BRADLEY BEACH — John Barrett, the borough’s chief financial officer, resigned from his role amid a disagreement with Mayor Al Gubitosi, just two days after he presented the 2025 municipal budget at the April 15 council meeting in borough hall.
Barrett’s resignation from the position was delivered through an email at 12:01 a.m. on April 17, which copied over 15 borough employees, and cited a disagreement with Gubitosi over retro-pay calculations from a recently settled union contract as reasoning for his premature departure.
Gubitosi told The Coast Star, “Mr. Barrett did a great job as our CFO and he got us to a really good point in a matter of three months, getting us to a budget introduction. However, we did have some areas of disagreement that led to him resigning and I think that was mutually agreed upon.”
Barrett, the owner of PM Consultants, a government financial consulting firm in Brick Township, was hired at the Jan. 7 borough council meeting in a temporary capacity until the end of the year, at a salary not to exceed $125,000, according to the resolution. Barrett also currently serves as the borough administrator in Spring Lake Heights.
When retained in January, according to Gubitosi, Barrett was tasked with closing out business items from the previous year, establishing a temporary budget and completing a 2025 budget, which he presented days before his resignation.
The April 15 borough council meeting was filled, wall to wall, with residents concerned about several outdoor dining permit applications for Bradley Beach restaurants, including D’Arcy’s Tavern. But over 50 attendees also heard Barrett’s presentation on the delayed 2023 audit report, 2024 annual financial statement and the 2025 municipal budget.
Barrett said of Gubitsoi during the budget presentation the day before his resignation, “I’ve worked with a lot of mayors. It’s always a positive when they have an accounting background and care about the community as much as he does, so as a CFO, it’s been a pleasure working with you, Mister Mayor.”
According to Gubitosi, the council is working to set a special meeting on Tuesday, April 29, to hire a new CFO, who has already been identified. Gubitosi did not reveal the name of the new CFO.
Barrett did not return calls from The Coast Star for further comment on the matter.
This is an excerpt of the print article. For more on this story, read The Coast Star—on newsstands Thursday or online in our e-Edition.
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