Hillsborough Township officials have announced that the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Local Finance Board, has not found any credible evidence to support alleged violations of local government ethics law by municipal officials.
According to a press release issued by municipal officials on March 1, prior to the 2017 general election, ethics complaints were filed with the Hillsborough Township Ethics Board against Gloria McCauley, who was the deputy mayor, Township Administrator Anthony Ferrera and the municipal clerk, Pamela Borek.
Roger E. Koch and a group called Citizens for Hillsborough formally filed appeals with the Local Finance Board of the State Department of Community Affairs Local Government Services Division. The appeals correspond with real estate transactions between McCauley and Ferrera, and between McCauley, who became mayor in January 2018, and Borek.
In both cases, the appeals stated that Ferrera and Borek chose McCauley to list the sale of their respective homes “on or around August 2017.” The complaints and appeals both allege Ferrera and Borek did so after the Township Committee, including McCauley as mayor, voted to approve their salary increases.
Officials said the complaints contained allegations of violations of the Local Government Ethics Law by McCauley, Ferrera and Borek based on their decision to list their homes for sale with McCauley, who was said to have been a “longtime friend” and a local real estate agent.
Following hearings before the township’s ethics board, the board’s members found the complaints lacked merit with “no evidence to substantiate the allegations of ethical violations or conflicts of interest on the part of McCauley, Ferrera and Borek,” according to the press release.
The complainants appealed the ethics board’s decision to the Local Finance Board, which likewise found no credible evidence to substantiate the complaints, according to the press release.
Upon learning of the Local Finance Board’s decision, McCauley, who later became mayor, said, “It is unfortunate the lengths individuals will go to tarnish one’s hard work and good name for perceived politically motivated reasons. I have known Anthony Ferrera and Pamela Borek for many years and consider them friends, so when they asked me to handle the sale of their homes, I of course was happy to do so.”
In a joint statement, Ferrera and Borek said, “We could never imagine that something as innocuous as listing our homes for sale with a trusted friend and longtime real estate agent would result in such allegations.”
When reached for comment following the issuance of the press release from the township regarding the state’s decision regarding the ethics complaint, Koch questioned the recent actions of McCauley on the Township Committee, such as abstaining from a vote on the salaries and wages of municipal employees on Dec. 18. The salary ordinance included Ferrera and Borek.
“I noticed the Mayor’s Newsletter’s description of the supposedly innocent actions by the accused officials was similar to the accused’s own statements along with those of the township attorney, prior to and shortly after the Hillsborough Ethic’s Board’s decision, all alleging no illegal acts had occurred,” Koch said.
“However, McCauley seems to be no longer voting in favor of the numerous salary raises the Township Committee has provided to Ferrera and Borek, since the initial ethics complaint was filed back in 2017.
“Instead, she has abstained from voting, in effect recusing herself from voting on a matter alleged in the ethics complaint to be a violation of the ethics law governing township officials, because Ferrera and Borek were also real estate customers of McCauley and paid her thousands of dollars in realty commissions and she had voted in favor of thousands of dollars of salary increases for them,” Koch said.
“I believe the business relationship and thousands of dollars in commissions were omitted from the Mayor’s Newsletter,” he said. “If the actions of McCauley, Ferrera and Borek were as innocent as claimed by all of the accused and the township attorney, it is especially remarkable that McCauley seems to now be acknowledging she should not be voting for her customers’ raises. Arguably, that is an admission that what she, Ferrera and Borek did in the past was illegal.”
Although Koch said McCauley’s recent actions may reflect some sort of admission regarding the ethics complaints filed several years ago, McCauley pointed out at the December meeting that salary and wage increases were enacted in accordance with formal reviews.
McCauley stated that each year, based on their labor contracts, members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union and Teamsters 469 are selected to receive merit increases. The Compensation Committee votes on these individuals based on recommendations and personnel evaluations.
She said a resolution authorizes those increases, as well as other adjustments for individuals not covered under a collective bargaining agreement. Upon a motion by the Township Committee, the salary resolution was approved by the committee members, but McCauley abstained from the vote.
McCauley is presently member of the Township Committee, Ferrera remains the township administrator and Borek remains the township’s clerk.
