When the transition at City Hall started on June 2, a day after the late mayor Glenn D. Cunningham was put to rest, there were at least 10 city department directors who were asked for their resignations by Acting Mayor L. Harvey Smith.
Many of the directors who submitted their resignations did not have the resignations accepted, though. And then, there were those who were told not to return – and are fighting for their jobs anyway.Give me back my job!
Mark Munley, the recently terminated director of the Department of Housing, Economic Development and Commerce, has apparently returned to work at the HEDC office located at 30 Montgomery St. Munley, according to sources within City Hall, had been called to a meeting within two days of Cunningham’s funeral and had received his termination notice from acting mayor L. Harvey Smith. By Friday, June 4, Munley was out as HEDC director (with an estimated salary of $90,905). Robert Cotter, the head of the city’s Planning Department was named the acting director of the HEDC on Monday, June 7.
But on Friday, June 11, it was reported that Mark Munley returned to the HEDC office with a letter from his attorney stating that he could not be fired from his job.
By Monday, June 11, he had resumed being the HEDC director.
Acting Mayor and City Council president L. Harvey Smith, when asked about Munley’s defiant stance, said “He needs to be taught a lesson.”
“I fired him,” Smith added. “I don’t know why he decided to come back.”
Munley did not return phone calls to the Jersey City Reporter for comment.
No one was more surprised at this turn of events than Robert Cotter, who has worked for years with Munley in the HEDC, helping to create the city’s development policies.
“I was shocked that he came back. I already said goodbye,” said Cotter, who confirmed last week that Munley was working his normal hours at the HEDC office.
When Cotter was asked if it was awkward working with Munley, Cotter responded that he has developed a great rapport with Munley.
It is believed that Munley is following city staute, which says that Munley has 20 days left in service to the city to appeal his termination, which can be done in front of the City Council.
The City Council can present a resolution requesting that any department director who was terminated be reinstated. The council could either overturn the acting-mayor’s termination by a two-thirds vote or could choose to not to act and the termination can remain in place.
In recent months, there had been calls for Munley’s ouster, especially from Councilman Junior Maldonado, over what has been seen as Munley’s controversial involvement in certain development projects such as the Flintkote property in downtown Jersey City.
“Munley’s term ends on June 22, and I don’t think that City Council would even consider approving him,” Maldonado said.
The lawyer
Another city director who will be looking to keep a job in this city is Karen DeSoto. DeSoto, the city’s corporation counsel, was notified of her termination on June 8. DeSoto said on the day after she received her termination notice that she couldn’t understand why she was being terminated. DeSoto also said that there should be continuity in the city’s government, that the terminations would create chaos embodied by the legal challenges by Police Chief Ron Buonocore (terminated by rehired last week) and Mark Munley.
Last week, DeSoto said that the city was in negotiations with her to keep her in the Law Department. But she said that if negotiations broke down, she would possibly look to appeal her termination to the City Council but hasn’t decided as of yet.
Desoto also said based on several meetings she said she had with Acting Mayor L. Harvey Smith that she would wait until early this week to file a brief to show cause regarding her termination and present her case in the State Supreme Court in Jersey City, and possibly look to take her case to a federal court.
“My opinion is that the termination is not effectual. I am filing the brief to show that the acting mayor does not have the legal authority to terminate because during these first 30 days he is in a caretaker role,” said DeSoto.
Smith has said recently that the reason that he terminated DeSoto because he wanted his own counsel.
Working the boards
At the previous City Council meeting on May 9, there was the passing of seven resolutions to appoint new members of the boards of the city’s autonomous agencies.
The council voted 7-2 to approve the appointments of Carmine Venezia to the Parking Authority; Elba Perez Cinciarelli and Edward Cheatam as members of the Jersey City Housing Authority; Roger Jones and Thomas Lambert to the Jersey City Incinerator Authority; William Macchi, and Eileen Gaughan and Janet Gaita to the Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority. Withdrawn was the appointment of Ward D Councilman William Gaughan to the Jersey City Incinerator Authority.
While the appointments were done to fill vacancies or terms that had already expired, the actions elicited strong criticism from some of the council members.
Ward C Councilperson Steve Lipski said at that City Council meeting that there would be “governmental fireworks” as a result of these large-scale appointments.
Ward F Councilwoman Viola Richardson was more vocal by saying that she was not consulted or notified of these actions until the day of the meeting, and considered it insulting and insensitive in light of the fact that the mayor Glenn D. Cunningham’s funeral occurred no more than the week before.
After the meeting, Gaughan said that when the late mayor was in office, there were many appointments made that the City Council only knew at the last minute.
Gaughan also pointed out the appointments were not political and many of the people appointed were legitimate choices, citing as an example Carmine Venezia to the Parking Authority, with Venezia being the former director of the Parking Authority under former mayor Bret Schundler.
Venezia said he has a lot to do at the Parking Authority. “At [a recent] meeting, [the commissioners] took away the executive director’s right to hire and fire people,” said Venezia, “and put in the hands of the Board of Commissioners.” The board voted 5-2 to take away the executive director’s capacity to hire and fire.
“I would personally like to look at how salaries are distributed. The chief financial officer said that [the Parking Authority] was short $400,000. There’s no way that should be happening,” said Venezia.
Venezia is also looking forward to lengthening the Parking Authority board meetings, which have lasted no more than a half hour.
When Venezia was asked whether his appointment can be seen as political with regard to the new administration that is in place at City Hall, he said that one would be “naïve” not to notice.
“This is a process that was not invented in this administration, or under Mayor Cunningham, or Mayor Schundler, or any of the mayors before him,” said Venezia. “It does exist, but there’s no other way.”
At the next City Council meeting this week, there are resolutions on the agenda calling for the appointments of Phillip Webb, currently a security officer for acting-mayor Harvey Smith, and Margaret DiNardo to the board of the Jersey City Redevlopment Agency.
SIDEBAR
Show me the money
For those who were terminated from City Hall and for those who will be filling their positions, there are lucrative salaries to be gained or lost.
What are some of the salaries of various positions within City Hall? Here’s a list based on information provided by the City Clerk’s office for salaries updated as of March 2004.
Mayor: The starting salary was $75,000, but for late Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham, it was $97,883. The last total shows a substantial increase as a result of longevity as a civil servant as well as pay increases granted during his administration. It has been reported that Acting Mayor L. Harvey Smith will earn around $92,000, but that has not been determined. Deputy Mayor: Gene Drayton had been earning $80,555. Deputy Mayor: Anthony Cruz had been earning $59,719. Chief of Staff: Former Chief of Staff Bill Ayala had earned $88,890. Business Administrator: Former B.A. Carlton McGee earned $99,553; his replacement, Brian O’Reilly, is expected to earn slightly less at $97,093. Chief Corporation Counsel: Karen DeSoto, who is fighting to keep her position, earns $90,973; her replacement Hope Blackburn’s salary has not been determined. Fire Director: Jerome Cala earns $91,886. Health and Human Services: Sergio Lamboy earns $87,409. Housing, Economic Development and Commerce: Mark Munley, fighting for his job, earns $90,905. His replacement, Robert Cotter, earns $81,291. Police Dept. Director: Sam Jefferson earns $91,410. Department of Recreation: Bob Hurley earns $89,157. Department of Public Works: Betty Outlaw earns $89,157.