Mayor Nominates Longtime Orange CFO as Business Administrator

By • May 6th, 2010 • Category: Blog, News, Politics

Jack Kelly, the current Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Orange in Essex County, has been nominated by Mayor Jerramiah Healy to replace Brian O’Reilly as Jersey City’s business administrator, the mayor announced today. O’Reilly, who has held the business administrator job since 2004, announced in November that he was planning to resign his position.

“While several exceptional candidates applied for the position,” Healy says in a statment, “Mr. Kelly possess the unique municipal government experience in administration and finance. We are confident in his skills, knowledge and expertise to lead the department of administration during this difficult economic time.”

The nomination of Kelly, who served as Orange’s CFO for 21 years, must be confirmed by the City Council before he can assume office; at this point the council’s assent seems likely. Ward B councilman David Donnelly says he was “very impressed” when he met with Kelly and says he thinks the hire is “a good move.” Likewise, Ward A councilman Michael Sottolano intends to support Kelly’s nomination.

“He’s obviously got quite a bit of experience,” Sottolano says, noting that the city was searching for a candidate “with enough municipal experience” to handle the city’s finances in a difficult time.

Kelly also comes with high praise from state Sen. Richard Codey, who acted as New Jersey’s governor from 2004 to 2006 after former Gov. James McGreevey resigned from office. Codey, an Orange native, tells JCI that he “relied on [Kelly] often as governor and still [does]” when he has questions about municipal government.

“He’s a hard worker,” Codey says, adding that Kelly’s nomination is “good news for the city.”

For his part, Kelly says he’s fully cognizant of the fiscal challenges facing Jersey City, and is ready to “dive right in and roll up [his] sleeves” to tackle them.

Kelly tells JCI that urban areas face a “triple whammy” of cuts: the elimination of two direct aid programs to municipalities — Consolidated Municipal Property Tax Relief Aid (COMPTRA) and extraordinary municipal aid — as well as the freezing of Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) funds. He points to the need “to come up with some creative ideas on how to plug those gaps,” but says he doesn’t have specific ideas to share at this point.

“I’m not bringing any magic wands with me,” Kelly says. But, he adds, the experience he brings from Orange, where he oversaw four property revaluations as well as negotiations with police and fire unions and a successful renewable energy project on the city’s police building, will be of use to him in Jersey City.

Kelly — who beat out about ten other applicants for the position — indicates that he intends to stick around Jersey City for a while, calling this appointment “the capstone” to a long career in municipal finance. Assuming he is confirmed by the council, Kelly expects to begin work May 18. According to city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill, O’Reilly “will be serving as an assistant business administrator” until July 31. Morrill notes that O’Reilly “will be assisting with the transition of Mr. Kelly into the role of B.A.”

O’Reilly could not be reached immediately for comment on his future plans.

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  • Interesting….
  • Interesting….

    http://www.orangenjnavigator.com/profiles/blogs/tax-overcharge-discussion
    Tax overcharge discussion continues at meeting
    Posted by Orange Transcript on April 7, 2010 at 3:29pm
    View Orange Transcript’s highlights
    By Chris Sykes, Staff Writer
    Tuesday night’s City Council meeting was all about numbers as the discussion on the city’s early tax overcharge continued.
    Caitlin Gordon was the woman who single-handedly forced Jack Kelly, the city’s chief financial officer, to admit that she and other taxpayers in Orange had been overbilled $2 million in property taxes during the first half of the 2010 fiscal year. Gordon accomplished that accounting feat by using her old tax bills to calculate what her true tax bill should have been and contrasted that with the erroneous amounts that had been charged to her.
    During the meeting, Gordon went to the microphone to discuss the situation. She said she spoke with Councilman Rayfield Morton about receiving time beyond the limit for her questions, and said Morton offered his support to her request.
    “At the last meeting, Council Vice President Elroy Corbitt thanked me for pointing out that the city had overtaxed myself and all its citizens by $2 million in the first two quarters of this year,” said Gordon. “At the time, everybody clapped their hands, but I wondered why did it take so long to bring this issue to the forefront? I came before you six times to raise this taxation issue, but no one ever took me seriously or did anything about it.”
    The overbilling occurred when a city official misinterpreted definitions of two different forms of tax rates which were provided to state officials. The overcharge was planned to be rectified through reductions in what would have been the expected quarterly amounts through the 2010 fiscal year. That reduction has not occurred as the city’s budget has not been approved.
    Read more in this week’s Orange Transcript, Click Here to SUBSCRIBE TODAY

  • More Waste?

    Hopefully the guy from Orange will be an improvement on the current Business Administrator Brian O’Reilly.

    O’Reilly announced early this year that he was leaving in April. It’s May and O’Reilly is still working for Jersey City. Your report now says he won’t leave until the end of July!

    What position will O’Reilly assume through July?

    Will O’Reilly retain his over inflated salary for three more months while they’re also paying the new Business Administrator?

    Give us the low down on O’Reilly’s salary and the starting salary of the new guy Jack Kelly.

    I don’t think the City can afford two Business Administrator salaries but I bet they’ll try.

  • http://www.jerseycityindependent.com Shane Smith

    @More Waste: O’Reilly will stay on as an assistant BA. I don’t know if he is keeping the same pay for that position, but I would think that information should be available via OPRA.

  • casual observer
  • BrightMoment

    According to the 1998 NJ Commission of Investigation, “into matters concerning the City of Orange Township”, they charged Jack Kelly with “unethical” and “irresponsible behavior” in performance of his City of Orange duties. This report details the misuse of city funds and unethical conduct for both the past Mayor and Jack Kelly as well as others of that administration.

    Mayor Healy said of Jack Kelly, “We are confident in his skills, knowledge and expertise to lead the Dept of Administration during this difficult economic time.” This appointment requires the approval of the City council. Jack Kelly should not be confirmed for Business Administrator as the type of “skills, knowledge and expertise” he brings include: City of Orange Violations of Financial Procedures;
    Bidding/Purchasing Violations; Political Pressure and Reprisals for Donations on staff and vendors; Misuse of City Property including city vehicles; Abuse of Business Trips where expenses were not documented or submitted without city council approval and more.

    Jack Kelly as new business administrator will continue the same malfeasance and lack of oversight over our city’s $500 million city budget that Mr. Kelly has already shown in his past job with the City of Orange. This guy is bad news for Jersey City and the City Council should deny his approval at this coming Wed, May 12th mtg at 6PM.

    Here are just a few of the NJ Commission of Investigation’s findings:

    *intimidation of employees for political donations(“…pernicious, city-wide atmosphere of pressure to support Brown’s political ambitions….)

    * no oversight on vendor purchases including not putting contracts out to bid

    *not signing off on a purchase of a car for the Mayor that the city council never approved

    *”Kelly ignored his obligation under the Orange Municipal Code, which dictates that the finance director submit to the mayor, Council and business administrator monthly and quarterly reports that are to include “appropriate analysis, explanations and forecasts of income, expenditures and surplus in relation to the budget.”

    *Kelly, an avid golfer, made two trips at city council expense that no record of being approved by the council exists, only a manual check that Kelly said should be cut, over a year after the Florida trip took place and then a subsequent trip to Anaheim, both trips to survey the possibility of building a golf course over the city’s reservoir! The expense of the Anaheim trip where he was accompanied by the Mayor, were subpoenaed but never were submitted.

    *”Funds were not routinely certified before the expenditures were made, as required by law”

    *”In every annual report since 1988, the city’s auditors have recommended “[t]hat all vouchers be properly signed and completed with supporting documentation, in the form of invoices or other appropriate information, attached. When Chief Financial Officer Kelly was questioned by the Commission on whether he reviews the vouchers prior to payment, he sought to disclaim responsibility:”