Medford Township began the transition with its manager position last night, naming township clerk and CFO Katherine Burger as the deputy manager during a special council meeting.
After a brief executive session, council voted unanimously to appoint Burger to the new position. Mayor Chris Buoni said the move was necessary to make operations in the town easier in the coming weeks.
“Kathy needs to be involved in day-to-day operations, but she can’t be unless she’s deputy manager,” Buoni said. “Having her be deputy manager basically gives her the same responsibilities.”
Outgoing township manager Chris Schultz tendered his resignation during an Aug. 5 council meeting. Township officials are declining to comment on the reason behind Schultz’s resignation.
During a special council meeting on June 24, the township hired Verita LLC for the purposes of conducting a workplace investigation. The township has not commented on whether the investigation and Schultz’ resignation are connected.
Last night, a resolution identical to the one passed on June 24 was on the agenda to hire a special counsel for a workplace investigation. However, it was removed following the executive session.
“The question came up of having Verita continue performing the work,” Buoni said. “We determined it was not necessary for council to be involved with that.”
Buoni said documents from the original workplace investigation will not be released to the public, citing employees’ rights to privacy.
“New Jersey state law protects people’s private rights,” Buoni said. “People have asked for the release of that document. It’s not going to be released. It wouldn’t be appropriate. ”
Schultz is still employed with the township until Aug. 19. Buoni said Schultz is currently working on a transition plan for the next manager.
“Chris is spending a lot of time on the transition,” Buoni said. “He is preparing a plan for the next manager so the next manager can come in and a lot of the things we have going can keep moving forward.”
Burger is expected to remain in the role of deputy township manager until a permanent township manager is hired. Buoni said the appointment would not be permanent.
“She’s both the clerk and the CFO, so she has enough on her plate,” he said.
Council is considering the next step in the process of hiring a new manager. Buoni said the New Jersey League of Municipalities provides a consulting service to help towns with the process. However, council has not decided whether to go in this direction.
“We’re leaning right now going toward a consultant route, but we haven’t formally talked about it,” Buoni said.
