HILLSDALE—The borough has lost its business administrator and DPW superintendent, two men who allegedly have clashed since the rise of the Covid pandemic.
Mayor John Ruocco told residents in an email the night of Friday, Jan. 21 that Borough Administrator Christopher Tietjen and DPW Superintendent William “Billy” Haffler, whom Tietjen supervises, had just resigned.
“The mayor and council will be taking steps to fill these open positions as expeditiously as possible,” Ruocco said.
Township of Wayne Mayor Christopher P. Vergano told Pascack Press on Jan. 26, “We are very happy that Chris Tietjen will be joining Wayne Township [in Passaic County] as our business administrator on Feb. 22, 2022. Mr. Tietjen was selected from a group of 17 qualified applicants. We believe that he possesses the skills and ability to do a fantastic job and I look forward to working with him.”
We forwarded Ruocco and councilmembers excerpts of Haffler’s complaints he shared with us on Jan. 26, principally alleging undermining from his supervisor, a difficult borough work environment, and lack of support for DPW facility repairs.
Ruocco replied, “As always, there are two sides to every story. However, since this is, by definition, a personnel matter, the borough cannot share any further details.”
He said, “It suffices to say that Mr. Haffler had a contract which ran through June of this year, at which time the governing body would decide, based on his performance, whether or not to renew and extend. He decided to accept alternate employment with the Borough of Hawthorne, and we wish him well.”
Ruocco said, “The borough is actively engaged in the process of securing a new borough administrator and DPW superintendent. However, all borough operations will continue, as before, without interruption.”
As to borough facilities, with respect to Haffler’s concern that there remain deficiencies following the devastation brought in September in the remnants of Hurricane Ida, Ruocco said, “The DPW continues to operate in a safe and efficient manner, with all services being delivered with the same quality our residents have come to expect.”
On Jan. 22, on the heels of his terse announcement of the men’s resignations, Ruocco told Pascack Press, “It would not be in the best interests of the borough for me to comment extensively on their departure. I am working closely with our labor attorney to identify possible courses of action as well as potential replacement candidates for the council to consider.”
He also complained anew about the council majority amending its bylaws this year to throttle back his parliamentary role.
“It is ironic that this responsibility falls to me now, after the council majority has restricted my ability to effectively participate, as any other mayor normally would, in the budgetary and planning processes of the borough,” Ruocco said.
Haffler alleges conflicts
Haffler, who oversees a foreman, mechanic, and six laborers, and has a roughly $1 million budget, started as DPW superintendent in April 2018. He was renewed in the position, at $102,000, but complains that, in an unusual move in the Pascack Valley, he was was limited to 18 months.
Haffler also is Hillsdale’s fire chief and a daytime volunteer firefighter, and most recently was fire chief in the Borough of Westwood, where he resides.
He told us in a phone interview on Jan. 26 that his last day on the job is Feb. 4, that he is already sworn in to lead a DPW “in a bigger community, with a lot more work: Water department, sewer department, all that,” and that he starts Feb. 7.
He alleged needling and undermining attention from Tietjen dating back to March 2020 and that “I had to leave because I know they’re [my crew] being affected by not getting the correct support from the borough.”
He said that “My facility is still a shambles.” (See “Borough loses hundreds of tons of salt in Ida deluge” and “Ida drives damage, heroes as valley digs out from historic storm, eyeing change.”)
He alleged Tietjen, who oversees borough departments and reports to council, “held up all repairs. He held up doing anything. My guys still have a hazardous materials situation inside a sealed-off garage. And none of them [the borough leadership] care that the place is still a shambles. Because [Tietjen] … doesn’t allow us to talk to them directly.”
He emphasized “I have the absolute best crew in Bergen County. The DPW guys, I would put them up against anybody. They’re like family to me.”
He said he did not get support from the council to stay and regrets that the borough is losing him as a daytime firefighter. “And that’s for maybe 25 years. That doesn’t end tomorrow.”
He said he would finish his elected year as fire chief.
According to Haffler, his problems started when the borough started a Covid-19 text group amid the confusion of the exploding pandemic in March 2020.
He said he asked in the group what he was supposed to tell his workers about policies and procedures — with so much in the nation then closing down and scaling back, and the lockdown starting — and that his approach apparently landed badly with his boss.
“He sent some big long answer and said, You see me tomorrow,” Haffler said.
According to Haffler, Tietjen “didn’t like the way I had worded it. And since that day it’s come up so many times. Yeah, that text message. Since that day it’s been trouble.”
Crew petitions for Haffler
On Jan. 24, 2022, a unanimous DPW crew wrote to the mayor and council asking them to cooperate in keeping Haffler on the job.
They said in part, “We understand that there may be some differences of opinions amongst all of the council members and that is government at work. However, Mr. Haffler is the fourth superintendent that we have had in roughly 10 years since Mr. Durie retired from the position.”
They said, “Each time we have gotten a new supervisor that person has changed some form of what and how we operate as a department, some changes have been detrimental to the department which caused all but two of us to retire or find employment elsewhere.”
And they said, “Some of the changes have made us extremely better as a department. Since Mr. Haffler has been here, he has continued to build upon what Mr. O’Rourke had started before his departure from Hillsdale.”
They said Haffler, “young, innovative and eager to learn and pass his knowledge on to others here at the Public Works and as Fire Chief of the Hillsdale Fire Department.”
Tietjen responds
Tietjen started as Hillsdale’s BA and qualified purchasing agent in December 2019 at a salary of $115,000, taking over for an interim admin, who had been filling in after Jonathan DeJoseph, learning he would not be given tenure, resigned.
In September 2021 he signed a four-year contract at $129,000 annually, plus benefits, with raises of 2% every Jan. 1.
He was administrator at Peapack and Gladstone, November 2017 to December 2019, and assistant township manager of Pequannock.
He is a graduate of Montclair State University and Seton Hall University, from which he holds a master’s degree in public administration.
Tietjen told Pascack Press on Jan. 27 that his decision to accept the Township of Wayne’s offer stemmed from professional and economic concerns. “It was a hard decision, but I’m young — I have a young family; my son is 4 — and I need to spread my wings.”
He said he finds the state of the Borough of Hillsdale strong “financially and operationally.”
He declined to comment on Haffler’s concerns beyond saying, “I stand by the mayor’s statement. Haffler is entitled to his opinion … I’m proud of my time in the borough.”
He said the borough had collected all of its insurance money related to Ida and would use that to complement emergency spending to make the DPW whole. “We’re good on salt and good on storms.”