Wildwood employee faces charges in Hamilton Township
Nov, 11-2009 5:37 pm
By Carole Mattessich
Staff Writer
MAYS LANDING – Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel has announced that Hamilton Township resident Lisa Hare, 41, was charged on Nov. 6 with allegedly taking nearly $12,000 in cash paid for construction fees and building permits between April 2004 and February 2007, when Hare worked as an assistant municipal construction code official in Hamilton Township.
Hare currently is employed by the city of Wildwood as a “Confidential Aide” to Commissioner William Davenport. She works out of the Construction Office of the Wildwoods (COWCO) building, located on Pacific Avenue.
Hare was charged with one count of official misconduct. If indicted and convicted, she could face up to 10 years in prison.
Prosecutors allege that Hare took cash received by the Hamilton Township Construction Office for fees and permits, rather than depositing the funds in township accounts.
The irregularities were not reported to local police until this year although Hare left her Hamilton Township job in 2007, Housel’s office said.
Hare turned herself in to the Hamilton Township Police Department on Friday, Nov. 6, and was released on a summons. Hamilton Township Det. Sgt. Anthony Alcott conducted the investigation, assisted by Sgt. Joseph Pepe of the Prosecutor’s Office Official Corruption Unit.
Hare was hired by Wildwood at the same time as COWCO Construction Official Glenn Franzoi, who also worked in Hamilton Township. Sources at city hall say that a number of employees, including City Clerk Chris Wood, worked for Hamilton Township at various times during the late 1990s and early 2000s and kept former colleagues informed of job openings in the Wildwoods.
In documentation provided earlier this year by Wood in connection with the Gazette Leader’s series on the use of municipal funds, Hare was identified as a “Confidential Assistant” who made $45,900 during 2008.
Wildwood’s data indicated that three additional “Confidential Assistants” were employed by the city during 2008: Donna Dennis, at $49,999; Ellen Devito, at $45,999; and Susan Maxwell, at $36,400.
Interviewed Monday, Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano said the confidential aide title is “nothing more than a title.”
“They’re basically our secretaries,” he said. “Lisa Hare is no more of a confidante to Bill (Davenport) than a man on the moon.”
Troiano explained that Hare was hired at a time when there was an overload of work at COWCO. Troiano was the commissioner with oversight responsibility for COWCO until it was determined that he might have a conflict of interest, and Davenport took over.
Troiano said he turned hiring responsibilities over to North Wildwood Business Administrator Ray Townsend and Wildwood Crest Municipal Clerk Kevin Yecco.
“Ray Townsend said that Lisa Hare had worked for him in Hamilton Township, and that she was very good at what she does and would be a good fit,” Troiano said Monday. “We were told she was an outstanding secretary who could run the office the way it needed to be run.”
On Tuesday, Townsend confirmed that he was impressed with Hare when they worked together in Hamilton Township.
“She was always a good employee, and worked diligently at her job,” he said. “The rest of it comes as a shock.”
Townsend said Hare was supposed to begin work soon with the new North Wildwood construction office sent to open Dec. 31, when North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest are scheduled to withdraw from COWCO, but that Hare now has withdrawn from that position.
Troiano said COWCO records currently are being investigated but declined to identify the investigating agency or agencies, and said he is not aware of any specific problems being alleged with respect to COWCO operations.
“Any time you have allegations like this, there has to be an investigation,” he said.
Davenport did not return a phone call placed to his office Monday.
