Today, during a special meeting of the Council, we took the final procedural step outlined by the Faulkner Act Law which governs the structure and function of most local governments in New Jersey, including ours, to permanently remove Timothy Stafford as Township Manager.
I have believed for a while, and going back to last fall when I made public comments as such, that we have the power sever ties and exercise the Council’s right to choose who we want to be the Chief Executive of Montclair. Choosing who administers our Township and all the power that comes with, is one of our most fundamental responsibilities. I’ve always believed that contract-less, at-will employment gave us the ability to execute this change at any time. But to reconcile different points of view across our government, I agreed to follow this process.
Today, we’ve made permanent our majority decision to move on and to go in a different managerial direction for the Township. We did so without any monetary settlement. I fully anticipate that Mr. Stafford will file suit against the Township imminently. We are prepared for that.
Montclair’s Township Manager is the CEO of Montclair — a $100M enterprise with hundreds of employees serving 41,000 constituents. For me, who we choose as our Manager going forward must be someone who is going to reflect who we are and protect what we love as a community.
I’m looking forward to our future and moving beyond this difficult chapter.
-Peter
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