A document obtained through an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request shows that the governing body approved the hiring of the borough’s Director of Code Enforcement, Construction Official, Building Subcode Official, and Building Inspector as a part-time position of 29 hours-a-week for a four-year contract.
Originally stated by Mayor Carl Hokanson as well as members of council that the position would be full-time, which is 35 hours-a-week, Resolution 152-17 was passed at the May 18th Mayor & Council meeting with the hiring of Frank J. Genova from Cranford. This was after Ordinance 2483 was passed by council in May that increased the salary limits for the positions (among others) with the intent that the job would become a full-time position.
Before being voted on, Resolution 152-17 had Mr. Genova’s salary starting at $90,000 with an 11% increase the second year to $100,000 and an annual increase comparable with other municipal employees for the last two years of his contract.
After a closed session discussion, Resolution 152-17 eventually approved the combined position at $85,000 the first year and comparable salary increases for the remaining three years.
The part-time position does not come with health benefits. Multiple reliable sources have stated that the reason for the change to a part-time position was due to free health benefits Mr. Genova receives as a former fireman in Cranford. A full-time position would remove coverage from Cranford and Mr. Genova would have to contribute to his benefits as a Roselle Park municipal employee. Although health/medical/dental insurance will not be covered by Roselle Park, the municipality will provide vacation/personal/sick days and reimbursement for seminars, conferences, and training.
It appears that Mr. Genova’s situation was not discovered until the night of the vote. The governing body has not publicly revealed why it did not decide to table the resolution in order to further review the matter or find an applicant that would fill the position full-time for a four-year contract.
A copy of the employment contract is included below:
Download Employemnt Contract for Director Of Code Enforcement