OCEANPORT – Ahead of the seventh anniversary of Super Storm Sandy’s New Jersey landfall, a number of the borough’s office of emergency management (OEM) personnel announced they would resign from their volunteer posts, effective Jan. 1, 2020.
In a statement delivered at the final borough council meeting before the Nov. 5 general election, OEM director Mauro “Buzz” Baldanza said his passion for the position “has been waning” and attributed that deterioration to a lack of support from community leaders.
Also announcing their resignation from OEM assistant director roles were Chris Baggot, Wes Sherman and Oceanport Chief of Police Michael Kelly.
“It’s been seven years since Sandy has passed and we keep on trying to do a lot of positive things for public safety, and when you just don’t see anything coming back your way, it kind of knocks the wind out of your sails,” Baldanza said in an Oct. 29 interview. The former Oceanport police officer of 30 years has served in an emergency management role for 18 years, including 14 as the OEM director.
In his prepared remarks at the Oct. 18 meeting, Baldanza said OEM members have “no confidence in members of the public safety and finance committees,” groups that include borough council members Joseph Irace, Steven Solan and Robert Proto, all of whom are running for reelection on the Republican ticket in November.
Proto called the resignations a “political stunt.”
“This is nothing more than orchestrated political theater and it’s upsetting to see the depths that they’re willing to sink to,” said Proto, who was the lone mayoral candidate in the borough before Mayor Jay Coffey, a Democrat, announced his run for reelection in May on an independent ticket with Democrat Meghan Walker and Republican Tom Tvrdik.
Baldanza said the final straw was the rejection of a request for a new primary emergency response vehicle. He added that the previous vehicle was a 2004 Dodge Durango that had been fully outfitted with radio communications equipment, a laptop computer with internet capabilities and a rear command console for various documents, supplies and electronics.
But Baldanza said the Durango’s engine failed in January 2018 and the repair “would have cost more than the vehicle was worth.” After removing the vehicle from service, according to Baldanza, the OEM submitted two quotes for a new vehicle during a capital request period.
Proto said one of the vehicles requested was an “$85,000 pickup truck.”
“Over the last two years the chair of the public safety committee, Steve Solan, asked (Baldanza) to tell us how much it would cost to outfit his current vehicle, another taxpayer-funded pickup truck that he drives each day to and from his full-time job in Long Branch. That would have been the most cost-effective and fiscally responsible option for taxpayers. He wouldn’t tell us,” Proto said.
The cost of the requested vehicle, Baldanza said, is due to its design, which is based on the potential risk factors the community could face, including severe flooding, hurricane winds and large crowds drawn to Monmouth Park racetrack.
Baldanza disputed Proto’s claim, saying, “It wasn’t until June 2019 that I had to text our CFO and ask if the new vehicle was being funded. I was told it was not. I never heard a word from the public safety or finance committees.”
Coffey said the resignation of this OEM leadership group “is a severe blow to our community. But when elected officials make volunteers feel unwanted and unsupported and, in turn, the volunteers believe they are not making a difference, there is a problem.”
In April Coffey said he would not be seeking a second mayoral term, as he felt ineffective in a form of government that limits the powers of the mayor. In the borough form of government, the mayor only has a vote on council matters to break a tie. The mayor does have veto power, but that veto may be overruled by a two-thirds council vote.
“Oceanport is built on the backs of volunteers and right now I don’t think our volunteers believe that the majority of the members of our municipal council are supportive of them,” Coffey added.
Baldanza said he and his assistant OEM directors will remain on until Dec. 31 to help guide the town through hurricane season, as well as to leave time for the mayor and council to identify their replacements.
Coffey said he will be reaching out to try and convince the OEM members to reconsider.
Proto said it is the responsibility of the OEM director to have a succession plan in place, “but we’ll make sure that the town is not in any risk. When the time comes we will appoint a qualified person to develop a team. The town won’t skip a beat.”
