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BY MICHAEL OLOHAN
OF NORTHERN VALLEY PRESS
NORTHVALE, N.J.—Approximately 100 residents—including local public works employees and neighboring towns’ union workers—jammed a Northvale council meeting Sept. 12 to question the loss of two public works positions and the role of a non-union fleet manager hired this year.
Before the meeting, about two dozen union supporters marched on the Paris Street sidewalk in front of Northvale Public Library with a 12-foot-high inflatable rat behind them on borough property. After an hour, police deflated the rat and requested the union members move it from borough property. Nearby union and non-union employees from Demarest, Closter and Haworth marched in support of local public works employees.
Following criticism from a half-dozen union supporters at the meeting of the mayor and council, Borough Attorney John L. Shahdanian and Northvale Department of Public Works foreman Billy Guyt exchanged words over the fleet manager’s contract. Shahdanian noted he was the local labor counsel as well as town attorney.
Shahdanian said he negotiated the fleet manager’s position and it is a one-year “trial run” contract.
‘Not part of DPW’
“It specifically exempted the fleet manager from doing anything related to the DPW. He’s not part of the DPW. He’s not doing anything the DPW does,” said Shahdanian.
“There’s no grievance…I would have expected when we had all these discussions about the fleet manager that someone from the DPW would have filed a grievance” under the union contract, Shahdanian said.
“They all saw the contract that was put out there,” said Shahdanian, noting no union grievance was filed “and there’s no violation of the collective bargaining agreement as far as I know.”
Guyt said they are exploring filing a union grievance against the fleet manager’s hiring. The fleet manager position is a non-union management position.
The attorney said “someone from the DPW should have objected to that position” when initial discussions occurred about the fleet manager position and no one objected. The ordinance hiring the fleet manager was passed in April 2017.
“There’s a process to deal with a problem like this; it’s called a grievance,” said Shahdanian.“If you have a complaint make a complaint…I’ll have a discussion with you anytime about the fleet manager’s position.”
‘A little disrespectful’
Guyt said the fleet manager is handling situations related to sewers, the compost facility and flooding all over town.
“It’s a very weird situation, no one in town is going through what we’re going through,” said Guyt. “It’s a little disrespectful to have a guy go down there [Union Avenue flooding] and usurp our authority.
“We get total disrespect and we don’t deserve it,” said Guyt.
After another audience member—who did not state his name—criticized the council for lack of leadership and drew applause after saying “Northvale is a working town.”
Mayor Stanley “Ed” Piehler interjected: “I appreciate your comments but we are in closed.”
Although the official public comment period had been closed, Shahdanian had engaged Guyt regarding the fleet manager following public comments. After Piehler said the meeting was in closed, Shahdanian then read a motion stating the council would go into closed session.
‘Sidestepping the contract’
Earlier, Dan Ceccon, a 22-year employee of Demarest DPW, charged the Northvale Council with “direct violation of their collectively bargained contract.”
Ceccon said “when a governing body…does everything they can to tear that fabric apart by minimizing the contributions of the department, blatantly violate a negotiated contract by sidestepping that contract…and hiring a man [fleet manager] for $84,000 a year plus benefits,” it violates collective bargaining.
A copy of the contract obtained by Northern Valley Press states an annual salary of $85,000, plus benefits. The fleet manager, Robert Pisano, was hired from Jan. 1, 2018, through Dec. 31.
Ceccon called out the mayor for saying the department was “being negligent in their duties as an excuse for that hiring…and for not backfilling three vacant positions for years and to ultimately set that department [DPW] up to fail.”
Other speakers noted two union DPW employees could be hired for the cost of one fleet manager and wondered why the position was necessary.
Initially, Piehler said they would listen and not respond to public comments—following public shouting at previous meetings—but Piehler and members relented and responded to residents on DPW-related questions and other issues.
Guyt said Ceccon “hit the nail on the head.”
“We’re all family guys, born and raised in this town,” said Guyt.
He cited recent council decisions on sewer cleaning and street sweeping that the council initiated but DPW workers knew nothing about.
‘Don’t know what’s going on’
“We at the DPW have no idea what you guys are talking about. The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing and we want to know. We want to work. We want to be successful and try to save money for all of us. I don’t know what’s going on and I’m appealing to you guys once again,” said Guyt.
“I can assure you the infrastructure of the town is failing and we are not going to be blamed for this,” charged Guyt. “I’m asking you guys to help us to help the town, to fix the town. We can’t do that. I don’t have the manpower to do it,” said Guyt to audience applause.
Guyt said Northvale missed opportunities to share costs on equipment with Norwood and Old Tappan.
“We have a lot of talent there at the DPW,” noted Guyt, saying the council has failed to consult the DPW before negotiating related services and that DPW workers are not kept in the loop.
Guyt earlier said the DPW currently has four roadmen (or employees) to handle services such as cleaning parks, chipping brush, cutting grass, cleaning catch basins, and fixing road hazards.
Under questioning, Piehler later said they had no plans to outsource any DPW functions or reduce staffing further.
Northvale resident message
In a “Northvale Residents for Change” flyer—the independent campaign by former Councilman Pat Marana, who is running for mayor against Piehler on Election Day—mailed to residents, Ed Devlin, a longtime union member who marched with DPW employees near the inflatable rat, said the fleet manager “is performing work covered by DPW union contract rules” and reducing union employee regular work and overtime.
“We union members label anyone who does such a thing as a rat. This situation is a slap in the face to every union member in the state… In my memory, Northvale’s mayor is possibly the first Democratic mayor in Bergen County…who has taken such a completely hostile position to union employees.”
Devlin charged the hiring process for the fleet manager position “was a mockery…when you are the mayor of a small town that is passing a budget with a 6.2 percent increase, you do not have the luxury of creating new, six figure positions for your friends. We, the taxpayers, simply cannot afford it,” wrote Devlin.
Efforts to seek further comment from Piehler were not returned by press time.