With FBI investigating Orange, mayor adds 3rd government job

Dwayne Warren was appointed acting business administrator in Hillside.

HILLSIDE -- With the FBI investigating potential corruption and extortion linked to current and former city officials, as well as the Orange Public Library, Mayor Dwayne Warren has added yet another government job to his weekly routine.

Warren, a Democrat, was recently appointed acting business administrator in Hillside by fellow Democrat and Mayor Angela Garretson, herself the center of political infighting involving her local police department and township council.

"He was ready on day one to fulfill the role," Garretson said.

The salary for the 90-day, temporary job was proposed at $70,000, but is still being negotiated after the town's council objected. If Garretson decides to appoint Warren to the position permanently, it would also be subject to council's approval.

The council has in the past questioned Garretson's judgment in picking business administrators, noting she's had at least five in her short, two-year tenure.

"Right now, it's a wait and see," Council President Donald DeAugustine said. "I wouldn't say he's a definite no, but there are concerns the town council has (about how much time he could dedicate to Hillside) that would need to be addressed." 

In addition to the new gig, Warren holds his $25,000-a-year, part-time job as mayor as well as a $30,000 annual job as municipal prosecutor in Plainfield. And Warren also works as a senior partner at the law firm Mizrahi Warren.

So how does he manage so much work in a week? "It's tough to do," he said.

"I scaled back some of my prosecutorial duties...so it's a little bit less difficult," he said.

Up until Aug. 5, Warren was also the municipal prosecutor in nearby Irvington, where he earned another $15,000 a year. But, township officials confirmed he stepped down from the position after getting the new business administrator job.

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The appointment comes amidst the federal investigation into alleged misuse of government funds at the Orange library. Though Warren has not been named in FBI warrants, two people he appointed to jobs have been.

Things haven't been smooth sailing in Hillside either. Council members cast a vote of no confidence in Garretson last year, accusing her of ignoring them, failing to pay vendors and causing the township to miss out on millions of dollars in grants.

In a 2014 audit, the state slammed the township for not being able to hang on to a permanent person in the business administrator position.

Warren also has a history in Hillside. He was at the center of a dispute between then Mayor Karen McCoy Oliver and the township council over his appointment as township attorney in 2007. The council argued that Warren served only Oliver, and not the entire governing body. For a time, the town had two municipal attorneys, until the council suspended Warren and he subsequently resigned.

Warren later became a municipal judge in Orange, where he lives, before running for mayor.