Timing is everything

We’ll have to wait until charges are filed to gauge whether there’s any substance to the complaint Parking Director Neil Burnip plans to lodge against the borough of Red Bank and two council members.

But the timing, coming as the charges do in the final stretch of the election run up to Nov. 8, can’t help raising suspicions.

According to Borough Attorney Kenneth Pringle, Burnip’s attorney has given notice that the parking director will bring charges of a hostile work environment and discrimination against the Borough Council’s sole Republican members, Jennifer Beck and John Curley, and his employer, the borough of Red Bank.

Beck, a candidate for state Assembly in the 12th District, and Curley, who is running for his second council term, this time as a Republican, admit they have openly questioned whether the position of parking manager is a necessary one in a municipality that is struggling to hold down taxes.

Reportedly, both council members learned of the impending action in an executive session in which Mayor Edward J. McKenna Jr. read aloud a letter, which had been mailed to his law firm’s offices, about Burnip’s impending action.

They have also opposed the borough’s single-minded determination to build a parking garage in the downtown.

So, it’s not surprising that they are the targets of Burnip’s action, which may or may not, according to Pringle, manifest itself as a legal action. A tort has been served but, he explained, the matter could be settled after an independent investigation by the borough.

It’s also not surprising that a move is afoot to derail both office seekers, particularly Curley, a maverick and populist.

He’s been in the crosshairs at least since the previous election, as evidenced by an e-mail sent to this office on Nov. 8, 2004.

The e-mail, sent by Councilman Robert J. Bifani, a Democrat, in part reads:

“I think Councilman Curley’s public comments over the past year with regard to the administrator and the parking manager have gone to [sic] far as it relates to the rights of the borough employees. This last-minute political letter he mailed out (paid for by Ernst & Goulart) borders on discrimination particularly in addressing Neil Burnip’s heritage. Please call me if you would like to discuss this in more detail.”

So, pardon us for being skeptical. We have a lot of respect for Burnip’s credentials. He had 15 years of experience as a parking official in the British Isles before accepting the position in Red Bank and is himself a barrister.

What we will wait to decide is not whether the charges have merit, rather whether the timing of this action is politically expedient.