After long discussion, Ocean City Council votes 5-2 against allowing CFO to help Sea Isle temporarily fill void
OCEAN CITY — After a long discussion Thursday evening, Ocean City Council decided against a shared-services agreement with Sea Isle City, leaving its island neighbor short a chief financial officer as of next week.
Council voted 5-2 against sharing its CFO after arguments for and against helping out a neighboring town on an issue the state promotes — communities sharing services to reduce costs to taxpayers. Sea Isle City’s CFO is retiring and the community has been unable to find the right person to fill the position.
Before the vote, all seven members of council weighed in with their views. They also heard from Ocean City Chief Financial Officer Frank Donato, who said he was willing and able to handle the work, on a contract that would have Sea Isle City paying Ocean City $7,000 a month through the end of June ($2,000 of which would go to Donato).
Ocean City Business Administrator George Savastano, who works the same position in Sea Isle on a shared-services agreement between the two communities, also argued in favor of the contract and said he was surprised by the extent of opposition to what he considered a “small” and “logical” request.
The contract was included in the council’s consent agenda, but First Ward Councilman Terrence Crowley Jr. and Third Ward Councilman Jody Levchuk both asked for it to be pulled for further discussion.
Crowley said he agreed with the idea for shared services such as 911 dispatch or inspectors, but not with “executive-level” employees.
“I think it puts us at a disadvantage when it comes to having our eye on the ball as far as doing what’s best for Ocean City,” he said. “I just don’t want to vote and set a precedent that I think sharing our upper-level people is a good outcome.”
Adding he didn’t see how it would benefit the residents or employees of the city, he said the employees would be “pulled in different directions” by answering to bosses in two communities.
Councilman Pete Madden said the idea makes sense and that Savastano was a good example of being able to work in both communities. He said as long as Donato is comfortable doing both jobs, “I’m confident he can do both.”
Levchuk said he agreed with Crowley.
“To keep it short and simple, I just don’t want to let our top-notch people go a second away from here and dedicate themselves to any other town,” he said.
Noting that “maybe George balances that really well,” he said he has heard more than 50 times during his tenure on council that Donato is “fantastic at what he does” and he agrees.
“That’s why I want him all for Ocean City. The people of Ocean City elected me to keep our top-notch people here, I believe, and not share them,” Levchuk added.
As a businessman, he said, “I wouldn’t share my top people with a competing business. I don’t know why I’d do it with another municipality.”
Councilman Keith Hartzell said he agreed with Crowley and Levchuk.
“I don’t want to share him,” he said. “Frank is the best of the best and I want him here.”
One uniting theme among all the members of council was their accolades for the work Donato does.
Donato said he appreciated the kind words from the members of council but noted he and Savastano structured the arrangement on how he would work with Sea Isle and he went there a couple of times to “get a feel for things.”
“I think I know what it takes to keep a lid on things in Sea Isle and help them through this period,” he said.
Donato said Sea Isle needs a certified and licensed CFO to handle certain duties and covering the position for a number of months puts Sea Isle in a better position to find the right candidate.
“I think it’s the neighborly thing to do,” he said. “I don’t want to see that town hung out to dry for any period of time.”
Donato pointed out two major items handled by the CFO — an annual financial statement is already done and the budget is 95 percent complete.
Councilwoman Karen Bergman said after Donato assured council he was up to the challenge, she supported the contract.
“I think it is neighborly. I am for shared services,” Bergman said. “New Jersey has way too many municipalities. A lot of things can be shared to save taxpayers across state. Doing something like this is a good neighborly thing to do.”
Councilman Tomaso Rotondi, participating in the meeting remotely, pointed out he talked about his opposition to shared services regarding Savastano last year during discussions over a bathymetric survey to determine silt levels in the back backs.
More recently, he said he was bothered by the fact he asked multiple times but couldn’t get Donato to attend a ward meeting with constituents and that Mayor Jay Gillian told him he wasn’t allowed to have top-level executives at ward meetings any more.
“It’s hard to say I can’t have Frank come into a legitimate meeting with our ward people, but we can lend him out to Sea Isle City,” Rotondi said. “I had to cancel ward meetings because I couldn’t get Frank to come there. That’s why I’m having a hard time saying yes.”
Later in the meeting, Savastano suggested if he had another conversation with the mayor they should be able to resolve that issue.
Council President Bobby Barr said he struggled with the issue and was “deeply conflicted” because he cares about Sea Isle and Sea Isle Mayor Leonard Desiderio.
“It is good for us to be a good neighbor,” Barr said, but added after listening to the comments that he wondered with having two top-level executives working in both towns, “who gets first crack?” He wondered about split loyalties.
Savastano said he would never jeopardize Ocean City’s or Sea Isle’s interests but noted they are not at cross purposes and not businesses in competition with one another.
“I believe we accomplish more by working together and believe we’ve shown that over the years,” he said, adding that it was a small and logical request and if Donato felt it was problematic, they would rescind it.
“I never expected this to be an issue,” he said.
When Levchuk asked Savastano about what Sea Isle was doing to find a CFO, he said they are starting to advertise for the position after they had tried to privately recruit several individuals but were unsuccessful.
Madden said voting against it was denying the city $5,000 a month and denying Donato $2,000 a month and that Ocean City’s CFO said he was able to do the job.
“He says he can do the job, but we tell him no and Sea Isle is S-O-L,” Madden said. “It all goes against what the person who does the job is asking, it goes against what the business administrator who runs the job is asking, and this is where council gets out of their lane. We’re out of our jurisdiction. … This is where we mess things up for the city and not help the city.”
Hartzell responded that it was in council’s lane to make the decision because council controls the purse strings. Hartzell added that he believed Donato might be stretching himself too thin as he also is the emergency management coordinator for Ocean City and West Cape May.
Although Bergman made a motion to accept the contract to allow Donato to do the interim work for Sea Isle, and Madden seconded it, they were the only two to vote for it.
Crowley, Levchuk, Hartzell, Rotondi and Barr voted no.