Borough Council mulls "buyout" agreement with Victoria Keller
By: Cynthia Williamson
NEW HOPE — While the council was inside Borough Hall deliberating the fate of Victoria Keller for more than two hours at a special closed-door meeting Tuesday, residents congregated outside on the sidewalk mulling the borough manager’s future.
“I’m here to find out what’s going on,” said resident Bob Gay, who waited with about 40 others for the public portion of the meeting to begin at 8 p.m.
“We’re all up in a rage,” said Don McGee, who resides in the Riverwoods section of New Hope where Ms. Keller purchased a house last year. “Victoria is a woman with the highest integrity I’ve ever met.”
Their hopes of getting to the bottom of the rampant rumors that began circulating the town Friday were dashed when the borough’s solicitor emerged from the meeting at 8:15 with a brief statement.
“The public meeting is not going to take place tonight,” announced Robert Baldi from the steps of Borough Hall. “There’s nothing to vote on; there’s nothing to discuss.”
But a source close to the borough, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said although there were sufficient votes on the council to terminate Ms. Keller, there is discussion of negotiating a “separation agreement” or settlement with the borough manager that would most likely include a cash payment and other benefits.
Council Vice President Sharyn Keiser declined to comment, saying it was a personnel matter, and she was “allowing someone’s privacy to be respected.”
She said, “It’s very unfortunate that this has gotten out to the street.”
Ms. Keiser was uncertain if the discussion would be continued when the council meets in closed session Tuesday at 6 p.m., prior to its regular meeting.
Ms. Keller is an “at will” employee of the borough, meaning she can be terminated from the $53,518-a-year position without a reason.
Although her Lincoln Continental was parked in the lot behind Borough Hall for most of the meeting, Ms. Keller was nowhere to be found. Councilman Jake Fell said Ms. Keller did not attend the session, but she was represented by her attorney, Richard Patton.
Some residents were perplexed by what they perceived as a sudden decision to terminate Ms. Keller.
Resident Jack Stewart said he returned a day early from vacation when he learned the subject of the special meeting.
“We thought this new bunch we helped carry in would bring sanity and integrity to the borough,” Mr. Stewart said. “I’ve never heard evidence from anyone that Victoria wasn’t doing her job.”
David Fleming also was there to support Ms. Keller and said she has “done a great job.”
He said, “I’ve watched the way she’s run the show, and it’s a lot more organized now. It’s very hard putting up with politicians, and she deserves a medal for that.”
But not everyone had positive remarks to make about Ms. Keller.
“Out,” said Fox and Hound bed and breakfast owner Dennis Cianci with a dramatic sweep of his arm. “I want to see her fired.”
Mr. Cianci said he had gotten approval to build a house on land adjacent to the bed and breakfast. Then Ms. Keller got involved, and the permit was ripped out from under him, he said.
“At the very last minute, she brought in the engineer,” he said. “That’s when all the hoop da la began.”
Mr. Cianci said he finally got the approval he was seeking but it cost him “thousands and thousands” of dollars in legal fees.
“She gets into things that don’t concern her,” he asserted. “She doesn’t follow up on things; she turns her back on you and creates more problems than she solves.”
An officer in the Police Department said dealing with Ms. Keller could be “reduced to one word — horrendous.”
Another officer, who also asked not to be identified, said the borough manager was tight-fisted on spending for police but splurged on herself.
“She constantly sent us memos,” the officer said. “She wouldn’t let us buy anything — equipment, supplies, anything — but she went out and bought herself an office and a computer.”
Resident Stephen Stahl said the borough manager was arbitrary when it came to releasing public documents, and he had to hire an attorney to obtain information.
“But when I asked for copies from (code enforcement officer) Robert Rynkiewicz’s file, she willingly sold me 150 pages for $34,” he said, shaking his head. “A lot of it had to do with personnel.”
Some concluded Ms. Keller has aligned herself too closely with one side of the borough’s political fray, and it hasn’t helped to advance her career.
At a recent Civil Service Commission hearing where Corporal Frank DeLuca was appealing a one-day suspension and two reprimands he had received from Mayor Laurence Keller, it was obvious Ms. Keller was there to support Mr. DeLuca. Ms. Keller and the mayor share the same last name, but are not related.
Council President Richard Hirschfield has been lightly critical of Ms. Keller’s accounting and management practices, but others have suggested the final straw involved the manager’s response to an unemployment claim for former part-time officer John Gray without the council’s knowledge.
Mayor Keller removed Mr. Gray from the work schedule after an 18-year-old Lambertville woman alleged the officer had handcuffed her and placed her in the back seat of his patrol cruiser after she allegedly rebuffed his request for a date.
Not having worked for several months, Mr. Gray filed a claim for unemployment benefits and won, which infuriated some council members.
The borough had been without a manager for several years when the council voted 4-3 in September 1997 to hire Ms. Keller, which was controversial in itself.
Dissenting council members questioned whether the financially strapped borough could afford a manager at $52,000 a year. The borough began 1997 about $131,000 in debt and had to borrow $200,000 on tax anticipation notes to pay bills.
The succeeding years also have been bumpy for the borough manager.
A year after Ms. Keller began the job, pilfered documents from her personnel file were copied and placed on doorsteps throughout the town. An unsigned memo questioned the veracity of Ms. Keller’s resume.
She held borough officials accountable for the public disclosure of her personnel data and threatened to file suit if an “amiable settlement” could not be reached.
Past council president Ralph Prosceno voted to hire Ms. Keller in 1997 and was outside Borough Hall Tuesday waiting for the public meeting to begin.
“All of my experiences with her have been very positive,” Mr. Prosceno remarked. “She’s very qualified, and she’s conducted herself in a very fine matter.”
Mr. Prosceno said he contacted Ms. Keller after receiving word over the weekend there was a possibility she could lose her job.
“I just wanted to let her know that I’m around,” he said. “In times like this you need your friends.”
Meter officer Bill Brooke said Ms. Keller “moved about her job and did what had to be done.”
He added, “I know she was upset when she first heard about it. Personally, I don’t like it. People have heard about it and raised hell about it.”