Business administrator sues Palombos, levels scathing accusations
PETERSBURG — He did not go quietly.
Upper Township Committee terminated the employment of Gary DeMarzo as administrator and acted to remove him from his civil service position of personnel officer Jan. 27, but not before the 57-year-old leveled scathing accusations against the members of the governing body.
DeMarzo also provided members of the media with a copy of the lawsuit he filed against Committeeman Zach Palombo, Committeeman Sam Palombo and township activist Barbara Murphy-Leary, claiming deprivation of legal rights.
The lawsuit, filed Dec. 30, 2024, claims the defendants made defamatory remarks about DeMarzo through the Palombos’ campaign fliers and Murphy-Leary’s Facebook page, “Politics and Promises in Upper Township and Cape May County.”
It claims DeMarzo suffered “annoyance, inconvenience, stress, anxiety, humiliation, depression, physical pain and suffering, emotional distress and pecuniary loss,” and seeks compensatory and punitive damages, interest and legal fees.
Solicitor John Amenhouser pointed out that personnel matters typically are discussed behind closed doors but noted that DeMarzo requested that it be done in public.
However, it was Township Committee’s decision and Mayor Curtis Corson decided against doing so.
“No, I don’t think we are going to have this conversation,” Corson said. “At this time we are going to entertain a motion to terminate Gary DeMarzo.”
Amenhouser noted before the vote that under state law, an administrator can be removed without cause by a vote of two-thirds of the governing body. He also said the administrator can be removed immediately, in which case he must be paid for the next three months, or kept in the position for that term.
“I seek a motion that is effective immediately,” Corson said.
The vote was 4-0, with Committeeman Tyler Casaccio choosing to abstain.
That vote was for the administrator position only, since DeMarzo could not be immediately removed as personnel officer. His employment was divided into 70 percent personnel officer and 30 percent business administrator with a total compensation of $121,000.
The committee also hired the law firm of Blaney, Donohue & Weinberg to “formulate a layoff plan for the position of personnel officer for purposes of economy and efficiency.”
Again, the vote was 4-0 with Casaccio abstaining.
During the administrator overview, DeMarzo took the opportunity to speak of his displeasure with the process.
“I am always willing to walk away from a position, but I will not allow myself to be thrown down through lies, manufactured embarrassment and political sabotage,” he said.
DeMarzo said as administrator that he found solutions to long-term problems.
“For the past three years, I have done what numerous prior administrators and personnel officers had failed to do,” he said. “Under my direction, I brought relief to those multiple, costly and long-drawn-out lawsuits. Together with the workforce, we have rebuilt relationships, teams and a working environment, growth in wages, policy and ground rules. No more verbal policy or unwritten rules. We reached a five-year agreement with the union; this bargaining union now has stability and support,” he said.
DeMarzo also discussed how things have gone since the new committee took office in early January.
“What I have seen in the last 45 days is very troubling, a place of no transparency, odd deals, shady meetings and sneaky conversations,” he said, accusing the committee of engaging in pay to play.
“As a cop I always said I’ve got to go with what I do know. What we do know is that the first action of this board was to hire Mr. Blaney and his firm,” he said, noting Michael Donohue, chairman of CapeGOP, is a partner in the firm.
He said Donohue controls “tens of thousands of dollars in GOP money — the same GOP that has given tens of thousands of dollars of money to the campaign of Zach and Sam.”
DeMarzo said they voted on the matter after a closed session meeting and “in their zeal for transparency, they left the name of the firm off the agenda.”
He also claimed the committee already has a labor counsel at a cost of $17,000 and paid the new firm the same amount.
“Why did they hire him? Only the board knows, but perhaps to fulfill campaign promises,” he said. “The lack of transparency doesn’t end there. The newly appointed solicitor was the Palombos’ campaign treasurer.”
DeMarzo also called into question the appointment of Casaccio to replace former committeeman Mark Pancoast, who resigned in December a year before his term was up.
“I called out the possible conflicts of pay to play and the ethical relationships with your father, the Zoning Board chair, and now that same conflict extends to the Zoning Board because that same engineer has been appointed,” he said. “Mr. Corson received that letter but failed to bring it to the board’s attention.”
DeMarzo then targeted Murphy-Leary, who has been critical of his hiring for nearly the past three years.
“Where is the township’s one and only true voice of transparency? Barbara, are you out there to save us? Where is the quest for transparency? After all there were no proposals, no requests for qualifications, no applications, no resumes, no interviews, no exhaustive search to find the best and brightest, yet you called for a criminal investigation of me,” he said. “Where are the deep probing questions that seek the answers to these pay to play conflicts and ethical issues? The township’s one voice of transparency has laryngitis.”
He also accused the entire Township Committee of unlawful conduct.
“Gentlemen, it is now my belief that you are using public funds for private personal gains, using public funds to retaliate against me, using unlawful actions for blowing the whistle,” he said. “I am just an employee, but to be victimized by flat-out lies and now to be pushed out of my job based on a bad-faith cover story, I won’t let that happen.”
Supporting
DeMarzo
Township resident Nathalie Neiss said the public has great concerns for the welfare of the tax base, transparency and DeMarzo.
“I am here to give Gary DeMarzo a vote of confidence. He has brought so much peace, joy and laughter to town hall, always a kind word, a song or a silly gesture. He brought to fruition millions of dollars in grants, cleaned up numerous labor brush fires pending for years at a real savings to taxpayers of Upper,” she said. “He raised employee morale to where it is a taxpayer pleasure to handle township issues, to control costs and improve processes.”
She said she requested he visit the Upper Township Senior Center to speak with the patrons and see the issues first hand.
“Gary was instrumental in resolving a year-long heat and air conditioning problem,” she said, noting the center now has county oversight and services.
Resident John Grubb, who has more than once ran for a seat on Township Committee, said he and DeMarzo have not always seen eye to eye but that “he knows what he is doing.”
“I don’t think there is enough knowledge sitting on the board right now to cover what he does,” Grubb said, referring to the inexperience of Deputy Mayor Victor Nappen (two years), Zack Palombo, Sam Palombo and Casaccio (all new).
He said he and Neiss were among the three whose names were submitted to replace Pancoast, but fears the process was not appropriate.
“I am concerned now because of the comments made about improprieties, knowing there is a conflict now and they knew there was a conflict,” Grubb said, adding that they never were informed of the results of the vote, but rather simply told Casaccio had won.
“I’m concerned that this is how this committee is going to run things,” he said.
Township tax collector Rhonda Sharp also spoke out in DeMarzo’s favor.
“Since Gary has been here he has been doing a fantastic job. He fixed every problem that we had, every project that we asked of him he moved along. I can’t say enough about what he has done for the township,” she said.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff