STONE HARBOR – It was the last meeting of the year for the Borough Council, one largely given over to praise for Mayor Judith Davies-Dunhour, who was presiding over her last council meeting and ending eight years as mayor and 40 years as a public servant in the borough. Davies-Dunhour opted not to seek reelection this year.
At the very end of the meeting, the council voted to add two resolutions to the agenda that were not part of the package of resolutions provided to the public prior to the meeting. In one of the resolutions the council fired Manny Parada as the borough administrator, and in the second resolution the council fired Parada as public works director. Neither resolution provided the public with any reasons for the actions.
The action came at a meeting where one council member praised the borough for transparency in its deliberations and decisions.
Parada is the second administrator to be fired at a public meeting of the Borough Council. At a special meeting Feb. 9, 2023, the council removed Robert Smith as borough administrator, initiating a series of events that led to Smith’s current litigation against the borough. Smith is suing as a whistleblower, saying he was fired for trying to get the husband of council member Jennifer Gensemer to file long-overdue financial reports. Jack Gensemer is a member of the borough’s Zoning Board.
Parada was made acting administrator and then later confirmed as permanent administrator in July. The vote to appoint Parada permanent administrator was 5 to 1, with Councilwoman Robin Casper being the sole negative vote.
The other members of the council praised the job that Parada did as interim administrator following the ouster of Smith. But Mayor Judith Davies-Dunhour urged more in-depth consideration of Parada’s appointment, saying that he had not worked well with the Office of the Mayor. The vote was taken, Parada was confirmed, and at a subsequent meeting Davies-Dunhour was censured by the council for her remarks on the hiring of Parada.
Along with the lawsuit filed by Smith, the borough is the subject of two additional lawsuits, which allege sexual harassment by Parada. Former Clerk Kimberley Stevenson and current employee Megan Brown have each initiated litigation against the borough and Parada, who at the time was acting as borough administrator. How Parada’s firing by the council Dec. 17 complicates the borough’s defense in those litigations is unclear.
The only terms of the separation between Parada and the borough that are mentioned in the resolutions are that as administrator Parada will be “paid forthwith any unpaid balance of their salary for the next three calendar months.” The second resolution calls Parada’s employment as director of Public Works an “at-will employment position” over which the council has authority to remove any incumbent.
In the votes on the two resolutions, five council members voted yes; council member Victor Foschini abstained on both. An attempt to reach Parada for comment received no reply. Davies-Dunhour said she had no comment.
Generally, municipalities are advised that the purpose of providing adequate notice of a meeting includes each individual item to be acted upon or discussed. The New Jersey League of Municipalities tells municipal officials that an item may be added to the agenda by majority vote of the governing body members present, but that should be done when necessary to “deal with a matter of such urgency and importance that a delay for the purpose of providing adequate notice would be likely to result in substantial harm to the public interest.” It is unclear whether the council’s actions on Parada met that criteria.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
