Last week, thanks to some good reporting by NJ.com, we told you the story about a guy who sued the Borough of Stratford for attempting to cut his pay and was awarded a $75,000 settlement and kept his job only to years later cost the Borough of Stratford a $125,000 settlement for allegedly sexually harassing a male coworker. Around the time of the $125,000 the guy, John Keenan Jr, retired from his position in Stratford.

Fast forward to last week and we learn that despite that history the Borough of Stratford, at their November 10 council meeting, decided to re-hire Keenan who happens to be the son of Stratford Mayor Josh Keenan. The younger Keenan is being brought back as the temporary part-time Borough Administrator for $60 per hour (according to the town’s salary ordinance the title is Borough Administrator though Business Administrator has been used in meeting minutes and legal notices, the terms appear to be interchangeable in Stratford).

While I was considering what to blog about today I decided to search legal notices to see if the Borough of Stratford advertised for the position of part-time Borough/Business Administrator. I found nothing, this does not mean there was no advertisement, I simply couldn’t find it and will keep looking.

What I did find was a legal notice that states:

…it has become necessary to amend certain salaries set forth in ordinance 2020:08 NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by Mayor and Council of the Borough of Stratford, County of Camden, and State of New Jersey that Ordinance 2020:08 is amended to include the salary range for the following positions as follows: Section 1: Business Administrator Part Time $55.00-$65.00 per hour

Ordinance 2020:08 was passed and adopted on August 11, 2020 according to a published legal notice:

So, why three months after adopting a salary ordinance did the Borough of Stratford find it necessary to amend the ordinance?

My answer is that if one looks at Ordinance 2020:08 one will see the position of Borough Administrator has a salary range of $70,000 - $90,000. An hourly rate for a $90,000 per year job is $43.27. The younger Keenan was hired at $60 per hour. Obviously, they had to change the salary ordinance to give the younger Keenan the hourly pay raise.

So far it appears being the mayor’s son in Stratford pays pretty good and makes it easy to get a job.

It does look like the folks in Stratford do still have a chance to stop the mayor’s son from getting paid more per hour than a full-time administrator. The second reading and final passage of Ordinance 2020:10 is tomorrow evening, December 8 at 7:00PM via Zoom. I can only assume you have to call the Borough Clerk to get the link for the meeting.

As for us, we are not done looking into things in Stratford. Stay tuned!

Imagine that you once cost your employer $125,000 because your employer had to settle a lawsuit after you allegedly sexually harassed a male coworker. Imagine that eight years before that you sued the same employer and won a $75,000 settlement. Imagine that 3 years after costing your employer a $125,000 sexual harassment settlement that you were rehired to a temporary $60 per hour gig by that same employer.

Now imagine the employer that hired you back is the town in which your dad, John “Josh” Keenan, is the mayor.

NJ.com reports that is exactly what happened in Stratford.

Stratford is an all Democrat political cartel-controlled town in Camden County. This likely explains why they were smart enough to wait until the council meeting after the election to pull this stunt.

Stratford GOP Chairman Rob Stone immediately took to social media to complain after the council meeting. No press picked up on it, but they did stumble upon a Change.org petition demanding Stratford not hire John Keenan, Jr.

Of course, Mayor Keenan and Council didn’t have the courage to actually face the town’s residents. They made this appointment during the November 10 Council meeting which was held via Zoom.

It’s easy to practice a little blatant nepotism when you don’t have to actually face the voters.

It’s even easier to practice nepotism when you wait until a week after election day to do it.

Never mind that it’s a safe bet the mayor’s son was the only applicant. I’m willing to make that bet because Stone submitted and Open Public Records Act request to find out who the applicants for the position were and received the following response:

Hi Rob,

By Executive Order 26, no public agency shall disclose the resumes, applicants for employment or other information concerning job applicants while a recruitment search is ongoing.

As the recruitment for the permanent Business Administrator is still ongoing, your OPRA Request is hereby denied in accordance with Executive Order 26. If you would like to resubmit your request once a candidate has been selected for the permanent Business Administrator position, you may certainly do so.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you,

Michaela BoslerActing Borough Clerk/Alt. Deputy Registrar

Borough of Stratford

Nepotism aside, this is the era of #MeToo and #BelieveWomen. Should we not also believe men? Keenan, Jr was accused of sexual harassment. He allegedly would rub the accuser’s shoulders and grab his rear end.

It’s hard to believe any employer would bring back an employee with the accusation of sexual harassment in his past, but that’s exactly what the Borough of Stratford has done.

Keenan, Jr is going to once again be put in a position of authority, even if temporarily. It’s doubtful this would be happening if his daddy wasn’t mayor.

It’s a safe bet there will be more to this story. Stay tuned!