Former administrator says he might sue
By:Jack Baney
The Township Committee voted unanimously Wednesday night to fire Township Administrator John Middleton.
The decision comes less than a week after Mr. Middleton said Mayor Joseph Tricarico and Deputy Mayor Christine Jensen asked for his resignation because he has failed to do some things they wanted and they have disapproved of some of his actions.
“They would not elaborate at all,” Mr. Middleton said. “Basically, I haven’t got a clue.”
Officials at the meeting did not discuss their reasons for the decision.
Mr. Middleton, 51, had served as township administrator since 1994. He also served as a township committeeman from 1974 to 1979, and as mayor in 1976 and
He said he is considering taking legal action against the township but is uncertain whether the Township Committee must present a valid reason for firing him before it does so, said Mr. Middleton.
Mr. Middleton said he was taken by complete surprise May 18 when Mayor Tricarico and Ms. Jensen told him he was no longer wanted.
“Joe looked at me and said the Township Committee has decided that they no longer need my services,” he said. “That was that.”
Mr. Middleton, a Republican, said he did not detect any tension between himself and the Township Committee over his party affiliation since the committee fell under complete Democratic control in January.
“I don’t think I’ve done anything to interfere with what they wanted to do,” he said. “Nor has anybody else on staff.”
Mr. Middleton received a 6 percent pay raise — one of the highest received by any municipal employee — in April, he added. The raise accompanied a finding that he consistently had exceeded the requirements of his job, he said.The review was written by Township Engineer Frank Scarantino and Township Clerk Gail McKane.
However, Mr. Middleton said Mayor Tricarico expressed displeasure recently that he had spoken to the Newark Star-Ledger regarding Cabelvision’s plans to extend its cable TV network into Hillsborough.
“He said I shouldn’t be talking to reporters — I should refer them to him,” said Mr. Middleton.
He said the mayor also had objected to another comment he made a few months ago to another reporter, but could not remember the nature of the comment.
Further, Mr. Middleton said both the mayor and Ms. Jensen complained they were not informed last month when he met with representatives of the Doris Duke Estate.
He added that township staff hold annual meetings with the estate’s representatives and last month’s meeting was relatively insignificant.
Both Mayor Tricarico and Ms. Jensen in separate phone interviews before the meeting declined to comment on Mr. Middleton’s performance as administrator.
“I’m not looking to conduct a post-mortem on Mr. Middleton’s tenure here in Hillsborough,” said Ms. Jensen. “He provided countless years of service to the town. That’s really the only comment I have.”
But former Mayor Glenn van Lier, a member of the Township Committee when it voted to hire Mr. Middleton, described his performance as excellent.
Mr. van Lier attended Wednesday’s committee meeting to speak in support of Mr. Middleton.
“John was the real rock kind of person — the kind of person you could always count on,” Mr. van Lier said in an interview Tuesday. “I’d hear nothing but praise for John Middleton.”
Mr. van Lier said some of Mr. Middleton’s most important accomplishments were helping the township establish shared services with other branches of government, aiding the township’s open space acquisition program and establishing better guidelines for dealing with municipal employees.
Mr. Middleton listed the same three achievements as what he is proudest of as township administrator, adding that he is also proud of “just trying to bring a business approach to government.”
“That’s what they hired me for,” he said.
Mr. Middleton divorced himself entirely from Hillsborough Republican party politics after he became township administrator, said Mr. van Lier.
Mr. van Lier, also a Republican, recalled a time he asked Mr. Middleton why he had stopped attending Republican meetings: “He looked at me and goes, ‘Glenn, why did you hire me? Did you hire me to do your political bidding?’”
Mr. van Lier, who claimed in January that the committee replaced former Township Attorney Edward Halpern with Emil Philobosian as a political payback, said it likely wants to use the township administrator’s position for another payback.
“They’re just doing what they’ve continued to do, which I find absolutely reprehensible,” he said. “I feel really bad for John Middleton, and I feel bad for the township.”
Mayor Tricarico has denied Mr. Philobosian’s appointment was a political payback.
The township will begin looking for a replacement for Mr. Middleton immediately and likely will find one by the end of the month, said the mayor.
In the meantime, municipal department heads will meet each week to serve the interdepartmental “conduit” function usually served by a township administrator, he said.
“The department heads we have are top-notch,” said Mayor Tricarico. “I don’t think it’s going to be a problem in the short term or long term.”
Mr. Middleton said he would not have retired for at least two more years, and probably not for four more years.
He said he has decided not to retire, an option he said Mayor Tricarico had presented him, because this would cause him to lose the 90 days’ pay he would receive in the event of a termination.
Even with the threat of termination looming, Mr. Middleton said Tuesday he planned to speak with Committeeman John Gelardi Wednesday about various unresolved matters under the township administrator’s jurisdiction.
He said that showing up for a final day of work is the right thing to do.
“It isn’t fair to take a day’s pay without putting in a day’s work,” said Mr. Middleton.