Paul Dougherty a No Show for His Township Budget Proposal

The Haddon Township Board of Commissioners on Tuesday restored $20,000 to its police department budget that had been slashed from it previously.

Two of the three commissioners approved the measure. The third member of the board did not attend the meeting.

The commissioner who missed the meeting was the same official who cut the police budget for items other than salary from $105,000 to $85,000. That commissioner, Paul Dougherty, the director of revenue and finance, was also a no show Tuesday for a public hearing on the township’s $11.6 million budget.

The two commissioners present, Mayor Randy Teague and John Foley, both said they had not heard from Dougherty. Teague gaveled the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. and proceeded with business.

Dougherty has been at odds this year with Teague and Foley on several issues, including the police budget. In fact, he has also been at odds with the police, who presented a letter of no confidence to him in March during a public meeting. The local police union presented the letter. Local officers lined the walls of the meeting room.

They claimed he had inappropriately discussed a police personnel matter in a public meeting; had appointed a hearing officer that he had a financial relationship with to preside over a preceding considering disciplinary actions for a police officer; had been found to be in a “suspected state of intoxication” on several occasions by township police officers and several other allegations.

Dougherty dismissed their claims as sour grapes for tough negotiations he conducted for a new police contract. But he then stepped down as director of public safety, a position overseeing the police department, and switched jobs with Foley. In April, Dougherty became the director of revenue and finance.

As the director of revenue and finance, Dougherty in May slashed an additional $20,000 from the police department budget over $8,000 in cuts that had been recommended by Foley when he was in charge of putting together the budget. Some of the cuts may have included a reduction in the budget for bullets for the department. Dougherty, Foley and other officials won’t confirm or deny that was the case.

Because of an addendum to restore the $20,000 to the police department, a final vote on the 2013 budget was delayed on Tuesday and may not occur until the board’s next meetings on July 16 or 23.

The new budget includes an average $71 annual tax hike for Haddon Township homeowners.