Civilian official alleges retaliation for addressing code violations at temporary police station
By Amy Batista, Special Writer
HIGHTSTOWN — At Monday night’s council meeting, the forum turned into a heated debate over confirmed code violations at the temporary police station on Mercer Street as allegations of employment intimidation also emerged.
The Herald filed an Open Public Records Act request Feb. 26 with the borough, requesting all citations and violations pertaining to the 415 Mercer St. properties, going back to Jan. 1, 2012.
The Herald since has learned that the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development delivered a Oct. 19, 2012, citation to Hightstown for multiple violations at the police station.
The inspection had taken place Oct. 10, 2012, more than a year after Hurricane Irene. The borough was told to comply by Nov. 21.
The penalty per violation was listed at $595.
”I have a legal, moral and judiciary responsibility to the town,” said Police Director James LeTellier at the council meeting March 4. “I did not sign on to be involved in the middle of a political battle of where a police station should be. I will do whatever is directed by council.”
November violations included several items missing on the day of inspection, including a log of all work-related injuries and reported illnesses (OSHA Form 301); an emergency action plan; the Fire Prevention Plan; the Hazard Communication Program; and the Workplace Hazard Assessment. It also said the employer had not provided annual portable fire extinguisher training.
”Quite frankly, I have been put in a position that when I respond to council members’ questions, the mayor doesn’t like it,” the police director said.
Mayor Steven Kirson told the Herald on Thursday that the allegations are “false.”
”The mayor has gotten in my face on several occasions — to the point where we now have a hostile relationship,” Mr. LeTellier said at the Borough Council meeting on Monday. “If this upsets people — so be it. I am being threatened, and (if) I am being served with the Rice notice of termination of my job — then so be it — but do so because I’m not doing my job as the director, not because I’m not playing politics.”
”Wow,” could be heard from a member of the audience.
”Whatever the allegations are, I categorically deny having had any conversations,” Mayor Kirson said March 7. “It never happened. They are all false.”
Eighteen months since Hurricane Irene struck the downtown as a tropical storm, the Borough Hall complex at 148 N. Main St. has remained closed.
The police station, which was part of the complex, was destroyed by the floodwaters of Irene. The department relocated after the storm to the rented space on Mercer Street, known as the Lucas property.
Lexington Insurance has sent the borough an estimate of $1.9 million to rebuild or refurbish the Borough Hall. Temporary facilities for employees is part of the borough’s claim with Lexington.
At Monday’s meeting, council members tabled an ordinance authorizing the borough to lease the properties behind the Ely House to place two modular structures for municipal staff and the Hightstown Police Department. The council rejected all bids for temporary police facilities and associated site work and authorized the engineer to re-bid.
And while the majority of the council has advocated purchasing the modulars, Mayor Kirson and Council President Lawrence Quattrone frequently have promoted moving the government to the Lucas building, which sits on a 7.5-acre lot, rather than rebuilding Borough Hall downtown.
Feb. 19, after debating the matter at the Feb. 15 special meeting about Borough Hall, Mayor Kirson introduced a resolution to investigate permanently relocating the borough’s municipal operations to 415 Mercer St.
The council rejected it by a 4-2 vote. Mr. Quattrone and Councilwoman Susan Bluth voted in favor of looking into using the Lucas property.
However, “There’s no heating, ventilation in the back portion area (of the police station),” Mr. LeTellier said. “There’s a lot of code violations. We have no hot water in the men’s room, and the toilets don’t flush.”
At the Feb.15 special meeting on Borough Hall, Mr. LeTellier told council members that the police station at 415 Mercer St. faced code violations.
”The state law does not give temporary exemption to the violations that we are in — the lack of cells, the lack of proper proceeding and secure rooms and security,” Mr. LeTellier said then. “I won’t get into some of the security issues we have there, but whatever you do, the modifications have to be made.”
At the March 4 Borough Council meeting, Councilman Robert Thibault requested the agenda be amended to include a discussion on code violations at the police station.
”I’ve asked the director about the present concern and safety of the officers, visitors and people reporting crimes,” the councilman said.
He also said no certificate of occupancy has been issued for the Police Department at its temporary headquarters.
”There are other inspections that have not been done,” Mr. Thibault said.
Borough Administrator Michael Theokas said the building is occupied under a number of different uses.
He said, “We went in under emergency circumstances.”
Later in the meeting, Mr. LeTellier said, “The emergency is gone,” pointing to the 18 months that have gone by since Hurricane Irene.
”The borough passed two separate emergency appropriations (for $800,000 each) in the first few meetings after the hurricane,” Mr. Theokas told the Herald on Wednesday.
”Of the $1.6 (million) in total emergency appropriation, the borough has spent approximately $1.45 (million),” Mr. Theokas said. “This money was spent across all departments to include equipment, facilities and materials damaged or lost in the flooding.”
To date, Lexington Insurance has paid approximately $550,000, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has reimbursed the borough approximately $300,000, Mr. Theokas told the Herald.
”We still have a few outstanding costs coming in, most notably for document restoration,” the borough administrator said. “We anticipate that of the emergency appropriation of $1.6 (million), we will end up spending most of it on replacing goods and the repairs done on some of our buildings. Clearly, the claims are still open, and we are still working toward getting more reimbursement.”
Monday, the police director said, “Bring it into compliance,” of the police station.
Construction official George Chin visited the site and is identifying “problems” to “make the building compliant,” Mr. Theokas said.
He said, “We have a plan that the (Borough Hall) project manager (Dawson Bloom) has already discussed with the director of some things that need to be done.”
The borough administrator said Wednesday, “I know they discussed a number of different things, all with the goal of presenting to council options for interim police facilities until the new police station was built. Included in that is any statutory obligations we would have to upgrade 415 Mercer St. to bring it into full Department of Corrections and (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance.”
He added, “Also included were the specifications for modular facilities to be placed in the parking lot behind the Ely House if the option to stay temporarily at 415 Mercer wasn’t a consideration.”
Monday, Mr. Thibault referred to last week’s edition of the Herald in which Mr. Theokas was quoted as saying, “The borough has not been cited,” regarding the temporary police station.
”That’s not comforting to me — that we haven’t been caught,” Mr. Thibault said.
Mr. Theokas said, “I was asked the direct question — which I answered — ‘Have you been cited?’ No, we have not. That was my response.”
”Mike, that’s not true,” Mr. LeTellier countered. “How can you say that?”
Hightstown has been cited by the Public Employees’ Occupational Safety and Health for multiple violations, Mr. LeTellier said.
”I (have) them on my desk,” he said.
Mr. LeTellier said he would make the information available for the council.
”When I say cited, I mean, ‘Did we get fined?’ We were not, no,” Mr. Theokas said.
”If you look at the document, citation one, citation two, citation three and so forth, those are citations,” Mr. LeTellier said. “I’m not here to argue.”
The citations were in reference to hazardous fact sheets required to be in the workplace for every chemical employees may be exposed to, according to Mr. LeTellier.
”We just found it out . . . we didn’t have any of those,” Mr. Theokas said.
Mr. Thibault asked Mr. LeTellier to address these concerns as well as the “lack of certificate of occupancy.”
The police director also sought legal advice from Borough Attorney Frederick Raffetto on Monday.
Mr. Raffetto confirmed the police director reports directly to the Borough Council.
”Let me put on the record that I came here and interviewed for this position, and I clearly stated what my goals and objectives are,” Mr. LeTellier said. “It is the residents of Hightstown who I serve.”
Mr. LeTellier was hired last February. He became the first civilian to helm the Hightstown Police Department after Chief James Eufemia retired effective Sept. 1, 2011. His retirement came after a weekend of flooding from Hurricane Irene.
Mayor Kirson said Monday that there was an incident at the police station Feb. 26 in which the police director felt was unsafe.
”At some point last week, our director indicated to us that it was unsafe to be in the Police Department, that there was potential hazardous material, and we were concerned that we might have to vacate,” Mayor Kirson said.
Council President Quattrone said Mr. Theokas was at the police station with officials checking out the “asbestos situation.”
Asbestos was the main reason cited by the administration for keeping borough employees out of Borough Hall after the floodwaters had receded.
”If we have to evacuate, why would we bring anybody else into the picture? We might have to send everybody home,” Mr. Quattrone said of why the public wasn’t made aware of the Feb. 26 event.
Councilwoman Gail Doran questioned that statement.
”Are you telling me that we tell our Police Department to go home because the offices don’t function?” she said. “I don’t think so.”
”We were concerned about the welfare of the employees. As the week went on, better information (came out), and, ultimately, all (was found) safe,” Mayor Kirson said. “There was no threat to any of the employees.”
Mayor Kirson said the threat was “nonexistent.”
”So somebody was yelling ‘fire’ in a crowded movie theater, and when we calmed everything down . . . it was all safe,” Mayor Kirson said.
”I was not calling ‘fire,’” Mr. LeTellier said. “I brought to the attention of this council that the potential of asbestos may be in that building. That no survey was ever conducted. There is no CO in the borough’s name.”
Mr. LeTellier added, “The state law required that once you put municipal employees into any built building prior to 1980 to do an asbestos survey. You’re on a hazardous EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) site. There is no monitoring. I read the report that Carmela (Roberts, borough engineer) submitted back in Dec. (2012) . . . there has been no air quality in that building since.”
The police director said, “I have no hidden political agenda.”
He said, “I’m not part of the Hightstown feud. I’m here to serve the people. You repeatedly tell me how well everyone comments on how the Police Department has turned, the progress we are making, and yet I have to face termination or allegations of crimination, and I go into the diner and hear it.”
The Hightstown police director asked the borough mayor why the locals are talking about him being served a Rice notice.
The police director also questioned the fairness of such things.
”Show me what I haven’t done for this borough, and I’ll resign right now,” he said.
”I am going to recommend a special meeting this week to address this,” Mr. Thibault said. “This is a very serious issue. This is a serious allegation that could put the borough at risk.”
The councilman asked, “Do you really want to delay the discussion of possible threats against a public employee?”
Wednesday Mr. Thibault said, “I think the allegations made by the police director need to be taken very seriously. If true, there may have been a violation of at least three state laws,” including obstructing administration of law or other governmental function; official misconduct; and threats and other improper influence in official and political matters.
Mr. Raffetto recommended it be reviewed “appropriately” and not in “this kind of a forum.”
Mr. LeTellier requested a public hearing.
”That’s my choice,” he said.
”I would say that the police director being threatened with disciplinary action . . . “ Mr. Thibault started to say.
”Those are your allegations, buddy, no one else’s,” Mayor Kirson countered.
While the borough attorney agreed the allegations are serious, Mr. Raffetto did not agree with Mr. Thibault on holding an emergency meeting.
”Emergency meetings are limited to health, safety and welfare,” Mr. Raffetto said. “I don’t deem this to rise to that level. I think that this is something that can be appropriately addressed at a special meeting with 48 hours advance notice.”
According to Mayor Kirson, four out of the five council members present needed to approve a special meeting.
Councilwoman Selena Bibens was absent Monday and three members present said they would like to hold special meeting — Mr. Thibault, Ms. Doran and Councilwoman Lynne Woods. The council was reminded the body has the ability to investigate or delegate to labor counsel.
”The mayor will not call a special meeting on this,” Mayor Kirson said.
”I’m dumbfounded,” Mr. Quattrone said.
Said Mayor Kirson on Thursday, “I’ve had a very nice working relationship with the director.”
The mayor said the allegations “just came out of nowhere — so I was very surprised.”
– Jen Samuel, managing editor, contributed to this report.

