I want to express my disappointment in the assembly and Mayor for their recent actions in the surprise firing of manager Debra Schnabel. This hasty action is definitely not in the best interest of the borough. A good manager is a valuable and scarce asset to the borough, one that Debra has been for three years.
Because of borough code, the manager has six supervisors! But they are required to supervise as a group, with one voice, not as individuals.
The paper reported that Paul Rogers, acting as an individual, had threatened Debra that if she did not resign, he would propose to fire her. This is a serious breach of ethics and behavior as an assembly person. What if she had resigned? The assembly role of supervisor as a collective would have been bypassed. In essence, Paul would have functionally elevated himself to the sole supervisor of the manager through intimidation. A serious ethical violation in my opinion.
This is an opportunity for the Assembly to show that we have elected leaders to our government’s highest offices. The assembly should apologize to the manager and ask her to come back to work and work out any issues that have been raised. She is a valuable resource of the borough that should not be thrown away lightly.
Ron Jackson