Voorhees Township Committee approves investigation of possible mismanagement of Voorhees Township Fire District
Voorhees Township Committee is taking steps to investigate claims of mismanagement made by the union representing the township’s firefighters and EMTs against the fire district’s Board of Fire Commissioners.
On Sept. 12, committee approved the hiring of accounting firm Koerner & Koerner to review the financial well being of the fire district and to determine whether the Board of Fire Commissioners is appropriately managing and spending taxpayer dollars.
According to Mayor Michael Mignogna, the decision comes as International Association of Firefighters Local 3249 and other residents have been raising concerns against the Board of Fire Commissioners and Deputy Fire Chief Michael Wharton, who serves as the highest ranking officer in the district.
“The Voorhees Township Committee’s paramount concern is the safety of both our residents and our firefighters,” Mignogna said.
Unlike some municipalities in New Jersey, where fire and EMS services are run as a department under the township government, the Voorhees Township Fire District is a separate entity managed by a local board of commissioners with residents electing members directly.
On Aug. 29, Local 3249 passed a resolution outlining a “Vote of No Confidence” in the board and Wharton, citing numerous issues that are “negatively impacting service and protection to the residents, business community and visitors of Voorhees Township.”
Outlined in the vote of no confidence are claims the board and Wharton did not maintain a fully balanced general ledger accounting system and failed to maintain a set of controls over the recording of purchasing obligations for the fiscal and calendar year 2015.
As a result, the union says the district did not properly record more than $650,000 in liabilities, and there was an over expenditure of a budget line item by about $129,000.
The union also says the board and Wharton failed to make timely payroll reports and failed to reconcile payroll deductions payable on a monthly basis, resulting in two quarters of employee pension payments to the state not being made on a timely basis.
Keith Kemery, president of Local 3249, said the Board of Fire Commissioners also implemented a staffing plan against the wishes of union members, where the number of fire firefighters assigned to an apparatus during emergencies was lowered from four to three.
“When one firefighter disappears from that crew, the work didn’t go away. It just means we have one less firefighter to accomplish that,” Kemery said.
Kemery also said the union also has concerns about the age of some of the department’s protective gear and apparatuses.
However, Board of Fire Commissioners solicitor Richard Tavani pushed back against the union’s claims, comparing the union’s resolution against Wharton and the board to a political attack ad “devoid of facts, filled with half-truths and self serving opinions.”
Tavani described the union’s vote of no confidence as “suspect,” as it follows a vote of the Board of Fire Commissioners to permanently appoint Wharton to the position of deputy chief, to which Tavani said the union was “vehemently opposed.”
Wharton had been serving as a provisional appointment since August 2015.
“When the board was advised that he (Wharton) passed the Civil Service test for deputy chief, it promptly acted after consulting the representatives of the Civil Service Commission,” Tavani said. “The deputy chief has done excellent job, and the board has full confidence in the deputy chief and thus supported his permanent appointment.”
Tavani said any claims by the union would be proven false by the accounting review approved by Voorhees Township Committee.
“The union, which unilaterally declared an impasse in contract negotiations with the board, is acting in their own self interest with these unfair and inaccurate accusations,” Tavani said.
Wharton could not be reached for comment.
The Board of Fire Commissioners meets the first and third Thursday of each month. The board’s next workshop meeting is scheduled for Oct. 6 at 423 Cooper Road. The next regular meeting after that is scheduled for Oct. 20.
