NEPTUNE - The Township Committee fired David Milmoe, director of the Department of Public Works and assistant deputy coordinator of the Office of Emergency Management, following a suspension last month after his social media comments were brought to the attention of township officials .
The Township Committee passed a resolution authorizing the termination at the Aug. 12 meeting.
Deputy Mayor Robert Lane and Committeeman Derel Stroud, voted "yes" to authorize the termination, Committeeman Kevin McMillan and Committeeman Keith Cafferty voted "no" and Mayor Tassie York and abstained. Under the law, an abstention counts towards the affirmative votes, so the resolution passed.
Last month Milmoe was suspended without pay but no official reason was given to the personnel decision. The suspension happened after comments from Milmoe's Facebook account the were brought to light.
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Milmoe's annual salary is listed at $146,547. The 30-day suspension would have lasted from July 9 until Aug. 19.
In one screenshot obtained by the Asbury Park Press, a Facebook account with the name Dave Milmoe used a homophobic slur in one comment on a friend's post from 2011.
In a more recent screenshot from this year obtained by TapInto Neptune/Neptune City , the account said in one comment "… you're becoming a gay firefighter now? Next you'll be playing the flute at rest stops," and in another comment, "I'm just trying to see if we raising the flag in your honor, Stevie wonder." To which the other individual in the exchange responded, "this the wrong month to say this statement," referring to June, the month the comment was posted and the month recognized as Pride Month for LGBTQ and allied communities.
Prior to the vote, Milmoe spoke during the public hearing portion of the meeting. He said he was "a dedicated and proud director."
"I have had to learn to do more with an ever-decreasing budget and resources throughout the state. Through that I have learned to be creative in my problem solving and the importance of relationships to secure resources that otherwise might not be available, like getting the pump for Fletcher Lake ," Milmoe said.
He said when he started the DPW was staff with 47 employees. "We now have 26," he said.
"We treated each resident as if they were family members and each street as if they were streets that our families lived on. That is how personally I have taken my commitment to Neptune," Milmoe said.
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He said he never wanted to give residents the wrong impression and that he is "so upset and disappointed" that he no longer has a Facebook account.
"Although I have never been disciplined or had my efforts scrutinized during those 20 years of employment in public work, I recognize that no one is perfect and we all make mistakes and I acknowledge that my careless off-duty post on a timeline of a friend who lives in Georgia may have upset Neptune residents, which is the absolute last thing I would ever want to do," Milmoe said.
He said he has no ill-will to any Neptune residents or the LGBTQ+ community, adding he has family members in that community.
"I work for acceptance for my family and I fight so they feel love and accepted every day. The thought that I said or did something to give people the impression that I am anything other than fully embraced of the LGTBTQ+ community is heartbreaking to me," Milmoe said. "I want to publicly apologize for the post."
Charles Daye is the metro reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. @CharlesDayeAPP Contact him: CDaye@gannettnj.com
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Split Neptune Township Committee fires public works boss after LGBTQ Facebook comments
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