Haddon Twp. Commissioners Get Chippy at Work Session

The normally staid Haddon Township commissioners meeting got chippy Tuesday with two commissioners at odds with a third and that commissioner at odds with the police chief.

The issue that ignited the first spark was an attempt to name a public defender for the township. Commissioners Randy Teague—the mayor—and John Foley favored Charlene Cathcart, whose bid at $175 per session was $50 per session cheaper than the bid from the current public defender, Charles Wiggington.

Commissioner Paul Dougherty objected to Cathcart because she is Teague's landlord for his law office in Audubon. Teague and Foley objected to Wiggington because they said he is more expensive than Cathcart and that he has been overcharging them for several years.

Foley also objected when Teague heeded to Dougherty's demand that he recuse himself from a vote on Cathcart. Foley argued that Teague had sought the opinion of township solicitor Stuart Platt, who concluded that he could vote for Cathcart and it would not be a conflict of interest.

Teague then leveled a charge that Dougherty had a similar conflict of interest several years before. Dougherty said he had no idea what Teague was talking about.

Finally, Teague and Foley voted to seek public bids for the position for a third time. Dougherty voted against it. The commissioners took the same sides at their last public meeting on Dec. 18. Then, Wiggington's bid was about $1,900 more than another applicant Cristian Towers. The issue then was a flat fee of $12,400 and Towers bid $200 per session for a maximum of 38 sessions.

Teague and Foley voted to rebid the position to specify cost per session. Dougherty did not record a vote.

On Tuesday, Teague and Foley voted to rebid the position and Dougherty voted against it.

"We have a difference of opinion," Dougherty said after the meeting. "They wanted to make the mayor's landlord the public defender."

Teague and Foley immediately left the meeting when it was over and were not immediately available for comment. Dougherty said he wasn't challenging Cathcart's qualifications but was objecting to what he thought was a conflict of interest.

Earlier in the meeting, battle lines were drawn again when Dougherty proposed two promotions in the police department to the surprise of police Chief Mark Cavallo.

"This is the first I'm hearing of this," Cavallo said when Teague and Foley asked him what he thought of the promotions. "We haven't even spoken about this. Frankly, I'm shocked."

Dougherty told Cavallo they did speak about it last spring or during the summer. Dougherty is the director of public safety and oversees the police department. He proposed that Sgt. Scott Bishop be promoted to lieutenant and patrolman William Benham be promoted to sergeant.

Dougherty said the department needs to hire at least three officers and has filled management positions with an "officer in charge" designation at a higher rate of pay.

"He should be begging me to hire open positions," Dougherty said of Cavallo.

The chief apparently did not concur. He marched out of the meeting as a vote to adjourn was being seconded. He was not immediately available for comment afterward.