Failure to pay unused
sick leave causes rift
Meeting halted after
3 officials leave dais
in apparent disgust

BY SUE M. MORGAN

Staff Writer

The new Old Bridge police chief continues to await payment of unused sick leave that he has earned over 25 years of service.

The situation is unfair to Chief Thomas Collow, according to three Township Council members who walked off the dais after the council voted 4-3 Monday night to table an ordinance that would have paid out the leave time to Collow.

The action by Ward 4 Councilman G. Kevin Calogera, Ward 5 Councilman Richard J. Greene and Ward 6 Councilwoman Lucille Panos caused the council to lose its quorum and temporarily stalled the meeting, where only seven of nine members had been present to begin with.

The trio accused the other four council members present of having political motives for choosing to delay a decision on the ordinance, which would have allowed Collow to collect $90,100 in unused sick leave.

The four councilmen who voted to table the ordinance — council President Reginald Butler, Vice President Lawrence Redmond, and councilmen William Baker, Ed Testino — are all Democrats. While Calogera is also a Democrat, Greene and Panos are the only two Republicans on the governing body.

Collow, who was promoted from lieutenant to chief on Aug. 1 by Republican Mayor Barbara Cannon, had accumulated the sick leave under his Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) contract with the township.

"Give this man what is due him," Calogera shouted after the vote took place.

"How dare you," Panos yelled as she left the dais. "Table for who? For what?"

Butler, who had voted in the majority, noted the loss of a quorum and called for a 10-minute recess. The recess was shorter than expected because Calogera, Greene and Panos returned sooner.

Panos again raised the subject much later in the meeting, asking if any of the four council members who voted to table the ordinance would instead motion to revisit that action. The councilwoman’s pleas were not recognized by the Democratic majority, and the tabling stands until action is taken at a future meeting.

"There is no valid reason to table the sick pay for Chief Collow," Panos said. "Then you begin to think there is some other agenda here."

Butler and Baker expressed some concerns that approving the ordinance might ultimately affect other police department employees besides Collow. A number of department employees have indicated that the township owes them payment for unpaid leave time, Butler pointed out.

"There are people who have approached me and said they have it coming to them," Butler said.

Township Attorney William S. Ruggierio advised the council that those employees might be referring to verbal agreements they had with previous councils and prior township business administrators.

Collow’s situation was different, however, given the terms of the FOP contract, Ruggierio stated.

"There is nothing like this situation," Ruggierio said. "There is nobody else that fits into this category."

The employees mentioned by Butler might be referring to compensatory time, Ruggierio noted. Compensatory time is a different matter than unused sick time under a written collective bargaining agreement, the attorney stressed.

However, both Butler and Baker were hesitant to act on the ordinance until they get more information about whether it could affect other police employees.

"I don’t think anyone who gets a promotion should be penalized," Baker stated before motioning to table the ordinance.

If the council approves the ordinance now rather than in coming years, Collow would receive the flat $90,100 amount that is in his unused sick leave account, Township Business Administrator Alayne Shepler said.

Such might not be the case if the sick pay were to be paid out 19 years from now when Collow is eligible for retirement, Panos said. By that time, a future council could end up paying more to Collow given that the account would accrue interest over the 19 years while sitting in township accounts, she stressed.

"We have the opportunity to save this township money 19 years from now," Panos said.

Cannon scolded the council majority for their lack of action on the chief’s behalf.

All of Collow’s predecessors, including former Chief Jerry Palumbo, received their accumulated sick pay once they were promoted to head the department, Cannon said.

"I’m extremely disappointed with the lack of action on this," Cannon said.

The mayor acknowledged that some of the council members might have preferred someone other than Collow to succeed Palumbo, a Democratic Party member, as the township’s new police chief.

"I don’t think this would have happened if one of your candidates had been selected [as chief]," Cannon said.

The mayor has previously stated that Collow’s lack of involvement in either political party was one of the reasons she considered him as the new police chief.

If the council approves the ordinance, it does not take effect until the mayor signs it. Cannon is due to leave office after 12 years as mayor on Dec. 31. She will be succeeded by Democrat Jim Phillips.