HOWELL TOWNSHIP, NJ – Retired Jackson Township police officer and Toms River resident Brian Geoghegan’s days as Howell Township business manager are numbered. At Tuesday’s township council meeting, the council introduced a resolution to place, Geoghegan, on permanent leave through August 2022 and begin the process of finding his replacement.
“The township council of the Township of Howell is seeking to commence the termination of the current Township Manager,” the council said.
If voted in favor, Geoghegan will be placed on administrative leave for the next three months. Geohegan, a political appointment has been in that role since the fall of 2017.
Earlier this month former Howell Township Chief of Police Andrew Kudrick accused Geoghegan of workplace harassment during his final months serving as chief of police.
“I regret to inform the governing body of this official harassment complaint against Mr. Geoghegan that I served to him on February 9, 2022. His behavior continues,” Kudrick wrote, adding that running a police department was made more difficult by the actions of Geoghegan.
Geoghegan sought to defund the Howell Township Police Department by ending a longstanding policy that when an officer gets sick or injured on-duty after working more than half of their shift, they would not be charged from their sick time bank. Geoghegan sought to cut this practice and charge the officers by the hour.
Geoghegan then sought to gain access to the police department records, a move blocked by Kudrick and backed up by Acting Monmouth Prosecutor Lori Linskey. A third-party labor attorney is currently handling the harassment complaint for the township.
Geoghegan’s final day on the township payroll is August 24th, according to the resolution. It is likely that Geoghegan will land a public job quickly due to his connections with the GOP party establishment in Ocean County.
At the time of this report, we do not have to voting results.
