West Amwell DPW Manager Has a Controversial Past, Direct Borough of High Bridge Ties to Embattled CFO

By Mike Spille

The number of interconnections and coincidences in West Amwell scandals only seem to be growing.

For the past several months, the West Amwell DPW department has come under fire, as people ask why Charles "Brandon" Metz was hired to run the department - someone who does not live anywhere near West Amwell, and who was hired over others who were potentially better fits that also live closer to West Amwell.

Looking back at Mr. Metz's history is troubling at best, alarming at worst. The graphic at the top this article shows a timeline of Mr. Metz's alleged controversies between 2011 and today.

Some highlights from this timeline:

• Mr. Metz was hired by his mother, Mayor Nancy Martin, to be chief Animal Control Officer, in Helmetta NJ in 2011.

• Mr. Metz was regularly promoted within Helmetta government over a few years, and often held multiple positions at once with multiple salaries.

• In 2014, scandal erupted around Mr. Metz and his mother. Allegations of animal abuse, fraud, free speech rights violations, and others charges surfaced.

• Mayor Martin was ultimately forced out of office during the scandal, and Mr. Metz resigned under mounting public pressure in 2015.

• During the "quiet period" not shown in the graph, Mr. Metz was employed by the DPW at Mansfield, NJ from 2015-2022.

• In 2022, Metz was appointed DPW Director, Recycling Coordinator, and SWAC representative to High Bridge, NJ. The same Township Keng & Suh worked at.

• IN 2024, Metz was appointed DPW director in West Amwell at a starting salary of $104,000.

• Since then, there has been ongoing allegations of bullying and potential rights violations of DPW employees by Mr. Metz.

The hair-on-fire moment for us: Mr. Metz was employed at High Bridge, the same municipality where our beleaguered CFO Peter Suh came out of, along with his friend ex-CFO Cameron T. Keng, who is being indicted for fraud in a double-booking financial scheme.

Our article on the Suh/Keng controversy in West Amwell is available here.

It is worthwhile to double-click on the 2011-2015 timeline in Mr. Metz's career, because so many troubling issues occured in this relatively compressed timeframe.

• Nepotism & Multiple Taxpayer Positions: Residents and activists raised concerns over Metz simultaneously holding up to four or five municipal roles . He served as Head Animal Control Officer (ACO), DPW Laborer/Foreman, Water Meter Reader, and Certified Recycling Coordinator.

• Dual Compensation & Fees: In addition to his DPW salary, town approvals granted him $50 per after-hours animal control call and $1,000 per municipal contract fee for animal control services, leading critics to cite patronage and double-dipping.

• Animal Shelter Mismanagement: As Head ACO, Metz worked alongside shelter managers Michal and Richard Cielesz at the $1.9 million Helmetta Regional Animal Shelter. The facility faced severe state/county health inspection violations, complaints of animal neglect, unaddressed disease, and high euthanasia rates.

• Civil Rights & Retaliation Lawsuit ( Wronko v. Martin et al. ): Metz was named as a co-defendant in a lawsuit brought by animal welfare advocates. The complaint alleged that municipal officials conspired to suppress First Amendment rights, enforced restrictive photography rules ("The Miller Policy"), engaged in targeted police harassment, and withheld public records regarding shelter operations.

• Formal Resignation: Following mounting legal pressure, public protests, and health department oversight, the Helmetta Borough Council formally accepted Metz's resignation on January 21, 2015 (Resolution #2015-53).

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The High Bridge connection with Mr. Suh and Mr. Keng are impossible to overlook here.

What the heck is going on in our Township? Why are we hiring all of these questionable people?

West Amwell deserves better.