Robert McLoughlin, the Montclair construction official responsible for the bright red “Stop Construction Notice” signs that regularly appear on storefronts and houses around town, was fired by the town, effective today. Local contractors considered him tough and tactless, but essentially fair. He famously shut down the Wellmont after a piece of its ceiling fell during a concert last August.
The Montclair Times reported yesterday that McLoughlin sent a letter to town administrator Marc Dashield threatening to report “political interference” by Mayor Jerry Fried to the state attorney general if his termination wasn’t rescinded by this past Wednesday.
We were investigating this story last week, but neither McLoughlin nor Dashield returned our calls. Mayor Fried, reached by email, dodged the story by sending this email on Tuesday.
As you know, the Township Manager has had to make several very difficult decisions over the last 16 months and this is one of them. In our form of government, these staffing decisions are made by the Manager and you’ll have to speak with him directly. Since this is a personnel matter, it wouldn’t be appropriate for members of the governing body to discuss it publicly.
There is discussion of the possibility that Glen Ridge would contract its construction inspection services out to Montclair.
The Montclair Times obtained a copy of McLoughlin’s letter. “I have verified that Mayor Fried’s political interference can be documented and easily proven,” the Times quoted McLoughlin as saying. “There are numerous incidents where the mayor attempted to influence or control my decisions, including as just one example, his attempts to influence fire and public safety issues regarding the Wellmont Theatre.”
We will file an OPRA request for the letter on Monday.
Wow, I can’t wait to see this one played out. This is going to be good.
Future alliteration — Fried fried for firing.
This would be an entire different story, more alarming, more credible, if Mr. McLoughlin made his allegations of political interference while he was still employed.
As of now, it seems he was willing to accept such political interference and only threatens to expose it in order to get his job back.
Speculating anonymously, I offer that a big reason would be that nothing unlawful took place.
Even for a boob like Fried, I need more before to be convinced he’s crooked.
They way I read it Bob didn’t let the political interference effect his job performance. That’s why they are trying to get rid of him. Fried could have made all sorts of sugestions to push permits through that weren’t “illegal” but if Bob followed through then it would have.
Right Of Center
16 hrs, 32 mins ago
There is a lot of troubling information in the MC Times article. There is the allegation against the Mayor. But also this:
“McLoughlin said if his dismissal wasn’t “rescinded” by this past Wednesday, May 11, he would be contacting the state Attorney General’s Office and the state Department of Community Affairs to demand an investigation of the mayor’s conduct under state law and the municipal ethics code.”
So if he had been rehired would he then have turned a blind eye to the alleged corruption? It that the suggestion?
With different circumstances/characters, the comment would be insightful. But it’s off the mark here. While Bob was/is there, no “corruption” of the construction code office is occurring or is possible because he’s resisting the political interference. That is precisely why they want him out. And if he’s out, then the suggestion is that they’re more free to control the office. Thus action by some outside authority becomes desirable/necessary based on the past behavior, because Bob is not there to protect the public interest anymore, ergo his perceived need and duty to report it to another authority. (Note: This does not address all of the alleged improper conduct, such as the violations of Montclair’s form of government, but only the issue of “corruption,” as stated.)
Bob McLoughlin is a man of unquestioned integrity. For thirty years, he has served the people of Montclair with honor, distinction, and dedication beyond the call of duty. He has put his life on the line for the people of Montclair (not his “political career”). He is a highly-trained, thoughtful, disciplined, no-nonsense professional. He’s not some politician. When he says something, it merits everyone’s attention. When he says something, it merits far more weight than any local politician.
Mine was a question not a comment Mr. Hartnett. I have no idea what the actual facts are here. I’m still troubled that according to the article, some alleged wrong-doing is worthy of being reported unless he was hired back. That seems to be what the article is suggesting, no?. Perhaps it has been misreported in the MC Times.
Mister Mayor loves to trot out the old “in this form of government” line when he’s being asked to do something he doesn’t want to do. Yet he doesn’t let the “form of government” get in the way of, say, getting TV-34 to follow him around right before his trip to China so he could show his Chinese buddies footage of him “being mayor,” and he doesn’t mind phoning up town officials countless times a day for little favors or questions even though he’s not technically supposed to do that, etc etc etc.
I’m also wondering if anyone else thinks it’s odd that this construction official is accusing an elected official of corruption, and the elected official’s response is, “It would not be appropriate to comment.” I would think the response should be, “I am not corrupt.” Interesting.
No criticism intended; it’s a fair inference to draw from a report like that. I hope my earlier comment cleared it up. If not, or in any case, there is obviously much more to the story to come out. What I do hear is that many complaints by township staff about inappropriate conduct have indeed been reported. The truth will out, as they say, in due course.
Back to yard work…
It’s not just Mister Mayor who forgets about Montclair’s “form of government” and how little interaction the council is supposed to have with town employees. The Knitter brings in her baby (soon, babies) and plops her down in the clerk’s office while she does “township business.” I guess babysitting is now part of the Clerk’s responsibilities? Meanwhile, Dr. Renee complains to TV-34 when she doesn’t look good on camera, and we all know when the good doctor ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.
Can anyone explain why the Wellmont Theater still has a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy? They’ll be open for 2 years come November, and I’m wondering how this situation didn’t come under the scrutiny of MFD or the Township Manager. Do I smell a “deal” here, or was someone asked/ordered to keep a blind eye?
Businesses never operate with a temporary C of O for such a long period of time. If there are construction or fire code problems, one thinks that they would need to be corrected…or the place is red tagged and shut down. (Or however they do it/call it.)
The issue was once again brought to light over almost two months ago at a 4th Ward meeting, where we were told by the Township Manager, “I’m sure that’s not true. I don’t have the information in front of me. I’ll check and get back to you.”
BTW, the Mayor was in attendance as well.
As far as the Wellmont goes, from what I hear and I could be wrong, everytime the wellmont finishes a section and or part of the fire alarm system the temp CO is reissued. They also have off duty F/Fs at the exits during shows.
Is this how people are going to react every time the manager attempts to make use of shared services where some other town is the provider? Remember “shared services”, that idea that is supposed to help us reduce taxes while continuing to provide good service with greater efficiency?
Is Montclair so “special” that we’re going to make it politically impossible for anyone to engage in shared service where we’re using the services of another locality?
…Andrew
This is great news for Montclair! This person has no credibility when he only says there was alleged wrong doing after getting fired. I came across this individual years back and he was very rude which is totally opposite from most other courteous people in Montclair. I was very unprofessional.
correction. bobby mcglockton was unprofessional in his duty as a public employee.
Dchnj what are you talking about? Someone was rude to you years ago and that’s reason to fire them. So with that line of thinking everybody and their grandmother should be fired because at one time or another they were rude while at work. Most of the council should be fired at every meeting. Governor should be fired every time he opend his mouth (maybe he should). Or were you one of the many people looking to try and get one over on Bob and he called you out on it. His credibility is his work ethic, his years of experience with construction and years being a licensed electrition in the “private sector” paying the same taxes we all pay.
The headline on this item makes me chuckle. I had an editor who hated the word “probe” in a headline….said it sounded like something connected with a colonoscopy…