A glaring concern of Tabernacle residents dealing with a perceived conflict of interest with Mayor Kim Brown arose at last week’s township committee meeting.
The recent push to potentially appoint Brown as the assistant to the superintendent of the Tabernacle School District has created a cause for concern.
“It seems intuitive that it’s a conflict of interest for one person to hold both positions,” resident Ginger Evans said.
Those who spoke during the public comment session of the meeting made it a point to state their views have nothing to do with Brown personally. Residents specifically addressed that they have full confidence in Brown being able to perform both jobs at a high level.
Nevertheless, those who spoke said the opportunity would now exist for influence to be exerted over Brown by the superintendent and visa versa when it comes to conflicts that overlap between the town and the schools.
“I’m not saying that this will happen, but just the public perception that it could happen should give the committee cause to discuss the situation,” Evans said.
Committeeman Joseph Barton spoke on the difficulties of this impending scenario from the outlook of someone who has been in Brown’s shoes as a former mayor.
“If I were in that position, I would have to recuse myself from voting on anything having to do with the schools,” Barton said.
Tabernacle schools have been experiencing a tough stretch in which the administration has been under fire due to the lack of transparency that exists.
“The relationship between the administration and concerned parents has begun to deteriorate since last fall when the superintendent began issuing policy changes at his discretion,” resident Jennifer Herpen said.
It will take an act of the school board for Brown to be approved to the position, so it is not something she is entitled to just yet.
Brown was a school employee before she began on the township committee.
She used to work in the back of the elementary school in the copy room, and now she works in the front office at the middle school. This has caused more residents to realize she is involved with both the schools and the township.
“The mayor has a career just like the rest of us. She works at the school, and just like the rest of us, we aspire to make the most income for our families that we can,” Barton said. “This is a great opportunity for Mayor Brown.”
Brown has had a lot of accomplishments in her 16 years with the committee and has earned the respect of each member. They all spoke on the matter at the end of the public comment session, fully supporting Brown.
“I have a lot of respect for Kim. This is a tremendous opportunity for her, and I wish her luck regardless of which route she takes,” Committeeman Stephen Lee said.
When it came to the possibility of Brown acting on certain topics for the greater good of exclusively the schools or exclusively the township, all committee members were in agreement that this is a far-fetched scenario.
“As far as breaching confidentiality, Mayor Brown has always kept her cards close to her chest, so I think that would be a bit of a stretch,” Committeeman Richard Franzen said.
The local finance board’s ethics offers Brown an avenue to ask it for an opinion to see if there ever is a conflict of interest.
Brown concluded the meeting by assuring those in attendance she would never do anything that would put the township and its schools in jeopardy.
“I love this town. I love every aspect of it,” Brown said.
In other news:
• Committee passed a resolution to set specific salaries for employees at a 2 percent increase compared to last year’s numbers.
• Committee tabled an ordinance to appoint the Tabernacle Fire Company/Rescue Squad as the official volunteer firefighting organization for the township, due mainly to the absence of Committeeman Joseph Yates.
• Restoration work to implement South Jersey Gas lines into numerous roads has begun.
• The township will be advertising two job positions that have recently resigned, the deputy court administrator and the plumbing sub code official.
• The bleachers at the baseball and softball fields have been imported from the 2013 recreation grant.
