Mary Howell, foreground, and Clerk Allyson Cinquegrana at a council meeting in February (Photo by Dustin Racioppi)
Fair Haven business administrator Mary Howell has resigned from her job as the borough’s top non-elected official, the Asbury Park Press reports today.
The borough council accepted Howell’s resignation, submitted last month, on Monday night after officials determined that the town needs a full-time administrator, the Press reports. Howell returned from maternity leave in January asking to go part-time, a move the council accommodated.
But the arrangement, in which borough Clerk Allyson Cinquegrana put in three days a week as assistant administrator, wasn’t working out, Mayor Mike Halfacre tells the Press:
“It was a mutual decision,” Halfacre said. “She didn’t want to work full-time and we need a full-time administrator.”
On his blog, Halfacre says Howell’s resignation is effective December 31. Before she went part-time, which officials said saved the borough $50,000 annually, she was to be paid $105,000 in salary this year under the terms of a three-year-contract, with a boost to $111,000 next year.
He also reports that the council approved a new contract with police Chief Darryl Breckenridge. No details were provided.
