By carolyn o’connell
Staff Writer
LONG BRANCH — Next week the mayor and City Council will be ready to decide if the city’s public safety director will be serving another term.
"I would like to see him stay," said Mayor Adam Schneider, "but there are some issues there."
Louis Napoletano held the position as captain before being appointed by the mayor and council as the city’s public safety director in 1994.
"It was clear to me back then that the people in the department responded well to him," said Schneider.
The department has been run very effectively, said Schneider. "Crime in the city is down, and they [officers] work hard; they do a good job."
He added, "If the guy in charge doesn’t do the job, then the department would not have been as effective as it has been. The cops do a good job in a city that has real issues."
However, last September the rank and file of the police department lined up in opposition to Napoletano.
At a membership meeting of the Policemen’s Benevolent Association Local 10, the union voted 49-18 expressing "no confidence" in the director.
According to Schneider, the director was appointed to manage 23 paid firefighters and 99 police officers. "It is a high pressured job, and when dealing with that many people and personalities, it does create issues."
Schneider said when he met with the PBA after the vote of no confidence they did have some legitimate concerns.
"The PBA could have handled it differently by laying the issues coherently on the table, but that never happened," said Schneider. "Now that we have new officers in the PBA, we can start on a clean slate."
Schneider said he is open to meeting with the new officers of the PBA to discuss any concerns they may have regarding the director.
Napoletano’s troubles don’t end with just the PBA.
According to Schneider there are several other issues, which he declined to comment on, which need to be worked out with the council and Napoletano before he can be reappointed.
One of those issues could be an incident in Ocean Township which recently landed Napoletano before a judge.
Charges against Napoletano were filed with the Ocean Township police by Pizza Hut delivery driver Subeg "Sunny" Singh for simple assault.
Napoletano had filed motor vehicle and simple assault charges against Singh stemming from the same incident.
Both men invoked the Fifth Amendment, and the charges were dismissed by Judge Mark Apostolou.
For now, Napoletano as well as other department heads will continue to serve in their appointed roles and a formal decision on Napoletano’s fate may be heard at the Aug. 13 council meeting.