Town 'secretly' rehired the mayor's roommate as police chief. It cost taxpayers $1.7M.

Taxpayers are on the hook for a $1.7 million settlement paid out to the town’s police chief after the elected officials breached a contract with the insurance company by “secretly” rehiring the chief after she was fired.

The New Jersey Superior Court’s Appellate Division upheld a previous judge’s ruling Monday, allowing the Municipal Excess Liability Joint Insurance Fund to not pay West Wildwood’s settlement and legal fees in a lawsuit involving the then-acting (and now current) police chief.

The Appellate Division also said the borough’s reasoning to appeal was “without sufficient merit to warrant further discussion in a written opinion.”

The case surrounds Jacquelyn Ferentz, a police officer who lives with West Wildwood Mayor Christopher Fox. Ferentz was appointed to be a police officer in the town in 2000 and reported to Fox’s brother, who was the police chief at the time. After a 2008 local election in which Fox did not participate in, Herbert Frederick, described as a political rival of Fox, was appointed to be the mayor and director of public safety for the small town.

Read more: https://www.nj.com/cape-may-county/2019/07/town-secretly-rehired-the-mayors-roommate-as-police-chief-it-cost-taxpayers-17m.html