Bergen County exec. Donovan flexing her
muscle with firings
MONDAY, APRIL 16, 2012
LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012, 9:51 AM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
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Turbulence again roiled throughout Bergen County government Monday, as the county executive
fired most of the board at a utilities authority for accepting taxpayer-funded stipends and took fire
from political opponents who said she has been exceeding her power.
The firing of seven of the nine commissioners of the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority
was the latest move by Kathleen Donovan as she attempts to assert her power. Donovan said she
took the bold step to protect taxpayers because the commissioners refused to give up their stipends
and medical benefits. Donovan has veto power over the authority and has tried to use it to reject
meeting minutes to block the compensation. However, the commission’s 2012 budget included a
total of $40,000 for stipends and $97,189 in medical benefits.
Donovan’s political opponents, however, say other recent moves by the Republican, including
blocking promotions and hiring in departments run by elected leaders, indicate that she is trying to
consolidate power under her office.
Surrogate Michael Dressler, a Democrat, accused Donovan of treating elected officials like
department heads.
“A constitutional officer is not a department head,” said Dressler who holds an elected office, as do
the sheriff and county clerk. “Now I’m being told that Surrogate’s Court is made subject to the whim
of the county executive as to when I can hire, fire or move people around.”
He said such interference with his constitutional authority directly affects the probating of wills and
the supervision of trust funds.
“This is the administration of justice,” Dressler added. “This is not the parks department.”
County Administrator Ed Trawinski, however, said the Surrogate and other elected officials have to
live within the bounds of the county budget and he reiterated his criticism of raises that Dressler
gave to the people he promoted.
The mass firings are one of the boldest moves Donovan has taken since she became county executive
16 months ago.
But the action immediately raised questions among officials in both parties as to whether she had the
authority to dismiss members of an independent authority.
All seven of the utility commissioners were appointed or re-appointed between 2007 to 2009 during
a period when Democrats controlled county government, although at least one of them, Chairman
William F. Dator, is a Republican.
Besides Dator, the commissioners served with dismissal notices were Vice Chairman Michael
Kasparian, Brian Chewcaskie, Peter Dachnowicz, Frank Kelaher, Marion Plumley and Jason T.
Shafron. The two more recent appointees, Elizabeth Salazer and Kenneth Gabbert, were not
dismissed because they did not accept the stipends or medical benefits, a county spokeswoman said.
Dator could not be reached for comment Monday. However Paul McEntyre, a spokesman for the
authority, said the seven commissioners who received the dismissal notices will meet with their
attorney Tuesday morning before issuing a statement.
Jeanne Baratta, Donovan’s chief of staff, said notices were served personally upon the
commissioners at their homes or work places on Monday afternoon. The notices allege misconduct
for ignoring Donovan’s repeated vetoes.
Baratta said the action was taken under part of the county code, similar to the law Governor Christie
relied upon to fire members of the Passaic Valley Sewage Commission. Christie dismissed all but one
commissioner in early 2011 after declaring a state of emergency in the agency. A criminal
investigation that followed led to the arrests of four top managers on charges that included using
agency staff to do private work.
“They’re not going to go on. They’re done,” Baratta said, adding that Donovan plans to nominate
replacement commissioners later this month.
“There’s a process and they failed to follow that process,” Baratta added. “When the county executive
issues a veto, they can appeal. They never did that. All they did is ignore the veto.”
Baratta said the administration also notified members of the freeholder board of the action before
announcing it late Monday afternoon.
John Mitchell, the chairman of the freeholder board, said he would not be surprised if that matter
came up for discussion when the board meets on Wednesday. He reserved decision on whether
Donovan has the authority to dismiss the commissioners.
“I’m sure they [the administration] have confidence in their position,” he said.
“This is a bold move, no doubt about it,” Mitchell said, who added that he has asked the
administration to document what it believes to be the authority for Donovan to take this action.
“This squabble with the commissioners has been going on for some time and the stakes have risen to
this point,” Mitchell observed.
“I don’t know whether or not she [Donovan] has the legal standing to do that,” he said. “I know the
county executive is very meticulous when she takes an action.”
The dismissal notices are the latest twist in a long simmering dispute between the authority
commissioners and Donovan over the issue of whether they were entitled to compensation for the
part-time jobs.
Donovan recently received support for her position from the state Division of Local Government
Services, which notified the utility authority that the county executive’s vetoes were valid and should
be reflected in the authority’s budget. The authority has appealed that ruling.
Dressler’s remarks came after his attorney filed a lawsuit against Donovan last week arguing that she
overstepped her authority by blocking three promotions within his office.
The suit is similar to one filed earlier this year by an attorney for County Clerk John Hogan, a
Democrat who contends Donovan has stymied his efforts to hire a $35,000-a-year liaison with the
county’s Korean community.
In response to Dressler’s lawsuit, Trawinski criticized the surrogate for effectively giving the people
he promoted 14 percent pay hikes over two years, which he described as “unconscionable.”
Dressler countered that the pay raises were mandated by a contract with one of the unions
representing county employees. He said the workers in question were entitled to raises totaling about
7 percent over two years plus a contract mandated 7 percent increase for any promotion.
He also said promoting from within his office enables him to save taxpayers about $114,000 by not
having to go outside county government to hire an attorney to fill the job of deputy surrogate.
Trawinski agreed the contract requires those pay hikes, but said Dressler could have saved some
money by not making the promotions retroactive.
He also disputed the claim that the surrogate saved money by not hiring an outside attorney.
Trawinski compared it to being told by his wife that she had saved him money by not buying a dress.
He said elected officials like the surrogate are both constitutional officers and department heads,
subject to the limits of the county budget. He said Dressler could have saved money by combining
positions or leaving them unfilled.
Dressler contends that what Donovan is doing is unprecedented.
“I’ve worked with county executives on both sides,” he said. “I’ve never had this kind of problem
before. They knew this office works well and doesn’t need them to tinker with it.”
But Trawinski countered that Donovan is exercising the powers that voters gave her office when they
approved a strong form of county executive more than 25 years ago.
“Kathleen didn’t start these lawsuits,” he said. “They did.”
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