Topic: COMMUNITY INTEREST
Hamilton Matters
There is a lot of tension in Hamilton township, Mercer County. The issues are massive; the suspension of the CFO, the large illegal issues at the animal shelter, the sewer issues with Robbinsville, a health director indicted, an ACO indicted, the list goes on and on. The leadership refuses to meet with the public to discuss the issues; even though they have been contacted by residents, by council and concerned friends. Their unified silence is deafening. The leadership has failed its residents. What is next for Hamilton? Only a select few; who have been performing an extensive investigation of the town, know the real answer to that question. The same agent who did the investigation of Hamilton during the prior administrations rein, is also doing the current investigation. Is there more than one agency looking into the issues, residents will soon find out.
Let the story begin…….this weekend, we interviewed the CFO of Hamilton, Mercer County, John Barrett. This is a man who has had to withstand some grave hardships over the past several months, because he stood up for what was right. He signed up for this, this family did not. The strain this local political hit has on one’s family is devasting. Those that created hit, could care less. It’s all about them. You are either on their team or you become their next victim. Maybe they will even leave pamphlets on your doorstep that preach about the death of Jesus. The threats are quite substantial.
Some of the great things Barrett did for the township of Hamilton are:
- · Turning a $79,000 fund balance into close to $10 million. That gave the town a better bond rating and less interest costs to make capital improvements.
- · Getting the towns financial house in order and getting the town out of state oversite over a year early because the state new Barrett’s track record of getting Ewing out of state supervision.
- · He is a hired gun to fix towns that have financial disasters.
- · He has always treated everyone the same. He does not report to the 6 elected officials, he reports to the 90,000 residents of Hamilton township.
- · As the CFO he is the custodian of the public trust. If trust in the number’s fades, it’s the beginning of the end.
What has happened in Hamilton, Mercer County, the trust has eroded. The township officials removed Barrett to do the things they knew he would not allow them to do, due to the damage it will do to the town and its residents. He is not to blame for any of it. He looks forward to coming back and fixing Hamilton, just like he did in 2008 when he was hired originally.
In 2008, Hamilton was in a $16 million operating deficit. This was since the leadership spent $16 millions in funds that were not approved. They spent it on sewer projects and they raided the Uniform Construction Code trust.
In 2007, the auditor gave over 45 comments to Hamilton on issues with their finances. That is the audit that Barrett inherited when he came to Hamilton in 2008. He got the audits cleaned up to where there were only clean audits without audit comments. Hamilton was on the mend. However, since the removal of Barrett, the shenanigans are in full throttle and it will take his level of expertise to make Hamilton solvent again.
There was recently a posting on the www that talked about how the people in charge of the money now in Hamilton were moving moneys from the trust funds. There are trust funds that begin with the letter “T” in the budget. If there are any budgetary certifications on any resolutions, anything with a T is clearly identified as a trust fund. This could be for storm basin maintenance, i.e. a developer will pay money to maintain a storm basin. There are also third-party escrow fees that exist, there is off duty employment, there is an animal control trust, and recreation trust.
When the town under-budgeted in the current fund and the utility fund budget to get through this year, creative accounting took the front seat in 2019. When the leaders need money, and they do not have it in the operating funds they attack the trusts. This is a very quiet place where no one really understands the purpose of the trust funds, except the CFO or the deputy CFO. However, since the removal of Barrett the leadership has already raided the trust funds to put one-time revenues in for this year’s budget.
There is a report that demonstrates, that the funds were drained quietly. They were put into appropriations. An audit will reveal this, and it will have all the fingerprints of those responsible for this on it. Their names will be on the entries. For example, let’s say you need a million dollars and you have a million dollars in a trust fund, that no one is worrying about, one can bring it in and reimburse the currently fund with it. This drains the trust fund and instead of having a $100,000 in a line item, and you reimbursed it $50,000 from the trust fund, now you have $150,000 to spend. However, in the budget it will still only show as $100,000. If all the trust funds are depleted, by the time the smoke clears with Barrett’s suspension, this puts Hamilton in a very bad financial state.
Barrett’s leadership style is one where he is not the “boss”; he is an equal coworker with his team. Unless he must deal with an HR issue or must protect his team, they all worked as equals. The culture on this team was very positive and a great place for him to work. Until last October or 2018, he would gratefully drive the 45 miles from his home to Hamilton to perform his duties as CFO. When he was on vacation or sick, he still enthusiastically answered his phone to help his team and the residents of Hamilton township. He would always remote in to help everyone at any time. There are very few people in any organization, that behave in this manner. The consummate professionals do. There are other employees that would sooner hand in their keys than compromise their integrity. Many are being harassed by the leadership. These bad behaviors allow other bad behaviors to be stimulated in the town. They see what the leadership is doing and has gotten away with so far, and they feel they can do other crazy things that compromise resident safety.
The position of ambivalence that the leadership is taking is no surprise to anyone. To a large degree this is due to the arrogance and lack of intelligence by the leadership. They are going to very famous when all of this done, this will make the mayor extremely happy. One of the leaders in both staff and private meetings, weeks prior to the removal of Barrett, stated in a meeting, “That the town has handled the issues at the animal shelter like pros.” As if they had brought in a PR firm to help them spin the story. They went on to say, “We are going to win the November election without issue. The Mayor is at the ballfields, hanging on the fences talking to residents. People do not follow this stuff going on in town.” This comment was made by one of the three leaves.
Leaves of Three, let it be...
History will expose why this leadership has done what they have done and the motivations behind their decisions and behaviors. It also appears from the conversations on the street, the end is near for the shenanigans and a cure for the residents. There have been numerous interviews of both township employees, residents and the like over what has transpired over the last 18 months. Many were done under oath by different agencies. It’s a trying time for the town and its residents. The residents are looking forward to healing.
There was a mediation this past week between Barrett and the township officials. The township does not want Barrett to come back, for obvious reasons. It would appear they do not want him to continue to discover the financial shenanigans that have been going on since his removal; especially with the election around the corner. This case will continue to go on in the future.
In Oct 2008, Barrett was hired to become the CFO of Hamilton Township, Mercer County. At that time the town had a $79,000 fund balance. The current mayor was on council and Wrinkle Penny was dating their sister. There were approximately 50 employees that were either laid off or threatened to be laid off. There was a $16 million-dollar deficit, the town was in a financial mess.
Wrinkle Penny was moved from personnel director under Mayor Gilmore to payroll supervisor this was a demotion and a cut in pay. Barrett at that time had a team of four people. Out of all the employees in the room, Wrinkle Penny was the only person who raised their hand when Barrett asked, “Who wants to do bank req’s?” Wrinkle Penny became a friend in 2008. In 2009, Barrett received a phone call from Little Egg Harbor that they too needed a part time CFO. Barrett reached out to Little Egg Harbor and found out that he could mentor the new CFO they had just appointed, who was on their planning board. To ensure that all was on the up and up, Barrett went to the then BA of Hamilton to ask if it was okay for him to work part time for Little Egg Harbor. This would have been a consulting agreement due to the fact Barrett has his own consulting firm. The township had no issue with this. All the audit schedules were already done for Hamilton and they were way ahead of the financial tasks for the year due to Barrett’s expertise.
Soon into 2009, there started to be collection calls to the township for Wrinkle Penny to the office. Barrett realized that WP was under stress due to this. This was a person that Barrett could rely on and he wanted this person to take CFO classes. These CFO courses would have helped the wp to best understand how to move money and book it and perform journal entries. Barrett offered WP the ability to do work for his consulting company in Little Egg Harbor. WP made an additional $1,000 a month doing this work so that their family could pay their bills by doing the bank req’s for Little Egg Harbor township. This helped develop a strong friendship between Barrett and the administrations family. Barrett was invited to holiday parties, weddings, birthday parties and the like. The mayor was appreciative of the help Barrett was giving to her family members and the town financial issues. At the league of municipalities, they would all go out together for drinks and dinner. He got hugs not handshakes. He felt like part of the family.
In 2015, things shifted, the hugs stopped, and the turmoil began. The BA was out on medical leave, and the ball committee and mayor that year thought it would be funny to have all the directors dress up as women at the ball. The directors were instructed to dress in different manners that the mayor would dress. In the end, all the male directors had to parade into a room of very 500 people dressed in this manner. The prior year Barrett had done the invocation at the ball, so going in drag the next year was quite the pivot. While in drag at the ball in 2015, he was called upon to do the invocation, as his name was still on to do the invocation this year at the ball.
Barrett has just entered in the deaconate program in August that year. He was so embarrassed that he had to do this. The year prior all the directors were forced to act as though they were all the back up dancers for the Jackson 5 song, I want you back. In case you do not know the song….here it is.
https://youtu.be/s3Q80mk7bxE?t=25
Here are the lyrics….ironic….was this a cry for what would happen in the future? The directors had to put on top hats and dance behind the mayor. Barrett is a white finance guy; he would agree his dance rhythm is not seen in the video of Michael J. He did not invite his wife to the second years ball for he was so embarrassed by what they were making him do, dressing drag. He shared with others how demeaning this was. The mayor did not walk in dressed as a bald guy; she wore an evening gown.
I Want You Back"
Uh-huh huh huhhh
Let me tell ya now
Uh-huh
(Mmhhmmm)
When I had you to myself, I didn't want you around
Those pretty faces always made you stand out in a crowd
But someone picked you from the bunch, one glance was all it took
Now it's much too late for me to take a second look
Oh baby, give me one more chance
(To show you that I love you)
Won't you please let me back in your heart
Oh darlin', I was blind to let you go
(Let you go, baby)
But now since I see you in his arms
(I want you back)
Yes I do now
(I want you back)
Ooh ooh baby
(I want you back)
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
(I want you back)
Na na na na
Trying to live without your love is one long sleepless night
Let me show you, girl, that I know wrong from right
Every street you walk on, I leave tear stains on the ground
Following the girl I didn't even want around
Let me tell ya now
Oh baby, all I need is one more chance
(To show you that I love you)
Won't you please let me back in your heart
Oh darlin', I was blind to let you go
(Let you go, baby)
But now since I see you in his arms
All I want...
All I need...
All I want!
All I need!
Oh, just one more chance
To show you that I love you
Baby baby baby baby baby baby!
(I want you back)
Forget what happened then
(I want you back)
And let me live again!
Oh baby, I was blind to let you go
But now since I see you in his arms
(I want you back)
Spare me of this cause
(I want you back)
Give me back what I lost!
Oh baby, I need one more chance, hah
I tell you that I love you
Baby, oh! Baby, oh! Baby, oh!
I want you back!
I want you back!
When Barrett got into the deacon program, they knew he was aligned with politicians in Hamilton. As the CFO it is a political position in the town. The laws of the church states that no deacon can participate in any political activity, which includes a fund raiser, ball or dance, gold outing, contributing or run for office without Bishop approval. That was the best news Barrett got in late August. He felt this was his way out of the galas. In 2015, he went to the then Economic Development director and shared with him what the Bishop shared with him. He asked him to share this detail with those above him. Since his suspension since January 2019, to make matters worse, a member of the administration called the Bishop to inform him that Barrett was going to be indicted, so he should be kicked out of the deacon program.
This message, that Barrett could not participate in future political shenanigans, got to those higher ups and what he knows, is that this triggered the thought process that now Barrett can no longer be involved. He was the number two guy under the BA. He knew where all the numbers were and all the inner workings in the organization. There is no neutral island with the administration. You are either with them or you are voted off the island. There is no middle ground.
This is where the shift occurred with their relationship. All the friends and family of the administration unfriended and blocked Barrett on social media. At the end of 2015, going into 2016 the BA was out on medical leave. The town had just had a re-evaluation so the penny on the tax rate switched from 500,000 to approximately 800,000.
After this, all the sudden Barrett was not being contacted by the administration. He then found out from the municipal clerk that the mayor has delivered a budget with a zero-cent tax increase, they went around the CFO. He received a copy of the budget and was in bewildered on where the numbers came from on the revenue side. It turns out that there was a shenanigan done to do a zero-cent tax increase. However, they used 500,000 as a penny vs. 800,000 and it was a one cent tax increase as they were presenting to council. All the fund balances were now gone. The surplus was gone, and no one ever consulted the CFO, Barrett. The hard work by Barrett for years was erased in an afternoon by the leadership.
Barrett met with the Mayor and the township attorney to share his concerns. The rating agencies look at the finances of a town with great rigor, so there was great concern about this. Barrett had a meeting with them to help them understand the ramifications of their decision to create a budget without him. The adjustments to revenue were not consulted by the administration to the CFO. He asked them why this was in the meeting. Why did they create a budget without him, and decrease the surplus? He did all he could to protect them. Barrett had reached out to the then BA and he was not aware of what was going on.
Out of respect, Barrett signed the document. He must report to the state and has a fiduciary responsibility to the town. He contacted council immediately and while he was in the clerk’s office he stated, “Do not introduce that budget its wrong.” That year taxes were raised, $1.3 million since the budget that the leadership (without the CFO’s input) introduced was not appropriate. This was also the year that it was a family event, just like in 2019.
At this point, the relationship between Barrett and the administration dissolved. He got called into frequent inquisitions. One of which, the then township attorney, the mayor, the mayor’s assistant (who for the first time was the official note taker) during the inquisition and Barrett were in attendance. This was a meeting that was quite bizarre, like an episode of the Twilight zone. (see link) Unfortunately, this was not a first-time occurrence of this space odyssey type meeting. This was the norm not the exception.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C34g5mz1ZQ&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2tK5OtBzAdP081e1kpQ3fU8PGYTagla5usGY2UwjKyKM0jc_QChauqc0c
Even though Barrett asked repeatedly in the meeting why did the Mayor go around him to submit a budget, the mayor refused to answer him. She attacked him about an email where he called her classy. The dialogue in this meeting leaves one to wonder about the leader of the township.
During this timeframe, Wall township had reached out to Barrett to recruit him to be their CFO. It was an amazing opportunity. This would have put him closer to home (4 miles vs. over 40 miles) and an increase in salary. When he shared that he had this offer, the attitude was from the administration, GREAT, leave. A conversation with the township attorney, asking for his advice, he stated, “ If you leave, the mayor wins.” At that point, being a stubborn Irishman from NY, he decided to stay on in Hamilton.
When we asked Barrett if the current mayor is capable of responsibly running the town, Barrett answered, with a swift No response. When asked what she has demonstrated in meetings to convince him of that, Barrett stated, that the process by which the municipal budget and finances are run are as follows. The administrator has control of personnel, purchasing and budget. The CFO has control of finance. The task of building the budget is the administrator’s duty. It was a team effort between the BA and the CFO. They worked together to ensure what the tax rate needed to be, they brought the revenues together, what the surplus targets were for the rating agencies for S&P and Moody’s. They had to understand every move they made and how it would affect not only that year, but future years as well. They always wanted to keep the taxes flat during election years. Once the budget is almost completed and in binders, it was only at that time when they met with any mayor. The mayor, the budget officer and CFO would meet to review of the entire budget. At that point, it was very easy to see, based on the questions or challenging questions they asked, what grasp any mayor had on the budget or finances of the town. During these meetings Barrett shared that there was an eye glazed over response from the Mayor during these reviews. There was no engagement that he experienced in the day to day financial operations of the town.
So, the question is what does the administration do every day? Barrett’s office faced her parking spot in the lot. On Tuesdays, they have staff meetings at 9am to 11am. All the directors, surrogate and at times a member of the police department will come to the meetings. In the last two years, after the staff meeting there would be a second staff meeting that only the Three Leaves, Sammich, Legal Eagle and the mayor would attend to refuse “other items”. There were only minutes for the first staff meeting and at the conclusion of the meeting there was always an email sent to all the directors with the minutes from the meeting. There were never minutes done during the second meeting that was held with the elite group.
When asked if he knew he was going to be suspended, Barrett stated it was a huge surprise. He had scheduled a vacation over a year ago in January of that year. The day before he left for vacation two of the three leaves entered his office to ask for his computers. Due to the forceful nature, he left and went to the police station. He reported the altercation and then shortly thereafter left for his vacation. While he was in Florida, he received a phone call from his attorney stating that the administration had reason to believe he was still at home in Brick. It appeared someone went to his home and saw all the cars in the driveway and reported back that Barrett was not in Florida, which was not the case. He had to send copies of his airline tickets and take a photo of himself in Florida to prove to his attorney that he indeed was in Florida. The administration was very concerned about the computers that Barrett used during his employment. Barrett’s attorney said he will return them upon his return. But that was not good enough for the administration. The administration not only filed the tenure charges against Barrett. They also filed theft charges for $4,000 worth of computers. So, Barrett now has a police report that he stole computers, even though his attorney was in touch with them. They sent the tenure charges to him. He was scheduled to go back to work after vacation. However, upon his return from vacation, he learned that he was suspended with pay pending the hearing. The administration immediately cut off all his access to the township systems. This left the town without a CFO and no one managing the fiduciary responsibilities of the town. This was a huge surprise to Barrett.
The shenanigans did not stop there. There was a photo from 5 years ago of Barrett that was sent to the Trentonian taken by a member of the administration. It was sent to the paper on their personal cell phone.
When we asked Barrett, “What do you think they are trying to hide that they wanted you out so desperately? He knows exactly what it is. They wanted to play the tax gimmick, by giving a false tax break. The towns ratable base went up and our levy went down by $165,000. It’s immaterial. They have used $4,000,000 of one-time revenue that Barrett would have never let them use. He also would have never let them cut the budgets on the appropriation side to under fund budgets. The utility budget has been cut so drastically. It does not appear that Robbinsville is ever going to pay an extra million dollars to Hamilton. This is on top of the $1.6 million they have been paying for years. The worksheets prove it. This is the fight. The administration had to get rid of John Barrett so they could fool the residents that taxes have been cut and helped re-align sewer fees. What are they hiding with this sewer drama? Does Hamilton owe Robinsville? Time will tell.
After this week’s mediation, Barrett will be getting his job back when a new mayor comes in. If the current mayor wins the election, Barrett will still get his job back. The stars are aligning in his favor in the judicial system. The allegations are weak that they have developed. The motion that was initially sent into the courts also was not written by the township attorney. It was written by the BA. It was viewed as an illegal document.
The mediation forced Barret to develop two formula’s, Option one and Option two. Option one: the administration would immediately have to take Barrett back, pay for all his legal fees, pay pain and suffering, an apology letter, dropping the administrative charges and loss of income. He has lost a lot of revenue in the towns he consults with. The township administration has also harassed the towns he consults in with numerous OPRA requests. They have all hired another consultant in Barrett’s in his place due to this.
The mediation last week was Barrett vs. Hamilton, not Hamilton vs. Barrett. The administrative law judge overseeing this case will again in the future review the case. At that point they will either charge Barrett with something or recommend some discipline if charged or he could be exonerated. This decision will then be sent to the director of local governmental services team. They will then take the result and uphold the judge’s decision, reverse it or amend it. She has that authority as the director. This same director had one of her surrogates reach out to her to see if Barrett would be willing to go to a larger town under state supervision to fix their issues.
Barrett stated that he will be getting his job back. All the damages from his civil case and whistleblower case may go away. They will no longer be the amounts that were calculated but will be limited to pain and suffering from the time he was a whistleblower. There is no huge payout for Barrett at the end of this ordeal. The township will be on the hook for the legal fees ( at least $55K). One cannot put a price on one’s reputation. In option two, the township would have to pay him to leave. They would have to buy him out for the next 20 years, with benefits.
After three hours, the mediator stated that there are hundreds of thousands of dollars accumulated in legal fees and other expenses for this case. They are paying Barrett $140,000 a year plus another $40,000 in benefits to stay home. This is resident’s taxpayer dollars. By the time this is done, it would have been a year and a half, that is a lot of taxpayer dollars. If he would be found guilty, he would have the right to appeal it and would be put back on his salary during the term of the appeal. The township is not gaining anything by doing this. This could cost the township over a million dollars by the time this ends.
Barrett asked the township attorney, “What are they thinking?” The township’s legal council said,” I went to them in October 2018 and told them that they should stay away from Barrett and bring the joint insurance fund in. He has a huge valid claim against the township.” They did not listen to their attorneys advise.
This same township attorney shared that a township employee, we will call this person, the Hulk, got 45 extra days of vacation. Evidently before the other BA left, he supposedly signed something that gave him this. That is why the Hulk was on vacation most of the year. Barrett called in an auditor for it was the township attorney who shared this story. The auditors came in and they brrought with them their forensic accountant. They ask Wrinkle Penny who entered these vacation days into the system, why he did this. WP was not truthful to the forensic accountants. He said he could not remember doing that in Jan of that year. They confront Wrinkle Penny further with the printout they had of the entries. Then WP’s amnesia was cured, and they remembered a memo that the employee evidently had stating that they were to add 45 days of vacation. The auditors and CFO asked for the memo, Wrinkle Penny said he no longer had the memo. However, all documents are on a shared drive in the township for documentation. When the auditors and CFO asked WP why they did not load the document up onto the shared drive, they stated, “I do not know, I forgot.” By twelve noon that day. Barrett met with the prosecutor’s office and everything unraveled. This is one of the major issues that he was reprimanded. Later that evening, after Barrett lawyered up, he attended the council meeting. At the meeting council asked Barrett why they were buying flowers from capital accounts. Barrett stated he was just as shocked when he read the reports.
Barrett believes that the expenditures are reviewed and approved appropriately. The purchasing agent is very detailed oriented in Hamilton. During the good times with the administration’s family, members would share with him that when their air conditioning broke, a “friend of the family” would take care of it for them. When asked how much it was their response was, “ I do not remember. When residents must replace their air conditioners, they never forget how much it was for this is a very expensive replacement in one’s home.
When we asked Barrett, why do you think Sammich, who has been indicted, has not been fired. His response was interesting. “He knows too much. He was the municipal chair of the party prior to the current leader. He takes direction from the mayor and was made director by the mayor. He is someone who has leveraged himself against his pension, and he has obligations that he cannot meet according to Barrett. He is not someone who can walk away from the town. He should have just retired. The towns leadership is helping him by keeping him game fully employed. There chatter on the street that they have asked him to leave.”
This case is going to get expensive for Hamilton. The township has a $50,000 retention. The first $50,000 the town pays; everything else is the JIF (joint insurance fund) pays. The JIF could come back and create a standard for these types of cases due to the large payout that could happen if the town does not settle this case.
Barrett told the two of Three Leaves that they are not dealing with the animal shelter correctly. That they needed to show that this type of behavior would not be tolerated. It’s better to have these people get their jobs back on appeal that sit ideally by and do nothing. The administration is very loyal to people who yes them.
We asked Barrett what is next for his case against the township of Hamilton. Barrett stated that there is a conference call at the end of September with the judge assigned to this case. Since mediation has failed a hearing will be scheduled and they will go into discovery with depositions. The next step will be a hearing in the first quarter of 2020. Based on the results of that Barrett will not be cleared to come back to work until June of 2020, unless the charges are dropped. If the charges are dropped this all goes away.
Editors note: What we have shared with you above represents a substantial systemic failure in the aspect of leadership in Hamilton, Mercer County. The “three leaves”, Wrinkle Penny, Sammich and the mayor have a strategy, point the finger and take zero accountability. The mayor of the town, being the first female mayor has missed the opportunity of a lifetime. She has done zero to help the female population in the town, as it pertains to inspiring them, holding them up when they needed assistance, and driving positivity with the youth. She has surrounded herself with directors who only think about their pensions and payouts.
The missed opportunity to mentor, inspire and take the town to new levels it not of any interest to the mayor or the “three leaves”. She has chosen to put herself first, the residents are an afterthought at best. As the Public Safety Director, she has zero interest in the safety of the public, only herself. But she cannot help it, for she lacks the resilience that is needed in leaders to drive teams to success; in the face of unforeseen circumstances.
In March of this year, the mayor visited one of the schools (7th and 8th graders) in the township. She started the conversation with the students, “I am here to talk about how the fact that I am so pretty and how that affects my ability to be mayor.” She went on to say to the students that people told her that she was too pretty to ever achieve anything. I think the mayor missed the memo on how to motivate children and do public speaking. I can only hope that after that fiasco, that the Superintendent of schools in Hamilton set a protocol for political visitors. One student after her visit was so disgusted by her visit they tweeted this….. his last sentence is compelling. She wasted their time, not a smart thing to do to a future voter. The complete disrespect of their time was yet another missed opportunity to inspire. That student no doubt went home and shared what happened that day to his family. They vote too.
Do you think they were inspired from her visit? This tweet roars the frustration. Do you think she talked about anything but herself? Do you think she spent any time getting to know the students and understanding their needs and future dreams? No, of course not, except yes to the second question, that is all she did. It is not in her DNA to care what others think or to have apathy.
The mayor grew up in the Bromley section of Hamilton, yet recently she told residents in the Bromely section of Hamilton, when they reached out to her, “We have done enough for Bromley.” She has also proven to the residents of Hamilton, its not in her DNA to care about them. The examples to prove this statement are endless.
The mayor is fixated on titles. She has done this in every job she has held. This has allowed her to never learn what leadership is truly about. It is not about the title, its not about the position, its not a crown, its not a red carpet, a throne for her to sit upon with the right to order everyone around. It is an opportunity. A chance to turn the whole into something greater than the sum of its parts. She has missed this opportunity in all aspects of her career and as mayor. She has demonstrated gross abuse of power in her role of mayor, causing her to not become an effective leader. The phrase one person used was,” She is a tyrant in heels.”
The mayor spends a lot of time combing the streets, not looking for things to optimize, but stalking the residents. She spends a lot of time driving by my home. As she drives by, she tells passengers, “That is were that Democrat, Tammy Duffy lives.” Well, I must break your bubble mayor, but I have been a Republican since I registered to vote. However, I vote for the right candidates. I request you stop the drive by’s. My house is not Starbucks, I do not sell coffee. This is just normal behavior that all who have ever challenged the mayor on a topic are rewarded with harassment, stopped OPRA requests, being the topic of staff meetings in a negative manner with nonstop defamation etc. The residents will never stop fighting for right is right. One good thing all this bad behavior has done, it has brought the community closer together to fight “city hall” for the rights of the people
It’s day 43 that the mayor has not responded to council to have a town hall meeting about Jeff Plunkett and other ailing issues in the township. This is grossly unprofessional of the mayor and the three leaves. It is the duty of the administration to create an atmosphere for residents that is not harassing, bullying or intimidating. The residents would give the mayor and the three leaves an A plus in this arena. But my dear that is not something you want an A plus in.
The best leaders learn how to pace themselves- in everything they do both personally and professionally. One must develop a rhythm that suits you and enables you to use your energy as efficiently as possible. If you don’t the likelihood you will meet your goal, is unlikely. At worst, you risk physical and mental exhaustion as well.
It is important that you develop a rhythm that suits you and that enables you to use your energy as efficiently as possible. It takes fortitude to keep yourself from the natural urge to just get the task done as quickly as possible at any cost. Make sure you get perspective before you make decisions and earn to pace yourself. Create moments of rest for yourself and the people around you. Recognize that the best people or employees are not workaholics, but rather people who are connected to the world, who are connected to families, who give back to the communities.
Apathy and lack of passion are serious encumbrances that need to be jettisoned and replaced with positive attitude and a commitment to excellence. There is no room for ego in these types of roles you have been either elected to do or hired to do. It is not very classy to behave in the manner that K and the three leaves do.
The experiences you as leaders in our town must have on residents is critical to the residents. The talk at the high school “I’m so pretty” left an indelible impression on each of the students in that room. The fact that that mayor could not read their body language also speaks volumes. Read the room. Each member of a team must generously give and graciously receive. We all need to continue to step up to the plate and fill the void with positive forces. We need to face the difficulties and challenges life gives us in the most positive manner.
What are those challenges that are inside us all? When we conquer vanity, excessive love of self, insecurity, fear of failure and perfectionism we summit in life. We live a life where we not only conquer mountains but conquer ourselves as well. In doing so, you will one day look back at a time of crisis with satisfaction that comes from having courageously conquered the challenges within and without, and with the assurance that you have fulfilled your purpose in life.
No time or energy should ever be wasted searching for a path to realization. Live your prophecy. Never question fate. We experience a life that in no way resembles the ordinary civilized life to which we have grown accustomed. Inside each of us, is the ambition to reach the summit, to realize that you are stronger than the obstacles, that it is within your power to do something uncommon and indeed impossible for most people. But one must be prepared to face those obstacles.
It would be far better if ambition compelled people to train, to commit to preparation that went from simple to complex, hardening the spirit. An individual should derive pleasure from the process of leadership and mental development. The payment for ambition should be made in preparation, in training and improving oneself, not threats, intimidation and bullying. The greatest significance of our efforts is to have a way to evaluate our actions in life. It is time for the mayor to evaluate herself, to show the Hamilton residents matter.
