Suburban Trends - Wednesday, April 30, 2008
BY TERESA EDMOND
Staff Writer
In light of the recent controversy that has sprung up over the hiring of the new deputy borough manager, municipal officials contend that the employee is the best person for the job and that his political party affiliation has nothing to do with the borough's final decision.
The Borough Council came under fire at its April 17 business section meeting, when residents grilled it for hiring Scott Heck as the deputy borough manager because his Republican Party membership could benefit the GOP-controlled council. Heck is a former mayor, councilman and chairperson of the borough's Republican Club.
The borough originally sought a permanent replacement to fill the borough manager position after the municipality dismissed Ken- neth Hetrick following the Borough Council's reorganization last January.
The grilling the borough received did not come as a surprise to Mayor Walter Davison, who has defended Acting Borough Manager Kelley Rohde's decision to reappoint Heck to the position in early April.
"I didn't think it would happen without controversy," Davison said. "Unfortunately there's lots of politicking in Ringwood. I'm not interested in politics. I've been a councilman for around 24 years. I view it as what has to be done for the town and what's best for it."
Davison said that Heck's performance would fan out the controversy's flames in the months ahead. He also said that the upcoming months would be cru- cial for Heck to assume Rohde's acting manager role while she's recovering from her back surgery.
"We've made an awful lot of progress even in Kelley's absence. We've had the drainage projects moving," Davison said, adding that Heck is prompt in responding to residents' concerns.
Because the borough is facing so many issues, including the Upper Ringwood Superfund site, the Borough Council tapped Rohde for the acting borough manager position while the borough searched for a permanent borough manager.
The Superfund site is where Ford Motor Co. dumped paint sludge around 40 years ago.
Many if not all of the applica-tions the borough received were for the borough manager position, according to Davison. However, when Rohde was reviewing the applications, she suggested that Heck should be hired as the deputy borough manager.
Later on, Rohde approached the council saying that she needed assistance in tackling the borough's issues. The Borough Council responded by creating the deputy borough manager role. Rohde discussed appointing Heck for the job with Davison, and Davison was OK with the idea.
Rohde said, "It wasn't a great big process" when she reviewed job applications originally targeted for the borough manager position and that she didn't interview anyone or advertise for the deputy position. She also insisted that Heck's GOP affiliation didn't influence her decision to hire him.
"I wanted to move forward, and I felt that he was the best both on his experiences and his knowledge of Ringwood," she said.
One reason all the applicants were turned away from the deputy borough manager position is that since many of them were former borough managers, the borough felt they wouldn't settle for a second-in-command position they didn't apply for, according to Davison.
"Anybody submitting an application for the manager wouldn't ordinarily take the deputy manager's slot," he said.
When Rohde first spoke with Heck about the deputy borough manager position, Heck said he "wasn't aware" of such an employee search, but he understands borough's motives.
"Based on recent events, it certainly makes sense," he said. "Ringwood has some serious problems to deal with, and my energy will be focused on moving forward."
Davison said that "somewhere down the road" the borough would hire a permanent borough manager, but he said the municipality has not yet acted on that measure.
"Kelley's the acting manager at least for the short term, so we'll see what develops," he said.
The standard procedure for selecting employees is based on the type of government a municipality has. The borough uses the council-manager form of government, meaning the only borough employees the council can appoint are the borough manager or acting borough manager and the borough attorney. From there, the manager hires all other borough personnel.
Teresa Edmond's e-mail address is edmond@northjersey.com.