With Chris Marion ending his tenure as the township’s business administrator on Tuesday, June 23, Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh has said he wants Robert Hary to serve as the interim business administrator for at least a month before setting up a process to fill Marion’s shoes.
Hary, the township’s director of Health and Human Services, may also be a candidate for the permanent spot once discussions begin, Hsueh says. “I decided that Bob Hary will be the interim business administrator for at least one month, and then we’ll talk about exactly what process we will be taking after that,” the mayor said. “There definitely is the possibility that Bob will be one of the candidates potentially. But then again, I want to have one month to evaluate the whole situation.”
The business administrator, by law, is the mayor’s appointee, but “I definitely will be looking for input from individual council members. That’s why I need to have a period of time to look into all of this,” Hsueh said. “I need to be more open-minded in terms of what action to be taken.”
Hsueh also says that in his third term, he needs “to focus more on stability and continuity. I also need to take into consideration the morale of the entire township staff.”
Marion announced his resignation last month on the heels of a tough budget season that saw accusations fly regarding an analysis of Council President Charles Morgan’s budget proposal. Marion, who has accepted the township manager position in Scotch Plains, however, maintains that the move is simply to further his career.
Marion said that Scotch Plains’ form of government is one that falls in line with his career goal to work in the council-manager form of government, in which the five-member council includes the mayor. Technically, Marion will be serving as the chief executive officer of the township.
When Marion was hired in 2004, he brought stability to a position that had previously seen four administrators in six years.
