By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
The debate about mandating paid sick leave in Princeton has boiled over internally with municipal recreation director Ben Stentz getting an alleged tongue-lashing from town administrator Marc Dashield for raising a concern about the issue.
The incident stemmed from a private meeting June 25 Mayor Liz Lempert and other municipal officials had with business leaders about a proposal to require employers to provide their employees with paid sick leave if they work at least 20 hours a year in town, regardless if they are full or part-time employees.
Toward end of the meeting, Mr. Stentz raised a point that tracking paid sick leave could pose an administrative challenge; his department has large numbers of part-time workers who would be eligible for the benefit.
Right after that, Mr. Dashield confronted Mr. Stentz; it was not clear who ordered Mr. Dashield to rebuke Mr. Stentz or if he did that on his own.
Details of the encounter have remained sketchy, as municipal officials have said they would not comment on a personnel matter.
The controversy has raised questions about whether the town is shutting down internal debate about paid sick leave and what broader message this sends to municipal staff, who now might be reluctant to raise questions about other town issues during the vetting process of ideas.
Mr. Stentz had no comment Friday, while Mr. Dashield did not return phone and email messages seeking comment.
Council President Bernard P. Miller and Councilwoman Jo S. Butler had no comment Friday about the matter
The issue comes with Mr. Dashield barely a year into his job as the top government employee and the town having recently given Mr. Stentz roughly $25,000 in a pay raise to keep him from taking the municipal administrator’s job in Colts Neck.
