Politics & Government

Numerous Problems Led to Former Township Manager's Dismissal

Roger Tees was frequently unavailable and didn't always respond to council's requests, according to recently released minutes of a closed meeting.

Former Galloway Township Manager Roger Tees was frequently out of the office, didn’t communicate properly with employees and failed to carry out council requests, which all resulted in his dismissal from the township, according to recently released minutes of two closed session meetings.

A transcript of the closed minutes for two meetings prior to Tees’ release is available here: ogtf.lpcnj.org/201159Yx//GallowayTees.pdf.

The document was posted Tuesday afternoon to Galloway Patch’s site by John Paff, of the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Open Government Advocacy Project. Township Clerk Lisa Tilton later verified its authenticity.

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The closed sessions reveal some of the reasons Tees was released, including claims he was only working 35-hour weeks, was unavailable to meet with township workers and residents on a number of occasions, and frequently failed to do what was asked of him by members of council, including keeping them updated on the status of negotiations.

In the document, Councilman Tom Bassford points to the fact that Tees didn’t meet the requirements of the job by not having a master’s degree or the necessary experience to do the job. Deputy Mayor Don Purdy stated Tees told him he had an human resources background, and Purdy went by what other people told him about Tees, as well as his interview with Tees.

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The council questioned why members of management continued to work Mondays when the rest of the township employees were furloughed on that day.

Other points made in the meeting included:

  • Several employees claimed they had never met Tees in his tenure as manager, which lasted less than a year
  • Tees authorized a contract with Comcast without informing the council
  • A change in health care providers occurred unbeknown to the union and employees
  • Tees hired employees when the council told him to look elsewhere in the department to fill roles, and look into shared services

There was also mention of a township employee being trained to earn certification he didn’t need. That certification brought with it an automatic pay raise at a time when employees were being furloughed and laid off. Tees approved the certification.

Tees defended his actions by saying much of his work was being done from home, and that many of his two- to two-and-a-half-hour lunches were business meetings.

There seemed to be a miscommunication between Tees and the council as to whose authority the Comcast contract fell under, and he stated notice was given to union heads when the health care contract changed, and that employees were invited to meetings.

During the first council discussion on Dec. 14, Tees promised to correct the things the council told him he was doing wrong, including meeting with employees and having more of an open door policy, and to make sure there are available minutes of meetings with department heads.

During the Jan. 25 meeting, the council recognized that the problems were not corrected, ultimately resulting in his termination.

There are numerous redactions in the document, including parts of the discussion between Tees and the council from the first meeting, and the entire contents of the council’s discussion with Public Works Director Steve Bonanni from the second meeting, in which he was named acting township manager following Tees’ termination.

The redactions are made mostly because they deal with negotiations, “including documents of strategy or negotiating points,” Tilton wrote in an e-mail on Wednesday.

She also stated that “certain items redacted were based on the attorney-client privilege exception to the OPRA disclosure requirements,” and that “certain items redacted were based upon the personnel exception to the OPRA disclosure requirements.”

The township released Tees in January. He served in the position for just over six months at a salary of $95,000. Bonanni has served as acting manager ever since.


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