Hamilton CFO still out after mediation breaks down
HAMILTON >> Suspended chief financial officer John Barrett is still on ice after negotiations stalled this week during a mediation session.
Barrett told The Trentonian in an exclusive interview he was willing to immediately return to work if Mayor Kelly Yaede’s administration publicly admitted wrongly suspending him.
He called the handling of Hamilton’s finances since his departure the “municipal Enron,” referring to the well-known scandal.
The township hired interim CFO Phil DelTurco in Barrett’s place, but the council voted this month against reappointing Barrett’s replacement for the rest of the year.
“There was a 100-pound guerrilla in the room, and that was Kelly Yaede who gave orders to [township attorney Michael] Balint and Dave Kenny not to settle anything prior to an election,” the township’s CFO said. “I want to come back to stop the hemorrhaging of the finances. A whistleblower came forward with the transgressions of Enron. And a whistleblower came forward with the transgressions in the [township] municipal government . ... The town is being run into the iceberg.”
Barrett filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the township claiming the Yaede administration trumped up administrative charges against him, in part because he spilled to the authorities about alleged municipal government misdeeds.
The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office has been investigating Team Yaede for months, a probe that grew out of an initial inquiry into the troubled animal shelter. Only two of Yaede’s top officials have been charged so far, with official misconduct and animal cruelty, but there has been rampant speculation among residents that authorities may soon move on others in Yaede’s inner circle.
The Yaede administration filed tenure charges against Barrett claiming he was incompetent and insubordinate. He remains suspended with pay, even taking a couple trips with family to Disney World, while the legal process plays out.
The two sides came together for the first time after months of acrimonious sniping for the threehour mediation session before a retired judge in Haddonfield.
The mediation session, attended by both parties and the representatives from the township’s joint municipal insurance fund, reportedly cost $6,000, split equally among Barrett and the township.
It was apparently money wasted because the reported gulf between the two sides couldn’t be bridged.
Barrett said he could not get into specifics of the negotiations. Mediation negotiation are supposed to remain secret, but The Trentonian has learned the township’s best offer was to drop administrative charges and pay Barrett’s legal fees in exchange for his resignation.
Township business administrator Dave Kenny, who attended the mediation session, confirmed it took place Thursday but
declined further comment. He would not confirm details of the negotiations.
Barrett’s position, according to people close to him with knowledge of his thinking, has always been any settlement must include a public mea culpa from Team Yaede acknowledging they did him wrong.
He also wants a significant payout for damages because he’s worried the publicity from the wellcovered case could hurt his chances of landing a job in another municipality if he doesn’t return to Hamilton.
Barrett’s chances of returning
under Yaede, who is up for re-election, appear slim to none at this point. Council president Jeff Martin did not return a phone call seeking comment on whether he would reinstate Barrett if he were to win the November election.
The CFO has indicated he’s still willing to put the bad blood behind him and move on if the township does what he believes is the right thing.
“I was willing to come back the day I was falsely suspended and accused by the township,” he said. “I will have my day in court.”