MARGATE – A special Board of Commissioners meeting held Thursday, Oct. 9 included accusations against the city’s chief financial officer, a sitting commissioner and a former city administrator. The charges come after several employees, including the current administrator, have filed tort claims against the city.
During the meeting, which lasted an intense 25 minutes and was followed by a closed session, Mayor Michael Collins and Commissioner Cathy Horn remained silent.
According to a soon-to-be filed Complaint for Removal with the NJ Department of Community Affairs, City Administrator Pat Moran accused CFO Lisa McLaughlin with failure to perform her duties, insubordination, conduct unbecoming a public employee, neglect of duty, misuse of public property, violating city rules and regulations and unauthorized use of computers, internet and email, and failure to perform the duties of a municipal CFO.
Moran, a former Galloway Township police chief who spent 12 years as an investigator, was appointed to a one-year term in October last year as a 24-hour, part-time employee earning $85,000 annually with no benefits. In June, he received a new one-year contract to work full-time at $152,500 per year with benefits.
During the meeting, attorney William Blaney, a partner at Blaney, Donohue & Weinberg PC, the city’s labor counsel, outlined the procedures that must be followed to bring the charges.
Although the personnel issue could have been held in executive session, upon receiving a Rice notice that the board would be discussing her employment, McLaughlin requested the hearing be held in open session. She was accompanied by about a dozen supporters but was not permitted to speak during the meeting. Her attorney, David Castellani of Northfield was not in attendance.
On Friday afternoon, Castellani called Moran’s claims “a private witch hunt and vendetta” against an employee with a stellar reputation, which indicates Moran has engaged in “official misconduct," he said.
Castellani said he has filed a tort claim notifying the city that he intends to sue the city, Moran, Collins and Horn for defamation, libel, slander and invasion of privacy.
“Obviously, they are in conspiracy with one another,” he said.
The meeting was advertised in the Press of Atlantic City Thursday morning, but not 48 hours in advance of a meeting as required by the Open Public Meetings Act, and the agenda was posted on the city website. The agenda did not include a public comment period, which is customary at all public meetings. The meeting was also not live streamed on the Zoom platform as is customary at Margate commission meetings, but it was recorded and has since been posted on YouTube.
Blaney said the charges would be filed with the DCA, which could review the matter, or send it to an administrative law judge for review. If the judge sustains the charges, it would be sent back to the DCA to determine if the charges should be rejected, accepted or modified. The DCA could also decide if McLaughlin’s license to operate as a Certified Chief Financial Officer should be revoked.
“Obviously, it’s one sided at that juncture. They are only allegations until they wind up in front of the Department of Community Affairs,” Blaney said.
Blaney said Moran circulated the charges two weeks ago, but McLauglin and Castellani were not notified on time, so there was a delay in holding the meeting expeditiously.
Maury Blumberg, the city’s longtime Commissioner of Revenue and Finance, questioned the timeline for proper notification, who fact-checked the claims, and if City Solicitor John Scott Abbott reviewed the charges prior to them being sent to McLaughlin’s attorney. He said he was not aware of the charges before they were sent to the other commissioners and questioned if they approved the charges be filed with the DCA.
Moran said notification was sent to the commissioners and attorneys shortly before midnight, Thursday, Sept. 18, but Blumberg said he did not receive notification until noon the next day, which he claimed usurped his authority as commissioner of Revenue and Finance under the Walsh Act governing the non-partisan commission form of government. Moran also said he fact-checked the results of his own investigation.
“Where in the Walsh Act do my fellow commissioners have standing in my department?” Blumberg asked. “I do not support the proposed actions and was not party to the drafting of these complaints.”
Blaney said that anyone could bring charges on a chief financial officer.
“But not on behalf of the City of Margate,” Blumberg said. “Especially if the commissioner of the department may not be involved or on board.”
Blumberg said Moran hired a private investigator without his knowledge to investigate McLaughlin’s actions over the time he has been administrator; however, the expenditure, which is estimated to be approximately $6,000, was not authorized by Blumberg, nor was it approved in a resolution to be voted on by the commissioners.
Blumberg said he was totally shut out of discussions about the complaints.
“In my opinion, this is a targeted attack of retaliation against a respected, longtime, in good standing and accomplished employee by my fellow commissioners, facilitated by a freshman administrator,” Blumberg said.
“They are not supported by me as commissioner in charge of the department and further I believe cannot move forward without my approval according to our ordinances and the state’s Walsh Act,” Blumberg said. “To do so would be a travesty of justice, unethical, and more importantly, a violation of the public trust.”
McLaughlin has been Margate’s CFO for more than 22 years. Blumberg said she is an exemplary employee with a reputation and track record that is unmatched anywhere in the state.
“You just don’t treat people like this, especially in Margate,” he said, stating the matter should have been heard internally and properly adjudicated, and that the contents of the complaint are “riddled with untruths,” and “factually incorrect.”
“Many of the actions listed in the complaints against Lisa were sanctioned and pre-approved by me as the commissioner in charge,” and therefore should be rescinded, he said.
His request of the administrator to let the “CFO just do her job” has fallen on deaf ears, and that he requested that the city hire a mediator to assist in the matter, but when he suggested it, Moran lost his temper, threatened Blumberg and stormed out the meeting, Blumberg said.
“It is my hope that this situation can be resolved internally before we spend thousands of dollars in legal fees and a drawn-out fight that would yield millions of dollars in consequential and punitive damages awarded to the employee should she decide to sue us over these false accusations,” Blumberg said.
Upon completing his statement, Blumberg received a round of applause from McLaughlin’s supporters.
Moran said his investigation into the “malfeasance, insubordination and violations of public contracts law” of McLaughlin and Blumberg have been going on since shortly after he was hired.
“She has not been a good employee for a while, and I cannot turn a blind eye to it. I have integrity,” Moran said after the meeting. “I would never put forward something that was a lie or not true.”
Moran turned his attentions to what he believes are improprieties by Blumberg and former longtime City Administrator Richard Deaney. He accused Blumberg of trying to skirt public bidding laws by preferring a cleaning contractor who failed to submit the lowest bid, and Deaney for being appointed administrator through a public services contract that did not go out to bid.
Deaney served as administrator for more than a decade through a professional services contract with Jersey Professional Management, a consulting and recruiting firm where he is a principal. JPM provides, on a contract basis, experienced professionals, many of whom have retired from public service, to serve as administrators or departments heads until a municipality hires a permanent replacement. Deaney had more then 50 years of experience as a municipal manager and administrator. He has since retired.
“The target on your back is your own issue for trying to manipulate the bid process,” Moran told Blumberg, whom he said has continually harassed and threatened him after Moran refused to change the bid specifications for the $160,000 cleaning contract in favor of the contractor Blumberg preferred.
Moran said he is in possession of 65 emails and other documentation to support his claims against McLaughlin.
Moran also said Blumberg approved McLaughlin paying former Code Enforcement Officer Jim Galantino, $106,000, despite him no longer being licensed with the state.
“Those numbers were also certified for pension, and she is the pension officer, and those numbers could be considered inaccurate. You are intricately involved in that whole situation. As a matter of fact, we ended up paying that employee a payout because you offered to pay his fine and you are the reason we had to do a settlement for it,” Moran told Blumberg. “You can paint me out the way you want, but there is significant evidence here that points to wrongdoing.”
An administrative law judge should render a decision, he said.
Moran has accused McLaughlin of untruthfulness regarding accrual and use of her compensatory time; untruthfulness regarding carryover time when she denied another employee vacation time from the previous year; altering the city budget after it was distributed to city officials without including a raise for another employee; and attempting to access the computer of a subordinate who was on sick leave. In the affidavit, Moran said video surveillance footage shows McLaughlin entering accounts payable employee John Voigt’s office after hours, and attempting to gain access to his computer, which was denied through two-factor authentication. Accessing another employee’s computer is a violation of the city’s policies and procedures, the affidavit states.
Moran said McLaughlin claimed she was trying to access purchase orders in Voigt’s absence.
Moran also said she paid herself a $6,300 stipend for performing payroll duties in the absence of the payroll clerk and refused to return the payments when he questioned it.
Following a closed session deliberation, City Solicitor John Scott Abbott said the case would move forward.
He said he would meet with Blaney and Blumberg Monday morning at 10 a.m. and then meet with McLaughlin’s attorney in the afternoon. Abbott said Blumberg requested some revisions to the complaint before it is sent to the state.
“Unless there is some resolution, the complaint will be filed,” Abbott said.
This latest personnel flap in Margate comes on the heels of other tort claims filed by city employees during the current administration, which was seated following the election in May 2023.
In July, Moran’s attorney Christopher S. Lipari of Lipari & Dieter of Pleasantville filed a tort claims notice stating Moran is experiencing an ongoing pattern of retaliation by city officials and employees. Claiming emotional distress, he is requesting compensatory and punitive damages totaling $500,000.
Another city employee, Kelle Amodeo filed a claim naming Moran, Collins and other city employees for creating a hostile work environment and repeated acts of retaliation. Amodeo also claims damages totaling $500,000.
Also, former Administrator Ken Mosca, who was appointed to a three-year term by the prior administration in 2023, resigned under pressure in January 2024.
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