Commissioner Carmen Corcoran was the no vote when commissioners voted 7-1 to terminate Kevin Bannon in June.
TRENTON -- The Mercer County Parks commissioner who cast the lone dissenting vote against firing Executive Director Kevin Bannon in June has not been renewed as a commissioner.
Commissioner Carmen Corcoran was the no vote when commissioners voted 7-1 to terminate Bannon on June 29. Commissioner Phil Voorhees abstained.
The firing came amid an ongoing state corruption investigation into the nonprofit Friends of Mercer County Parks - an organization Bannon helped found.
Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes said her term was up in June, she was currently a commissioner in a hold-ver status and she and the county mutually had no interest in her continuing in the role.
"Quite frankly, we're looking at everything (at the parks commission) from top to bottom, to revaluate everything from the leadership to the commissioners and everything that goes on there," Hughes said.
Hughes acknowledged "a lot of problems" with the parks leadership and said: "We just had to reevaluate."
Embattled parks director fired as corruption probe continues
Corcoran could not immediately be reached for comment.
Hughes said similar partings could occur when commissioners terms end in the future.
"There may be others when they come up for evaluation. We'll evaluate them one at a time," Hughes said.
The park commission, the nonprofit friends group and Bannon came under suspicion in late April after investigators raided the county's Hunt House and tennis center over allegations of official misconduct, corruption of public resources and theft by extortion.
Bannon had been on a two-month paid leave before commissioners voted to oust him and made $135,275 a year in the post he had held since March 2004.
A former coach, Bannon is also well-known for his tenure as Rutgers' head basketball coach from 1997 until 2001. He was fired after failing to lead the team to the NCAA tournament and renewed publicity over a 1997 incident when he encouraged players to participate in a strip foul-shooting contest.
Two players and a manager ended up running sprints in the nude. Bannon later admitted the contest took place, but said it was voluntary.
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