Hearing extended for case against city employee

By Anthony V. Coppola, Staff Writer
   BORDENTOWN CITY — A disciplinary hearing for Public Works Supervisor Robert Erickson ended without resolution Tuesday after seven hours of deliberation.
   A date for the next day of the hearing will be released later this week.
   City Attorney Brian M. Guest of the law firm Parker-McCay presented 11 charges in seeking a six-month suspension for Mr. Erickson. Mr. Guest, along with the testimony of City Commissioner and Public Works Director John Wehrman, cited poor job performance as the basis for suspension. The initial list consisted of 17 charges, six of which were dropped prior to the hearing.
   Allegations included failing to respond to emergency calls directed to a city-issued cell phone and possession of city property at his residence, that according to Commissioner Wehrman, was intended to be destroyed or auctioned. Other charges include failure to have city vehicles inspected, failure to properly maintain city equipment and failure to efficiently manage employee scheduling, according to Mr. Guest and Commissioner Wehrman.
   Defense attorney George W. Fisher Jr., of Zuckerman & Fisher in Princeton, characterized the charges as being made in bad faith and alleged that a personal dislike or intent to get rid of Mr. Erickson was the driving force behind the suspension attempt. The defense pleaded not guilty to all 11 accounts.
   ”It is our position that none of the charges brought against Mr. Erickson are in any way sustainable or have any merit,” Mr. Fisher said. “It is demonstratively part of a pattern on the part of either the individual Commissioner Wehrman or the commissioners as a group to make Mr. Erickson’s life so miserable that he will either quit or be forced to leave employment in the department.”
   In an unrelated situation, the wife and stepchildren of Mr. Erickson were charged in March in connection with the theft of gasoline from city pumps. Police said Mr. Erickson’s stepson, Robert Novak, 21, who was employed by the city last year as a laborer, had been taking gasoline from the city pumps and storing it in gas cans at his stepfather’s house. Mr. Erickson was not charged or implicated in the case.
   ”Mr. Erickson has been the highest ranking and sole employee manager of public works for the city since 1997,” Mr. Fisher said. “During that period of time he has not once been subjected to major discipline action.”
   When the hearing was adjourned Tuesday, Mr. Fisher still intended to cross-examine Mr. Wehrman and was planning to have one or two city employees testify. According to both attorneys, the hearing will most likely take two additional days to complete.