Council approves hiring-procedures resolution after heated debate on transparency

Peapack and Gladstone’s mayor and council approved Resolution 1 30-26 on hiring procedures following a heated discussion about how the borough should screen and interview candidates for the town administrator job.

Council member Connor argued that the process should allow any council member to sponsor or cosponsor candidates and did not trust a small screening cohort to handle résumés. "This interview process is for somebody who could be working here potentially 10, 20 years," Connor said, urging broader transparency. Opponents said the HR committee’s usual practice is to narrow the applicant pool before finalists are presented to the full council, and that some steps must remain practical to avoid inundating the council with unqualified applicants.

The borough attorney cautioned the council to stay within the scope of a public session: "I just want us to be careful not to go beyond the discussion of the resolution and morph into any degree of personnel decision making process, which would generally be an exception to the Open Public Meetings Act and require confidentiality and executive session," he said. The mayor defended his appointments, saying, "I appointed Jamie as the head of the HR committee, and I made a great appointment."

Council members debated whether the matter should be addressed by ordinance rather than resolution, voiced concern about a job posting issued with a lower salary, and asked that HR committee membership and distribution lists be reviewed; several members asked for more documentation and clearer procedures. After discussion and amendment offers, the council voted to adopt Resolution 1 30-26. The resolution language establishes a process for re-review, consideration, and interviewing related to the borough administrator position; the transcript records the passage but does not include a complete negotiated personnel policy or final salary figures in this session.