Mayor begins cutting unnecessary positions
Organizational chart to be revamped
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer
Little more than two months into his administration, Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis estimates he has already trimmed $500,000 in salary costs from the Brick Township payroll.

And he's not finished yet.

The cuts so far have come primarily in the form of retirements, he said.

"My goal is to have [fewer] employees in every department a year from now," he said. "If we can reduce the cost of government through attrition and still achieve our goals, that's OK," Acropolis said.

But he wants to avoid layoffs at all costs.

"I can't in good conscience lay off people," Acropolis said.

Two positions have already been eliminated permanently.

Local florist Alan Cohen was paid roughly $54,936 a year during former Democratic Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli's administration to serve as "special events coordinator." Cohen has decided to retire from township employment, the mayor said.

Brick Democratic Party Chairman Michael A. Blandina was paid roughly $61,691 a year to serve as "constituent services" director. Blandina quit last spring to take a job with the state Motor Vehicle Commission.

Acropolis plans to revamp Town Hall with a "functional" township organizational chart that clearly establishes the chain of command for each department.

"When you don't have a functional organizational chart, you do not have any accountability," Acropolis said. "The current organizational chart was actually more fractured than I thought. We have departments that think they are on their own."

Employees need to adapt to the new philosophy, said Acropolis, who puts merit over civil service status.

"I don't necessarily want to have civil service protection," Acropolis said. "I like people to walk the line every day."

"If you do your job and you are proficient at it, you'll stay," the mayor added. "I want them to have to work like they are in the real world."

Acropolis has also put an end to the practice of allowing employees to test drive another job outside of the township by taking a leave of absence.

And he has an absolute ban on hiring any members of his family. Scarpelli's son and several other family members still work in Town Hall.

"I'm not hiring my relatives," Acropolis said. "I'm not hiring my kids. I'm not hiring my brother."

Acropolis and the Township Council plan to introduce ordinances to create the position of director of the newly created department of Parks and Recreation and a director of the department of Community Development and Land Use, probably sometime next month, he said.

The responsibility for maintaining the township's public parks now falls on the public works department. The current system scatters public works employees across a variety of tasks, he said.

"We have to dedicate some manpower to parks, so there is accountability," Acropolis said. "It's not working functionally as far as the chain of command goes."

KennethMathis currently handles park maintenance functions. Andrea Zapcic is the current superintendent of recreation. Acropolis did not rule out either Mathis or Zapcic for the parks and recreation director position. But he said the township may consider someone from outside.

"We are looking at a couple of different people," he said.

Township Engineer JamesA. Priolo will become the director of the new Department of Community Development and Land Use, with no increase in pay, the mayor said.

Township Planner Michael Fowler will become assistant director of the department, also with no increase in pay.

Acropolis said he doesn't blame employees for some of the practices that took place in Town Hall over the years.

"I blame the leadership in Town Hall," he said. "My job and Scott's [TownshipAdministrator Scott M. Pezarras] job for the first 90 to 100 days is to show people we are all part of the same team. It's kind of like an extended family. The majority of people are going to get along."

And how does he like his new job so far?

"I love it," he said. "It's better than I thought it was gong to be. It's much different than being a councilman. The township has not had a hands-on mayor that they can remember."

Acropolis, who was Scarpelli's longtime Republican nemesis when he was a councilman, was elected mayor on Nov. 6 in the race to fill Scarpelli's two-year unexpired term.

Scarpelli, who was elected to an unprecedented four terms as mayor, pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from an unnamed developer on Jan. 8, 2007. A U.S. District Court judge in December sentenced him to 18 months in federal prison. He is slated to turn himself in to begin serving his term on Jan. 29.