting relationship. Parzych, who questioned the proposal regarding the director’s reporting line, argued that liaison meant a communication role and not a formal reporting line. 
One item absent from the discussion was the responsibility of the six standing committees of council and their role in directing department actions. 
An article by the New Jersey League of Municipalities makes clear that the law is not completely clear on executive responsibilities. The document states that those executive powers not given to the office of mayor by general law or borough law remain with the council. However, it also states that the borough may appoint an administrator and delegate executive responsibilities to that individual. 
Clarity on Stone Harbor’s future structure may come as the issue of the public works director’s reporting line moves to formal consideration by council, likely in September.