Mayor: Car for Dover safety director's 150-mile commute is 'excellent value'

TwitterRetired State Police Capt. Richard Rosell will receive a decommissioned police vehicle for use on the job as Dover public safety director and for his commute from his Jersey Shore home.

DOVER — Mayor James Dodd says a decision to provide the town’s new public safety director a municipal vehicle for the 150-mile round-trip commute from his Jersey Shore home “represents an excellent value for residents.” 

The town’s board of aldermen voted Tuesday to provide the vehicle to retired State Police Capt. Richard Rosell. The creation of Rosell’s position had been a controversial one, with nearly a dozen Morris County police chiefs objecting. But Dodd and others argued the position would make emergency operations more efficient.

“During salary negotiations, Mr. Rosell indicated his salary

requirements were considerably higher than we desired to pay,” Dodd

said in an email to NJ.com. “However, we were able to strike a balance between retaining our No. 1 candidate with my commitment to fiscal responsibility. We

were fortunate to come to an agreement that mirrored his compensation in

Springfield, which included the use of a municipal vehicle. This

compensation package represents excellent value for our residents.”

Rosell, who last served as public safety director in Springfield, began his $90,000-a-year job in Dover on Sept. 17.

Dodd said the personnel committee’s decision to create the position “was not made overnight, nor was it made without lengthy discussion.” Dodd defended the hiring of Rosell, stating that he is “the best person for the position” and that his restructuring of emergency services in Springfield “was nothing short of remarkable.” 

“Mr. Rosell impressed us with his resume, education, experience,

attitude, demeanor, and importantly, having just completed the

restructuring of the public safety director’s position in Springfield,” Dodd

said. “Based on all of this, we felt he was the right person to

recommend to the Board of Alderman. What he accomplished in Springfield

in just two short years was nothing short of remarkable as identified in

stellar letters of recommendation from Springfield’s mayor, administrator and police Chief.”

Aldermen Michael Picciallo and Dominic Timpani, who have previously

opposed Rosell’s hiring and dissented in the Tuesday vote amending the

town’s vehicle policy, said the inclusion of the car in Rosell’s compensation package was never discussed with the entire board or the public.

“It is reckless spending,” Picciallo said. “I believe the money would be

well spent hiring more police officers. I don’t think this position was

warranted.”

Timpani said Dodd also told the public there was money in the budget for a new police vehicle this year, but Timpani tated that there was no money available for it.

“He’s just blowing more smoke up the taxpayers,” Timpani said. “It’s all

lies. That’s all this mayor is good for, lying to the public and doing

whatever he wants.”

Dodd said Rosell will use the vehicle to respond to emergency

situations, to attend meetings inside and outside of the town, and for his commute to and from his Point Pleasant home. He added Rosell will not receive pension benefits or overtime through the town and he “will

not receive health benefits, nor will he receive additional compensation for denying health benefits.”

“When the personnel committee looked at his original

salary demands, and compared them to the final offer, we were satisfied

that the town had saved a considerable amount of money,” Dodd said.

However, Timpani said Rosell did not have any authority in emergency situations

and that because he lived in Point Pleasant — about 75 miles away — his

ability to get to the scene of emergencies was also limited. 

“He is in an administrative position,” Timpani said. “He cannot

interfere with police, fire, or (the Office of Emergency Management) while (emergencies are) going on. He lives two hours away and

that’s on a good day with no traffic and no bad weather. It’s just

crazy. It’s just another scam that the mayor came up with to spend the

taxpayers money recklessly.”

The

vehicle, a Chevrolet Impala currently assigned to the police department, will have to be decommissioned by the department —

stripped of emergency lights, sirens and police equipment — before

Rosell can use the vehicle, because the public safety director is not

permitted to use a police vehicle. 

Dodd said Rosell’s use of the unmarked vehicle would “have no impact in police patrol services at all.” The vehicle was previously used by a detective, which is a separate bureau within the department.

“On advice of counsel, I am assured that utilizing that vehicle for the public safety director is consistent with the law as all police vehicles are municipal assets and the town may assign them to different departments to meet the town’s needs,” Dodd said. “Mr. Rosell and I have already had several meetings in the past week and are preparing a comprehensive plan regarding police transportation issues in Dover.”

Dodd said the vehicle should average 20 miles per gallon in combined city and highway travel and that at the current cost of fuel for the town — $3.62 per gallon — the total cost for gasoline is $6,900 per year. He added that the total cost for the vehicle annually including maintenance would be between $8,000 to $9,000 per year.

In his previous position with Springfield, Dodd said, Rosell often paid out-of-pocket for oil changes to the vehicle supplied by the municipality as a show of good faith.

“It is my understanding that Mr. Rosell will continue this practice with the Town of Dover,” Dodd said.

In a letter sent to residents with their second-quarter tax bills, Dodd

said, he outlined savings achieved by his administration through the

attrition of employees due to recent retirements and the reassignment of

many of the responsibilities of those positions to the public safety

director and current employees.

“This reorganization resulted in

savings of $566,000 in the first year alone, which is significantly

more than what we are paying Mr. Rosell,” Dodd said. 

Rosell could not be reached for comment. 

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Mayor: Car for Dover safety director’s 150-mile commute is ‘excellent value’
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Mayor: Car for Dover safety director's 150-mile commute is 'excellent value'