The Brick Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) commissioners’ rushed Monday night coronation of Republican Freeholder James F. Lacey as the new MUAexecutive director reeks of political patronage at its very worst.
Lacey will be a double-dipper extraordinaire at the public trough, with his $135,000-a-year salary as MUA director and his $30,000-plus salary with benefits as a county freeholder.
And the double-dipping is not the most egregious problem. The Brick MUA commissioners voted 5-to-0 to appoint a man with no experience in water resources or managing a water and sewer utility.
Lacey’s 15 years as an Ocean County freeholder and experience in politically connected administrator jobs in towns that didn’t need one just don’t cut it as qualifications for the MUA job.
MUA Chairman Patrick L. Bottazzi said at the meeting he had checked with the authority’s lawyer and was told Lacey’s appointment was not a “legal conflict” with his freeholder duties.
Maybe not. But it’s a moral one.
The Ocean County Board of Freeholders has held its caucus and public meetings for years at the county administration building in Toms River.
How will Mr. Lacey attend to his Brick MUA duties when he’s sitting in Room 119 in Toms River on a Wednesday afternoon?
What will he do if someone drops in at his new office at MUAheadquarters and wants to chat about county business?
Resident Kathy Ericksen attended the Monday night meeting. She spoke during the public portion and told the commissioners that the possibilities for conflict with Lacey at the MUA helm are many.
“I don’t want to pay an executive director salary for people to come and talk to a freeholder on freeholder business,” she said. “One taxpayer-subsidized salary is enough.”
Lacey will leave his unnecessary job as Beachwood’s administrator to take over the Brick MUA on Feb. 15. And just in time. Newly elected Democratic Mayor Ronald Jones has said he plans to abolish the position once Lacey is gone.
It’s obvious the GOP party bigwigs in Toms River and Brick are running the show when it comes to jobs for political cronies. The old adage it’s not what you know, but who you know has never been more true.
And it’s also obvious that Ocean County Consumer Affairs Director and Brick Republican Club President Stephen Scaturro is heavily involved in a number of Brick appointments behind the scenes.
He and Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis both showed up for the Board of Education meeting where Edward McBride, Scaturro’s underling in the county consumer affairs department, was appointed to fill the board vacancy created by the resignation of Brian DeLuca, who won a council seat in November.
This disturbing trend continued when Scaturro, his wife, Councilwoman Ruthanne Scaturro, and Acropolis all showed up at the MUA meeting Monday night. Just their presence could have influenced the MUA commissioners.
And was Republican Township Councilman Joseph Sangiovanni the only person who was qualified for the job as Brick schools’ transportation director last year? For that matter, did the Township Council need to name his daughter, Bianca Sangiovanni, as a township alternate public defender this year?
Juan Bellu, an official in the Toms River Republican club, was just appointed to a new administrative position in town hall that pays close to $100,000.
You would think public officials would doing anything they could to avoid cries of patronage, after the mess former Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli left.
You’d be wrong. Lacey’s appointment was a done deal from the get-go.
MUA Chairman Patrick L. Bottazzi’s comment that it would be wrong to “penalize” a sitting freeholder is laughable.
The only ones penalized in this stinky deal are the taxpayers of Brick and Ocean County.
MUA officials should release Lacey’s résumé and the résumés of the seven other applicants, so Brick residents can decide for themselves who should have deserved the job.