Trenton hiring ex-clerk Dwayne Harris as consultant to train interim clerk Eric Berry
TRENTON » Guess who’s back, back again?
Former city clerk Dwayne Harris confirmed he’s being hired as a consultant to train acting clerk Eric Berry.
Harris, who left last month to become administrator and clerk in Berlin Borough, confirmed he will be compensated $50 an hour for up to 10 hours a week as part of a threemonth deal with the capital city.
The seventh former business administrator under corrupt former
Mayor Tony Mack, Berry worked in various management positions in municipal government, including supervising clerks in smaller municipalities, but never as a municipal clerk.
Berry, who took over in Trenton on May 23 and bills the city $1,400 a week, according to a city spokesman, was fired in 2017 from his post as township administrator in Willingboro after less than six months.
He filed suit, and a judge ordered the township to pay out a $275,000 settlement.
Despite saying he was “very, very familiar with the Faulkner Act,” Berry has struggled to adjust to his new role, some city officials suggested.
He was not in the office Wednesday and didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
Trenton council president Kathy McBride said the Department of Community Affairs required the consulting arrangement since Berry has no experience overseeing elections.
The Democratic presidential primary in New Jersey is July 7.
“It was not a choice of ours,” she said. “That was a DCA stipulation.”
Tammori Petty, a DCA spokeswoman, said the agency “advised” the city it could benefit from retaining a consultant.
“DCA did not require Dwayne Harris specifically but suggested that his willingness to assist part-time would be a good way to meet this shortterm.transitional need,” she said.
The Harris consulting deal appears to validate some of the criticism of the hiring of Berry, who was appointed last month 5 to 2.
Councilmen Jerell Blakeley and Joe Harrison voted against Berry’s appointment citing his lack of qualifications.
They cited his lack of a Registered Municipal Clerk certification, but New Jersey law says governing bodies “may appoint a person who does not hold a registered municipal clerk certificate to serve as acting municipal clerk for a period not to exceed one year.”
At the time Berry was hired, Blakeley accused McBride and other council members of a “coup d’etat” to replace Harris, who was approaching his three-year tenure date.
He said opening up Harris’ position to applicants was “tantamount to firing him.”
Harris previously told The Trentonian he was “surprised and confused” by McBride’s decision to open up the position to applications.
The uncertainty made him apply in other municipalities, with Harris saying he was “smart enough to see the writing on the wall.”
Blakeley told The Trentonian on Wednesday that he was baffled by news of the consulting deal.
“This is just one more example of the fundamental lack of vision of my colleagues,” he said. “We literally have someone who has great difficulties in conducting role call. We should have retained the services of Mr. Harris.”
Mayor Reed Gusciora was among those who commended Harris’ service to the city.
He said he wasn’t in a position to judge the job that Berry has done replacing Harris.
“That’s council’s business,” he said. “I honestly can’t because he’s so new and because of COVID. I know he’s doing some onthe-job learning.”
Disagreeing with suggestions of incompetence, McBride said the legislative body didn’t expect perfection when it hired Berry.
“Things didn’t run smooth for [Mr. Harris], either. Everybody has their little bumps in the road.”