Bloomfield Council Deadlocked on Two Police Officers' Promotions

The Bloomfield council deadlocked last night on the promotions of two police officers, sending it back for a second round of voting at the next council meeting.

The tied vote concerned a lawsuit settlement between the town and the affected officers, Sgt. John Sierchio and Lt. Joseph Krentz, who had sued Bloomfield for their promotions and then settled with the town. The council subsequently approved their promotions in January.

But the New Jersey Civil Service Commission revoked the promotions because the council had used expired promotion lists to promote the two men and then tasked the council to approve an amended settlement agreement between the town and the officers in order to move the promotions forward.

The vote on the changed settlement agreement last night fell along stark lines: council members at large versus council members of the three wards.

Council members Robert Ruane of the Third Ward, Nicholas Joanow of the Second Ward, and Janice Maly of the First Ward voted no on the resolutions approving the changed settlement while Mayor Raymond McCarthy and council members-at-large Peggy O'Boyle Dunigan and Michael J. Venezia voted yes. Councilman-at-large Bernard Hamilton was not present.

Ruane said the resolutions needed a vote of 4 to 3 to get approval.

“That’s what happens when you don’t show up to vote,” said Ruane about Hamilton’s absence.

Ruane explained his no vote, saying that promoting the men is “dead wrong” because they were advanced in rank by an expired list, which he called a “dead list.”

“Aren’t we a nation of laws or not,” said Ruane, who claimed that Krentz never took the required promotion test while Sierchio tied with another officer in 12th place when he took the exam.

McCarthy countered Ruane and said promoting the officers was the “right thing.”

“It’s a business decision,” said McCarthy about his vote, pointing out that the town had already reached a settlement agreement with the officers who had sued for their promotions.

The resolutions on the two officers’ promotions will be voted again at the next council meeting, McCarthy said.

Here’s what else you might've missed from last night’s meeting:

*A lease agreement on Foley Field between the town and the Board of Education was approved. The board will lease the field and the adjacent stadium for a nominal sum to the town for 25 years, according to a resolution released by the town.

*The council approved a resolution in appreciation of Victoria Burnett, a former councilwoman for the Third Ward. She had died on Feb. 25, 2011. Burnett had served as councilwoman from 2000 to 2005 and had worked as an administrative assistant for the Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce for five years.

*The controversy over the proposed T-Mobile cell tower on Broad Street flared up briefly when resident Sandra Cummings made an impassioned plea to the council.

“It’s huge; It’s vast; It’s hideous,” she said, claiming that the diameter of the pole is five feet and will sit on a site, the Brookside Garden Center, which has contaminants in the soil and lies near the flood-prone Third River.

*The closing of the fire department’s Engine 1 was also raised. Christina Olivier, a Bloomfield College student, expressed concern that the institute’s safety may be affected by the closure.

*After the meeting, McCarthy said the $69.9 million municipal budget will be amended over the week after the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs rejected it.

State officials said they turned down the budget because the town could not use a 2009 emergency appropriation to hire a property revaluation firm, McCarthy said. The mayor noted the state had approved it before.

The town will have to shave off $260,000 off the budget because of the rejection, McCarthy said.