Trustees Approve Contract Offers to Gross

Though John Gross will no longer be the village administrator in South Orange, he is not leaving the community.

He was approved for two-part time positions by village trustees at a special meeting Thursday night.

Gross will work an average of up to 10 hours a week for the next six months as a consultant and will also serve as a part-time chief financial officer for the village.

The consulting position requires Gross to work an average of 10 hours a week for up to six months, without benefits, and pays $4,500 a month. Trustees voted 4-3 to approve the consulting contract with Janine Bauer, Michael Goldberg and Nancy Gould voting against it.

The second contract, where Gross will serve as the village’s financial officer, will pay him $55,000 a year for 27 months. 

Village Attorney Steve Rother said Gross will be expected to participate in three committee meetings and three budget workshops. He said that there are "no time limits" on Gross' responsibilities as South Orange CFO. "No matter how much time, he has to fulfill them," Rother said.

He further added, "The time amount is driven by the chore. To the extent that [his] chores require a presence in Village Hall during business hours, he would have to be here."

This contract also passed by a vote of 4-3, with Bauer, Goldberg and Gould opposing it.

Members of the public were outspoken, as many raised questions about how one individual could work full-time in West Orange and as many as 20 hours each week in South Orange.

Village President Alex Torpey explained that the hours Gross will serve in South Orange aren't necessarily during business hours, and could include evenings and weekends.

Gross is leaving South Orange as the full-time Village Administrator to become the full-time Chief Financial Officer of West Orange on Oct. 1.

"Now that the Board of Trustees has made this offer, I will forward them to the Mayor of West Orange,” Gross said following the meeting.  “If everything is acceptable, then I will accept them."

Gross' West Orange contract compensates him with a salary of $130,000 for four years.  Gross has served as a consultant since September 1 and will continue to do so until September 30 for $10,000.  During this interim he will work with the current CFO and the township to familiarize himself with his new role.

Last night, West Orange Mayor Robert Parisi told Patch that he was supportive of Gross continuing to work in South Orange, however he wanted to make clear that Gross’ primary job was with West Orange.

 "He's got a contract with us and we're expecting him to fulfill it,” said Parisi.

As per the agreement in the West Orange contract, Gross must now submit the offers by South Orange to Parisi in writing for his approval.

Village trustees also approved hiring a new interim administrator Regan Burkholder, the former Summit administrator for 17 years. Reagan will earn $110 an hour for at least 20 hours a week and is working through a contract with Government Management Advisors, a private company.

 “Reagan has an excellent resume, excellent references,” said Village President Alex Torpey.  “We discussed his accomplishments that he mentioned in Summit.  (The references) mention a good downtown when they talk about Summit.  He’s the interim person, not the permanent person.  But I think he is going to do a really good job in helping to keep us moving.”

Gross’s new contract requires him to waive sick time, paid vacation and certain lifetime health benefits – but will allow him to keep his pension credits.

He will keep any pension credits earned during the contract.  In addition, the Village agrees to pay Gross a fixed sum of $15,000 for “any and all accumulated time, including but not limited to sick, vacation, and holiday time through September 30, 2011.”

Both contracts have a non-solicitation clause that blocks Gross from soliciting Village employees to follow him to West Orange or any other business entity he may belong to.  They also do not provide any benefits other than the state-mandated pension credits stated in the CFO contract.

This story will be updated.