Large Turnout Expected, Positions to be Merged

UPDATE: The Monday night Borough Council meeting will remain in the Council Chambers and will not be moved to the courtroom at , Mayor Bob Conley said Friday.

According to Conley, there are plans to reconfigure the seating arrangement in the Council Chambers to accommodate approximately 110 people.

Council packets were delivered Wednesday and could be altered slightly by Friday morning, he added. There are currently two resolutions regarding the borough administrator position: One to formally remove Ray Codey as the borough administrator and another to appoint the assistant borough administrator, Jim Burnet, in his place.

Codey cleared out his office soon after the for his termination from the $154,000 position. The council said the move would save the borough $200,000 in costs and decrease the pending tax levy from 3 to 2 percent.

The 2 percent tax increase would translate to a $73 hike for a taxpayer with a home at the assessed value of approximately $400,000, according to Jeannie Tsukamoto, council president who made the motion to consolidate the two administrative positions that was seconded by Councilman Robert Catalanello.

The motion was then carried by two other Republicans, Donald Links and Robert Landrigan. Republican Councilman Vincent Esposito and Councilwoman Carmela Vitale, the lone Democrat on the six-member council, voted against the move.

, including former R as “not the Madison way of doing things.“

Republican Mayor Gary Ruckelshaus, who preceeded Kerkeslager, has called for the council to rescind their motion to remove Codey.

“Step back, take a breath and think about exactly what they’re doing," he said.

“I was embarrassed for the entire town with the action they took and I told them what they did was shameful and you don’t treat employees that way, good or bad.”

Ruckelshaus said the action of serving RICE notices two weeks before the firing indicated that “clearly they were doing that in anticipation of some action.” He has spoken with Codey, who told him he had no idea he would be fired that evening, nor did Burnet.

“Another town is going to snap him up in a heartbeat. He‘s far more valuable than what we paid him," Ruckelshaus said. "He works hours most administrators don‘t even think about."

“Ray is one of the classiest people I have ever met," he added. "He really doesn’t like to talk about it.”

Ruckelshaus said he will be at Monday night’s meeting, but doesn't expect to speak during public comment.

"I can’t tell you how many people have called me and spoken to me about how deplorable this is," he said.

Monday night's meeting begins at 8 p.m. Conley said he expects the first public-comment period to start around 8:30 p.m., two hours before the public-comment period on Feb. 27. Shortly after the pledge of allegiance and various reports, the floor will open up to comments on agenda items and the resolutions and ordinances currently pertaining to this matter are on the agenda, he said.

The council has also moved to combine CFO Robert Kalafut’s position with that of the personnel officer, but since those duties are still being hammered out, that will most likely be at the next meeting on March 26. The budget’s final vote is to be taken on April 9.