Brick Hires New Chief Financial Officer, But Not Without Some Complaints

BRICK, NJ — An Atlantic County man has been named the new chief financial officer in Brick Township, replacing Scott Pezarras, who retired in July.

But the approval of the appointment of John Clifford at Tuesday's Brick Township Council meeting was not without its detractors.

Clifford, of Northfield, will begin working for Brick as a certified municipal finance officer as of Aug. 15 at a salary of $100,000, Mayor John Ducey said in remarks introducing Clifford's appointment. He had been working as the chief financial officer of Middle Township in Cape May County since December 2014.

Clifford will join the staff of "five-and-a-half" employees in the finance department, Ducey said.

Before becoming CFO in Middle Township, Clifford worked in the banking industry before becoming a senior support specialist and project manager for the firm Edmunds & Associates, which provides software to public entities to manage their financial functions, from payroll to accounts receivable to permits and violations notices, according to the company's website. The company, based in Northfield, serves more than 675 public agencies around the country, with budgets ranging from $1 million to $1 billion, according to the website.

"He's the one who taught towns how to use the software correctly," Ducey said.

Clifford, who has a degree in accounting from Rutgers University, is a specialist in resolving municipal audit findings by refining policies and procedures and troubleshooting accounting software systems, according to the Middle Township municipal government website.

In Middle Township, Ducey said, Clifford "identified ways to cut costs without reducing services." But according to a report by the Press of Atlantic City, those cost-cutting measures were the subject of debate among members of the local government, with one committeeman calling them "one-time fixes."

Ducey said Clifford was chosen from a pool of 18 applicants that was narrowed down to 10 people who were interviewed for the position in what Ducey said was "a collaborative effort" that included Business Administrator Joanne Bergin and Pezarras.

But Charles Bacon, who ran unsuccessfully for the Township Council last year, said questioned the selection of Clifford for the position.

"I'm a little bit concerned about his experience and the size of the budget he's worked on," Bacon said, noting Brick's budget is $100 million, while Middle Township has a budget of $20 million.

"What was the criteria used?" Bacon asked.

"We wanted someone to strategize, to analyze and make future decisions," Ducey said. "We have a great day-to-day team. ... John Clifford's expertise is analyzing, looking forward down the line."

"We didn't need someone to come in and make a bunch of changes," he said earlier in the meeting.

Bacon also asked whether township officials were aware that Clifford had a personal bankruptcy, but Bergin and Township Attorney Kevin Starkey said there would be no discussion of it.

"We are not going to discuss public employees of the township," Starkey said, after Bacon commented that the bankruptcy is a public record.

Victor Finamore, a candidate for the Board of Education, questioned the appointment of Clifford as well, particularly with regard to budgeting for capital projects.

Bergin said the capital budgeting process isn't solely up to the CFO, noting that Pezarras had given them an overall capital budget figure to work with, but not dictated how much could be spent on specific types of projects, such as road improvements.

"There's a whole big transparency issue," Finamore said, referring to recent actions by the Brick Township Board of Education that have stirred claims of politics. "There's a whole lot of people watching."

"No one's watching it more carefully than we are," Bergin said, adding that if Clifford makes a recommendation that is dramatically out of whack with past budgeting, such as a huge cut in snow removal budgeting, "we'll red-flag that."

"The mayor is the one ultimately responsible" for the budget and any issues that might arise from Clifford's hiring, she said.

Clifford's term runs through Dec. 31, 2019, at which time the township can either reappoint him or select someone new. If Clifford is reappointed, he becomes tenured and can only be removed for cause. Starkey said both the initial four-year term and the tenure rule are set by state law, as are performance standards for the job.

Pezarras, who retired in July, had worked for Brick Township for 32 years, including the last 22 as CFO.

"We have a Triple-A bond rating and have had one audit finding since I became mayor," Ducey said, "and the audit finding is only correctible if we stop accepting grants, which we're not going to do because that makes no sense."

"We didn't need someone to come in and make a bunch of changes," Ducey said.

Brick Mayor John Ducey. Patch file photo by Karen Wall