Contract

Town Manager’s $195K

By Stephanie Faughnan

HOWELL – The Township Council voted to approve Township Manager Joseph Clark’s contract with a starting salary of $195,000.

The township manager runs the day-today operations of the town. Clark’s tenure as township manager formally began on December 14, 2022, although he previously served as both acting and interim township manager starting last spring. For the five years prior, Clark was the Township’s inhouse legal counsel.

The employment agreement approved unanimously by the three council members present at the February 7 meeting and became retroactive to Clark’s start date as township manager.

According to state law, the employment of the township manager is considered indefinite with specific parameters. Clark must give 60 days’ notice should he decide to resign voluntarily.

Should the Township decide to terminate Clark’s employment, the Council must pass a resolution at least 30 days before its effective date stating the reasons for his removal. The Township Manager would then be suspended and entitled to a public hearing.

The removal process might sound familiar to Howell residents as it’s how the lead position in local government became open in the fi rst place. Clark stepped in when the governing body decided to terminate Brian Geoghegan in his role as township manager.

Some of the other terms of the employment agreement with Clark include the following:

• Annual reviews on or before the end of each calendar year. He will be entitled to the same raises provided to other employees in the Teamsters bargaining unit.

• Council maintains the option of conducting a performance review associated with a salary change at any time.

• Township health benefits with personal contributions.

• Continued enrollment in the Township’s deferred comp and retirement savings plans.

• Enrollment in the state pension plan should Clark become eligible.

Approves:

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• Life insurance provided by the Township could later be changed to a policy offered by the state pension plan.

• Thirty-five days of paid time off per calendar year; up to 15 days of which can be carried over each year.

• Sell back of up to 10 days annually of paid time off – with the option of payment of unused accumulated leave upon resignation or termination without cause.

• Time off for professional development, including CLE (Continuing Legal Education) and events such as the New Jersey League of Municipalities.

• Up to $5,000 in reimbursement costs for professional development and conferences, including those associated with Clark’s law license.

Howell’s fi rst ordinance of the year up- dated salary ranges for certain officers and employees of the local government. The Township Manager’s minimum range stayed at $95,000 and saw a maximum range increase from $160,000 to $200,000. The maximum salary range for the Chief of Police is the highest in the Township, moving from $238,772 to $249,000.

“I couldn’t be more delighted that council made the decision to hire from within,” said Clark. “So, I can continue to work with the qualified professionals of our team across all levels.”

Two prior council members spoke at the recent council meeting and reiterated the reasons Clark was moved into the position without consideration of an outside search.

“There was no reason to do a search,” said former Deputy Mayor Pamela Richmond. “We had someone right here in front of us working hard every day, who lives here in Howell, cares about Howell.”

Former Councilwoman Suzanne Brennan was appointed to Council to fill a vacancy left by Deputy Mayor Thomas Russo. During her one year tenure, Brennan said she saw things change when Clark took over and demonstrated his passion for getting things done.

“I have to say the difference between when I started on the governing body and when I left,” said Brennan. “The trajectory skyrocketed – and it was under his leadership and the team that he was building.”

New Jersey state laws provide council members with broad discretion in the selection of a municipal manager. Accordingly, they may be chosen solely on the basis of their executive and administrative qualifications with special reference to the candidate’s actual experience or knowledge of accepted practices in the position.

Nonetheless, some Howell residents still maintain the governing body should have interviewed other candidates in addition to Clark. While not questioning the township manager’s abilities to do the job, the new focus is on the terms of his employment agreement.

Geoghegan was at the top of the pay scale when he left at $160,000. Clark’s salary of $195,000 is a $35,000 increase over the last manager. Additionally, had Clark stayed on as Township Attorney, the maximum range for that position is set at $155,172.

Flag Retirement Box

HOWELL – Do you have old flags? Flags can be retired outside of the Southard Fire Department in their flag retirement box.

This is maintained by a local Eagle Scout, Jacob Grdovic, who completed the project and donated it to the Southard Fire Department. He has been emptying it on a weekly basis and working with a local VFW to make sure the flags are retired in a dignified way.

Club

: Continued From Page 1 also provides some inspiration.

Jon Gibbs of Manalapan said the Monmouth Writers group began in October and sometimes had as many as 8-10 fledging authors in attendance at monthly meetings.

“What we do here is critiquing,” said Gibbs. “I think critiquing is a skill – and that being critiqued is also a skill.”

Gibbs pointed out that many people don’t realize how personal their writing is until someone else decides to comment on it. Therefore, the group tries to embrace what Gibbs called a “neggi sandwich approach” in providing peer feedback.

“That’s where you find something positive to say,” Gibbs explained, “Then you find something you feel might need a little work, and then end with something positive that works for you.”

Writers who attend the monthly meetings are encouraged to limit works for evaluation to 1,500 words and bring along copies for distribution.

Rather than read their own submittals aloud, writers can hear how someone else’s intonations make their work come alive.

Hazlet resident James Netterwald once worked as a journalist writing science stories for a prominent national publisher. Now disabled, Netterwald employs an alternative tone to his current endeavors.

As a songwriter, Netterwald not only puts together the lyrics; he also composes and produces the music and inserts his own vocals. The finished product stands by the old adage that the best works come from what writers know best.

A romantic break-up led Netterwald to a meeting with a therapist, who the songwriter questions in a piece entitled “Dear Therapist.”

The commentary came after the group listened to the print version of Netterwald’s lyrics.

“I like the idea of addressing a therapist,” shared Anne Morris of Howell. “The whole narcissism thing is hot in the news now, so I think this is very timely.”

Morris said that she was a bit unclear about parts of what Netterwald was trying to convey. Was the songwriter’s intent to end a dysfunctional relationship or to break up with his therapist?

Netterwald responded to the feedback with some insight and considered some subsequent suggestions. The big treat came when he played the song, and the melodic tones provided another layer of meaning to the lyrics.

“It’s got a catchy rhythm,” Gibbs said. “I actually like songs when you’re listening to them, but you don’t really listen to the words. You’re getting hooked on the music…and then when you’re enjoying it, you stop and decide to pay attention to the lyrics.”

Morris was next in line to share her work but had to race out to a meeting before the others had the opportunity to review it. A college professor, Morris only had a few short moments to express her frustrations with the novel she’s been writing for the last five years.

“I’ll look, and I’ll see what sentence sounded better, “shared Morris. “I wrote this one and I recently wrote another one that’s describing the same thing. In the beginning of a book, you want it to be snappy so that people will want to get in and find out what’s going on.”

The self-edits seemed to partially come from a friend who suggested that a portion of Morris’ book was akin to beating a dead horse with a rubber hose.

Blunt feedback can sting – especially when it comes to words rearranged to tell the best stories. And Morris couldn’t make it clearer how critical it is for her to finish her final chapters.

“I was in a car accident recently,” Morris said. “The first thing I could think of was, oh my God, I didn’t finish my novel.”

Gibbs said he was only half-joking when he described himself as a trophy husband. Originally from England, Gibbs and his wife decided it made economic sense for him to stay at home with their twin daughters with special needs.

Despite no formal education beyond the age of 16, Gibbs has been invited to give several workshops for budding authors. He also taught a creative writing course at Georgian Court University.

On his second novel intended for middle school kids, Gibbs said he’s alternated between titling his book “Dead Doris” or “The Ghosts of the Golden Mansion.”

Gibbs provided a brief summary of the novel whose lead character is a 12-year-old boy originally from England. The family owns a mansion in a state of some disrepair. While not giving too much of the plot a way, the child’s grandfather tends to be eccentric, albeit likable. “I like all the different references,” said Netterwald after reading the story aloud. “I like that you have older references and then some modern references like Netflix.”

“I liked the language, and I think the characterizations are very good,” Netterwald continued. “I would just like to see a bit more eccentricity in the main character though.”

Susan Flynn of Howell runs a nonprofit focused on helping women. She learned about Monmouth Writers when she came into the library to drop off a book already published with her byline.

As a newcomer, Flynn spent the meeting mostly observing rather than offering feedback to her fellow writers. She then shared the basis for her “A Journey into Serenity: A Personal Path to Self-Transformation.”

Again, the concept of writing about what you know best surfaced in the writer’s introduction to the group.

Flynn’s work is both reflective and inspirational and includes quotes from various sources. “I’ve been working on myself for the past 25 years,” admitted Flynn. “Over the years, I’ve read a lot of self-help books. I went to seminars and classes and am now a life coach.”

One other aspect of writers gathering together provided fruitful - the group spoke about different publishing opportunities and touched on aspects of copyright law.

Writers take to their craft for assorted reasons and can often feel alone in the process. Meanwhile, the concept of sharing feedback dates back to the times of Socrates and Plato. Some consider writers’ groups a support system for dealing with self-doubt and relief from writer’s block.

Monmouth Writers meets every second Saturday of the month at the Howell Library starting at 9:30 a.m. More information is available at njwritinggroups.com.

Contests:

Continued From Page 1 focus on optimism.

This year, the essay prompt was “Who is an everyday hero that brings out the optimism in you?” The oratorical topic was “discovering the optimism within me.”

The Howell Optimist Club winners advance to the district competitions, and winners from there go to the regional competitions, then possibly on to the international competitions. The scholarship awards grow as the contest level advances.

For the past two years, winning oratorical contestant Eliana Mandelberg of Howell High School returned as an oratorical contest judge. Once a contestant wins at the district level, they cannot compete again at any level.

Jane Losinger, Supervisor of Literacy, Gifted and Talented Programming, and District Assessments for the Howell Township Public Schools and her administrative assistant, Ramey Allen make this program possible, coordinating all of the students’ paperwork, submissions, and criteria compliance. The Howell Optimist Club’s president is John Alliano.

For 2023, two oratorical winners and one essay winner will advance to the district competition. There was a total of 76 essay entries and 32 speech entries.

Essay contest winners:

• 1st place: Cindy Wu, Middle School South (advances to district)

• 2nd place: Sofia Mendez, Middle School

South

• 3rd Place: Sandra Abuelyamin, Middle School South

Oratorical contest winners:

• 1st place: Justin Douglas, Middle School North (advances to district)

• 2nd place: Alexa Leone, Middle School North (advances to district)

• 3rd place: Michael Natilli, Farmingdale School

The Howell Alliance sponsors the club level awards for the top three essay winners and top three oratorical winners.

“Every year, we look forward to appreciating the writing and speaking talents of our youth contestants. The annual essay and oratorical contests would not be possible without the full support Howell Township Public Schools’ administrators and teachers give us,” said Howell Alliance Coordinator Christa Riddle, who also is a member of the Howell Optimist Club. “The contests take a lot of time and dedication from October through February from the Howell Optimist Club, Howell Alliance, and Howell Township Public Schools, which shows the power of community collaboration and support our youth to achieve, pursue their goals, and fi nd pleasure and accomplishment in the arts of writing and public speaking. We couldn’t be prouder of our contestants and winners who will represent Howell well at the district contests and beyond!”

For more details on the contests, visit optimist.org/member/scholarships1.cfm. For more information on the Howell Alliance, visit twp.howell.nj.us/169/Alliance.