Supporters of Animal Control Officer Bettina Roed, who was laid off earlier this month when the Township Council approved an interlocal services agreement with East Windsor, left the March 21 meeting with a sense of hope.
It was the third time this month Roed’s supporters came out in force to a council meeting, this time to urge council to overturn its decision on March 7 to lay her off.
Councilman Charles Morgan encouraged supporters when he asked the council to meet in executive session to discuss possibly reinstating Roed without breaking the contract with East Windsor.
Regarding his initial vote in favor of the interlocal agreement with East Windsor, Morgan said he believed “it to be a poor choice, but it would not have solved the problem of the termination of Bettina’s position,” he said.
He said he was under the impression she was laid off by the administration and that the interlocal agreement simply covered her former duties — a belief that was later disputed by Business Administrator Robert Hary and fellow Councilwoman Diane Ciccone, who both said all council members were told about the implications of the approval prior to the vote.
Ciccone and Councilman George Borek initially voted against terminating Roed, with Morgan, Councilwoman Linda Geevers, and Council President Kamal Khanna voting in favor of the interlocal agreement with East Windsor. The council agreed at the March 21 meeting to hold an executive session during an upcoming meeting, after which there could be a public decision. No specific date has been scheduled yet.
Hary, however, said he did not think the council would be able to do anything to reinstate Roed’s position.
“They have no ability to reinstate her because it’s an administrative function to hire, fire, lay off, and terminate employees,” he said. “Council has no powers in that area. Frankly, they’ve already approved an agreement that, to my knowledge, has already been approved by East Windsor as well, so it became a binding agreement, at least for this year.”
Adding to the cause for Roed’s supporters was the story of a rescued dog, which they said was found safe earlier that day because of Roed’s efforts through the weekend.
Elyse Gottesman, who posted a classified ad on the News’ website for her lost dog, told council that “Bettina Roed is my new hero.”
Gottesman said she lost her dog in Mercer Park five days prior to the meeting and called Roed for help. “She went to the park, looking for my dog, for hours on end — at 2 a.m. and on the weekend,” said Gottesman. “Bettina went door-to-door, asking for people to help. She was not paid for doing these things. This is not a ‘job’ for her; this is her heart and soul. Bettina is an animal whisperer.”
Lucy, her dog, was found on March 21 through one of Roed’s contacts, Gottesman said. “Twenty people could not replace the job of this one special person, whom I have come to respect in a very short time,” said Gottesman. “Bettina is honest and forthright, warm and caring, and immensely important to our community, as well as the surrounding townships. In this case money should not be the issue, but the quality of life and the care of our citizens, children, and pets.”
Gottesman was one of about 30 people who came out to support Roed, some of whom were outside of the council room before the meeting to circulate a petition to reinstate Roed.
Roed’s supporters claimed there were several factors that were not considered by the council when it made its decision to enter the local services agreement on March 7.
Kim White, of the animal welfare group AFEW, said Plainsboro had tried to urge West Windsor for six or seven months against continued contracting with Princeton Animal Hospital for veterinary and other services because of its high price. Plainsboro terminated its interlocal agreement with West Windsor in December for Roed’s services, citing savings in a contract with Helmetta.
White also claimed that when West Windsor officials contacted Lawrence, it was not to ask them to join an interlocal agreement for Roed’s services. “West Windsor was looking to unload its animal control responsibilities” on Lawrence, she claimed.
Resident Emily Epstein claimed the township could have saved 50 percent by contracting with Mercerville Animal Hospital instead of Princeton Animal Hospital.
“That dog is here safe today,” added Epstein, referring to Lucy, the lost dog. “That will not happen if you move on to East Windsor.”
Other residents and supporters — some of whom came from Plainsboro, Princeton Township, and East Windsor — said the issue should be more than just about saving money. “People in this town know her, respect her, and they love her,” said resident Tatiana Chan.
Her husband, Patrick Chan, said that last year, 540 calls were made to the animal control officer. If a typical response takes up to two hours, the same number of calls would cost the township $70,000 under the hourly rate of $65 with East Windsor, he said. “That’s $30,000 more than what Bettina’s making,” he said.
However, Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh later disputed this number, saying township officials looked into the number of calls made last year to the animal control officer and found that only 200 calls had been made.
Still, “I believe you have a chance to show people that you don’t do things behind closed doors,” by reinstating Roed, said resident Nancy Bennett.
Roed’s sister, Jeannette Roed, echoed the sentiment, saying she has a “renewed understanding and respect for Mr. Morgan’s concerns for an open and transparent process,” referring to Morgan’s ongoing lawsuit against the mayor, whom he accuses of failing to respond to his request for information. The lawsuit has been dismissed by judges at various levels.
Residents and supporters questioned why the mayor was not in attendance at the meeting. “I believe Mayor Hsueh would have known this is a popular issue,” said resident Pete Weale, who alluded to the fact that the mayor-council government does not require him to be in attendance.
Khanna reiterated his earlier statements that “this issue is not about the competence, professionalism, or dedication of Bettina Roed.”
He said that when Plainsboro pulled out of the agreement, the administration presented council with a list of alternatives. It was done in executive session because it was a personnel issue. The council, in turn, gave guidelines to the administration. When the administration brought the East Windsor agreement to the table, the administration told the council what would happen, and then the council voted, he said.
“We listened to the recommendations, we set policies, and we voted on it,” he said.
The vote only executed the agreement to provide animal control services; it did not terminate the position, said Morgan. “It was a decision by the mayor and administration to terminate” Roed, he said. “We can make a motion to overturn this resolution, but it’s meaningless” because the administration hires and fires employees, he said. In addition, “you don’t break contracts.”
Morgan said, though that council could pass a resolution recommending that the contract be re-negotiated. He also said he did not know that the interlocal agreement would result in laying off Roed. He said he thought the decision was already made to lay her off and that the interlocal agreement solved the problem of a lack of animal control services in her absence.
However, Township Attorney Michael Herbert explained that “once the contract with East Windsor was approved, there was no function for the position of animal control officer,” and her lay-off came after the approval.
“With all due respect, Mr. Morgan, every single one of these council members knew that it was going to happen,” Ciccone said, referring to a closed session meeting. “We, as council, do not hire and fire employees, but every one of us knew the effect of our vote.”
Morgan said he was also unaware that money could be saved under an agreement with a different animal hospital and that Plainsboro was not happy with “West Windsor’s stubbornness to rely on Princeton Animal Hospital.”
He questioned whether the agreement with East Windsor had an exclusivity agreement and whether the township could avoid breaching the contract and still maintain its animal control officer.
Hary said the information provided by the public and from Morgan about Plainsboro’s feelings on the hospital and the costs associated with it was inaccurate.
“Any discussion about who we use for boarding of cats and dogs or who we use for veterinarian services is irrelevant to this particular issue because regardless of who we use for animal control services, we are still going to have to maintain our same agreement with our vet and current boarding arrangements,” said Hary. “Having said that, yes, we are looking for ways to reduce costs. We noticed some reductions in our use of the animal hospital.”
Hary said that the township will refrain from boarding animals at the animal hospital and will instead keep dogs and cats at Weber’s kennels at reduced costs. “They were able to do some upgrades to their facilities,” he said. The township will also use Mercerville as a boarding area for feral cats. “All of that is separate from this debate.”
The lost revenue from Plainsboro created the problem, said Hary. He said Police Chief Joseph Pica called neighboring municipalities to try to get them to be the purchaser of shared services, rather than the provider, but none were interested. “He found that for reasons of costs, as well as logistics, we felt the agreement with East Windsor was the best fit for this,” he said.
When it comes to the lay-off notice that Roed received, Hary said the township sent the notice to comply with its agreement with the Contract Workers of America union, which requires the township to give a minimum of 30 days notice for lay-offs. “It is not uncommon to provide layoff notices while they continue to study something and then potentially pull it back,” said Hary. “It was our intention to let her know before the vote on March 7. We did not think it was fair for her not to know and hear about it ahead of time.”
Not every resident in attendance was a supporter of Roed’s. Resident Barbara McCarthy came into the meeting after the discussion was over because she was so upset at what she saw as she watched the meeting on the television from home. “You already made an economic decision,” she said. She said the council should consider residents like her, who live in the township and are burdened with high taxes. “One third of them aren’t even from the township,” she said of the crowd that spoke out at the meeting.
She said the council should think about the whole town and its residents and how this could save them money. “You should actually care about me,” she said. “If it’s a budget issue, game’s over. I’m very strong about how I feel.”
Resident Bob Akens also said the same people came to all three meetings. “This is a small group coming in support of a person they like,” he said. “It sounds like everyone in the community likes this woman. Maybe not. Maybe some people are silent.”
