By JACQUELINE DURETT
Correspondent
EDISON — The town’s public works director, John K. Haines, who had been employed by the township for less than a year, resigned last week. That resignation came as a surprise to at least one township employee in the same department.
Haines, who had come to Edison from Union Beach, started in Edison on Feb. 25 of this year and had a salary of $120,000. Prior to Haines’ appointment, the township had been without a public works director since May 1, 2015. In the interim, township Business Administrator Maureen Ruane handled many of the public works responsibilities.
“The administrator cannot and does not comment about personnel matters,” Ruane said in a statement regarding the issue.
For now, the department is being run by Assistant Director of Public Works Anthony Russomanno. Russomanno’s appointment to the assistant director role, also in February, caused some controversy, as Russomanno’s role had not been opened for applications and was seen by some residents as a quid pro quo move for being the campaign manager for the four Democratic council candidates who won in 2015.
Prior to being named assistant public works director, Russomanno held a constituent relations role for a salary of $66,735. In his newer role, he makes $80,000. A change to the township’s website was made on Oct. 19 reflecting the change in public works leadership.
Russomanno said he was surprised by Haines’ resignation and the subsequent request from Mayor Thomas Lankey’s office to take over the department last week.
“It was a sudden thing. I was there one day, and the next day I was told John [Haines] resigned,” he said. “I’m not exactly sure what happened.”
However, Russomanno said he is confident he can step up into the director role, even if it is only for a limited time. Russomanno has a public works background and pointed out that the job description for the public works director and assistant roles are the same, with the exception of the assistant reporting into the director role.
Russomanno pointed out that he does have his pesticide license, which he said is an asset to his role. In addition, he is currently studying for his state public works management certification, which he said would qualify him to run the department full time. He said he could technically be named to the role for up to 18 months pending that certification, which he said he hopes to receive in the spring.
However, he stressed he does not know what the mayor’s intention is regarding the future of the director role.