Morris Co. Clerk Employees Endorse Chatham Challenger Over Boss

CHATHAM, NJ — One of the county's largest employee unions endorsed Democrat and Chatham resident Shala Gagliardi for County Clerk over the current Clerk, Republican Ann Grossi, citing a hostile work environment created by Grossi, something Grossi strongly denied.

Morris Council No. 6/6A, NJCSA, a union that represents county employees, issued the endorsement last week in a letter written by union president Liz Sutula. Sutula wrote that the employees main issue with Grossi was that she drove good employees away with hostilities.

"The current County Clerk, Ann Grossi, has shown nothing but contempt for her own employees over the past 5 years. She has created such a hostile work environment that on more than one occasion, I’ve had employees coming to me crying because of the way she treated them," Sutula, a 28-year employee of the clerk's office, wrote.

Grossi denied these accusations, calling Sutula a "perennial pot-stirrer and fire starter" and a "disgruntled employee" with a history of "mean-spirited, heartless and unfounded attacks against the county clerks she has worked under."

"The clerk’s office runs at high efficiency, with great customer service and an award winning passport department. It is impossible for an office to run at this level and receive the continuous flow of accolades from the public, other government agencies and receive the endorsement of the New Jersey Hills Newspaper if Sutula’s outrageous, self-serving allegations were true. Sutula is a liar and as the saying goes, 'The proof is in the pudding.' as there has never been a union grievance filed against Clerk Grossi or the Clerk’s office by any union member alleging a hostile work environment or purely union animus," Grossi's campaign said in a statement sent to Patch.

Several hours after issuing their statement, the campaign retracted it and said they had no comment on the matter. They then sent another statement, saying upon further reflection they wanted to share their thoughts.

"A recent endorsement by a public employee union of Ann Grossi's opponent was expected and promoted on unsubstantiated personnel issues and political agendas," the statement read. "Ann Grossi promotes strong business values and ethics in the operations of the Clerk’s Office maintaining the tradition of excellence that the citizens of Morris County have come to expect."

Six employees chose to retire instead of continue working for Grossi, Sutula said, while another left "because she almost had a nervous breakdown." In total, Sutula said a quarter of the clerk's office employees left.

County clerks are responsible for maintaining vital records, such as birth, death and marriage certificates. About half of states elect county clerks, including New Jersey; the other half appoint them.

“I am honored to have this endorsement. This is more evidence of mismanagement in the Clerk’s Office. Union employees deserve fair treatment. They deserve a Clerk who respects rather than demeans the educational background of the staff, one who doesn’t see herself as overqualified to run the office," Gagliardi said in a statement sent to InsiderNJ.

Gagliardi has also received the local endorsement of Chatham Moms for Change as well.

"Gagliardi, a long time Chatham Township resident, lawyer and mom of three, has made a commitment to restore accountability and integrity to the County Clerk's office. We support her belief that running the County Clerk's office shouldn't be about politics, it's not about Democrats or Republicans. It's about service to the people of Morris County," the group said in a statement. "And it's about ensuring the integrity of our elections and safeguarding our important documents. Gagliardi is running for Morris County Clerk to bring transparency, fairness, bipartisanship, equality and accountability to the Morris County Clerk's Office."

(Image via Shutterstock)

(Reporting for this story by Katie Kausch)

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