Frederick Carr started work as Bloomfield township council's new administrator on Tuesday, bringing with him some experience in similar jobs in the small township of Cranbury and the borough of Matawan, along with a dose of controversy.
Carr had worked in the past for Jersey Professional Management, the Cranford-based private search firm that helped Bloomfield council with the hiring process. Bloomfield's council voted 4-3 in favor of hiring Carr.
Councilman Robert Ruane, who voted against the decision and hadn't noticed Carr's employment history with JPM on his resume, told Baristanet, "With all due respect, I didn't think Carr was one of the two top candidates."
Ruane had shortlisted eight other candidates himself, excluding the two in JPM's final selection, and which included women, one of whom Ruane had considered a very strong candidate for the position. The previous administrator was Louise Palagano, who had done the $27,000-a-year job for six years.
The four votes in favor of Carr's employment included that of Councilwoman Pat Barker, who chaired the committee charged with the decision.
Barker said, "We hired a professional search firm to help with this decision, and Carr had been interim administrator in Matawan and Cranbury and also a town in Kansas. We thought he was the best candidate in terms of education, background and experience and he will bring a level of professionalism to the council, he's ready to roll up his sleeves and get started."
Barker said that from an initial candidate field of 46, JPM trimmed this down to 31 after excluding those without the right experience or education. The 31 were then sent questionnaires before their first interview and were picked according to the criteria set out by Bloomfield council in their job ad.
Mayor Raymond McCarthy, who voted against the move, questioned the transparency of how the list of candidates was whittled down to 2 from 46.
"Is he a golf buddy or what?" NJ.com quoted him as asking.
"Carr was asked whether he had direct experience working in civil service municipalities and he replied honestly (in a pre-interview questionnaire) that he didn't," said Ruane, who said this was one factor in his decision to vote No. His other reason was that Carr didn't make Ruane's own shortlist.
Still, Ruane said the final two "made credible presentations, were personable, had great individual resumes regarding families and work ethic, and the second candidate paled in comparison to Carr."
Ruane said he was happy to give Carr, who will also take on the new $94,000-job of personnel director for the council, the benefit of the doubt because "he's a nice guy," even as he remarked "with no (direct) experience and no qualifications and on $120,000, are we running an apprenticeship? Bloomfield needs someone who knows everything from the start; this isn't a learning experience."
Councilwoman Barker believed having a full-time administrator was in Bloomfield's interest.
"We haven't had one for about five years and our budget advisory committee had recommended that we hire a full-time township administrator to increase efficiency and for cost savings. With a part-time administrator, there had been errors which cost our township a considerable amount of money."
Councilman Nicholas Joanow, who voted in favor of Carr's hiring, said, "He impressed us with his credentials, his manner, his ability to answer questions directly and succinctly, his leadership, his direction and vision, he's a West Point grad and a beautiful fit for our township."
Joanow had noted Carr's history with JPM on the latter's resume and said, "I considered it an asset and that it works in our favor that the company (JPM) thought so highly of him to have hired him."
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Comments (4)
Another council meeting, another controversy. Frankly this is wearing thin. Enough already.
Wow, when I moved to Bloomfield after growing up in Passaic (during Goldman and Lipari years, I picked the right town as a follow up.
ie., a town with a self centered council staring down the barrel of self-destruction. Yay :-(
Jersey Professional Management is the same company that gave Montclair......Joe Hartnett.
Good luck to Bloomfield.
Why would matawan comment? They didn't have enough money to pay his salary
"Fred Carr, Matawan Borough Administrator resigned. The vote to accept his resignation was as follows: Bunyon, Cannon, Clifton, Mullaney voted yes. Councilman Malley abstained and Councilman Mendes was not present. Contrary to other Blogger's reports, Councilman Malley abstained as Mr. Carr has a family member who works for Malley. We wish Mr. Carr the best in his future endeavors. Under the current financial constraints it would be a good idea to go back to hiring a part time Borough Administrator."
http://matawanadvocate.blogspot.com/2008/11/folow-up-borough-council-mtg-11-18-08.html
and then they hired a part-timer
"MATAWAN — A new part-time gig with the borough seemed like a natural fit for new Business Administrator William Garofalo.
"I retired in December 2008 and I decided to come back out a bit for this position," Garofalo said in an April 14 interview. "I worked for Manchester Township [Ocean County] for 19 years as the director of finance."
http://independent.gmnews.com/news/2009/0423/front_page/022.html