MIDDLETOWN (Mar 10, 2004) - At a public meeting of the Board of Supervisors, Township Manager John Burke and Personnel Officer Paula Kearns were forced-out of their jobs last night as the republican majority of Kelly, Pflaumer, and Caro voted to buy their silence and shield themselves from lawsuits.
Supervisor Robert McMonagle maintained that the whole issue was a political power-play. "Members of this board told the Township Manager to fire the Personnel Officer, and due to his honesty and integrity, he refused. At that point, he became expendable.  Now with both of them out of the way, the floodgates are open for patronage and no-show jobs."
With nearly 400 people in the audience which spilled out the doors, the Supervisors voted 3-2 to approve buy-out packages for Burke and Kearns that contained a gag-order and a no-lawsuit agreement, which protects Kelly, Pflaumer, & Caro from criticism from the fired employees.
But that does not protect them from the rest of the employees nor the general public. "I am ashamed to call myself a fellow republican!" remarked Carole Olsen, who was removed from the Township Planning Commission in favor of a Pflaumer-Caro campaign worker. "What you're doing is a disgrace" said Helene Ratner, of Langhorne.
Several Township employees spoke in support of Burke, and residents expressed a general anger with the Kelly-Pflaumer-Caro cabal. "This is about patronage, plain & simple" said former Supervisor Michael Gaul. "This is a fateful mistake to throw away twenty years of experience" said former Supervisor Mel Kardos.
Throughout nearly an hour of criticism, the three board members stood firm, calling the firings "Their [Burke's & Kearns'] decisions", and blaming them for leaving.  When the audience laughed at that suggestion by Lisa Pflaumer, she smugly stated "Go ahead and laugh but you don't even know what's going on".
That statement could be the only truth from the Kelly-Pflaumer-Caro ring.  Shrouded in secrecy and couched in clandestine illegal meetings, the terms and conditions of the two force-outs were not made public.  As late as Friday afternoon, a secret meeting was held at the home of Supervisor Ray Mongillo, with Burke and John Kelly where it was agreed that Burke would stay.  Presumably, Kelly brought that agreement back to Pflaumer, who nixed it, and Kelly fell in line, along with Caro, to fire Burke and Kearns.
Assistant Township Manager and former republican operative Frank Farry was appointed Acting Township Manager.