Carelli Administers New Style, Change in Caldwell

When Paul Carelli began thinking about applying for the borough administrator's position in Caldwell, he considered why the municipality might hire him.

At first, there weren't many reasons.

"I didn't know the town, I didn't know anybody here and I had never been an administrator before," Carelli said last week. "I told my wife, 'I got three strikes against me.'"

But the longtime Republican councilman from Riverdale and engineer for L'Oreal USA Products Inc., transformed the perceived disadvantages into a unique perspective for the role.

"I structured my resume to say, 'Look, I'm someone with municipal experience and corporate experience. I can come in and you can start fresh. I don't have ties to anyone,'" Carelli said.

His approach worked, but the challenges haven't become any easier.

Since Carelli began in May, Margaret Cherone has started as the borough's new part-time chief financial officer and treasurer, the borough's tax collector has resigned, a municipal employee has missed work for an extended period of time due to illness and Lisa O'Neill has been appointed acting municipal clerk.

Construction on the nearly $2 million Kiwanis Oval project has also begun. Rob Paterson has been hired as the Caldwell Community Center's new director, while Councilman Gordon Lawshe tendered his resignation last week from the governing body to become the center's new sports programs/membership director.

In addition, Mayor Susan Gartland criticized and Councilman Kay Slattery opposed Carelli's recommendation last month to increase the salary of Antoinette Canova, the borough's assistant treasurer, from $42,745 to $50,000, for additional responsibilities.

"It's been a whirlwind for me, but it's been a lot of fun," Carelli said. "I'm quite pleased here. All of the employees welcomed me here as did the governing body. I've been learning a little bit about how the town has been operating over the last couple of years, trying to get a handle on things, trying to get to know the people in all of the different departments.

"It's been fun, but it's been very hectic. It seems like since I started, there are a lot of things going on in town right now."

While Carelli doesn't "envision" filling the vacant assistant borough administrator position at this time, he's examining the possibility of a shared-services agreement with another municipality for the tax collector role.

Carelli has managed to navigate through his often unpredictable days by being organized and deadline-driven, Council President Ann Dassing said.

"He has brought order to town hall," she said. "He has the ability to manage a lot of projects at one time. He's very detail-oriented, which is important. He's an intelligent man and offers unique solutions to problems."

Carelli, who was hired at an annual salary of $102,500 to replace Maureen Ruane, said one of the biggest hurdles has been finding ways to disperse Ruane's many responsibilities as borough administrator, clerk and unofficial acting CFO.

"When I first came in, I wasn't really sure what I was walking into," Carelli said. "In the past, there was one individual who had many functions. Part of why I wanted to take the job was to break up some of those functions. I didn't feel it was right to have one person doing those three different jobs."

Councilman Joseph Norton said it was a system that needed to be changed.

"Paul's learning curve is still in effect," Norton said. "He's got a very full plate based on the unfortunate situation he was placed in from years of mismanagement.

"I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way, because for years and years, the borough's former administration and current administration really put a lack of emphasis on the taxpayer. Things were left as government as usual. Paul now has a big hole to climb out of."

Carelli, who has an engineering degree from Rutgers University, said his 26 years at Clark-based L'Oreal where he served as a project manager in a "task-oriented and goals-driven" environment helped prepare him for some of the challenges he's faced so far in Caldwell.

"In a corporate environment all those years, that really gave me a lot of experience for this type of work. They are very similar," Carelli said. "It's the same type of thing where you have goals and tasks. You're meeting deadlines and you're managing many projects. In that regard, my experience at L'Oreal was an excellent foundation for this type of work."

Carelli, 50, has blended that business experience with his government background as a Riverdale councilman for the last 10 years.

After being appointed to fill an unexpired term in 2000, Carelli has served as chairman of the public works committee for three years and the finance committee the past seven years.

A lifelong Riverdale resident, Carelli was re-elected this year and serves as council president for the Morris County borough of approximately 2,500 residents.

"Getting involved in politics, you either love it or you don't. I really took a liking to it," Carelli said. "It was very gratifying, because you're helping your neighbors, your friends, the residents of your town and that's when I really started to get an inkling for this type of work—town administration."

It was about three years ago when Carelli began selectively submitting his resume for administrator positions. He applied to about five municipalities, received three interviews and nearly landed a position last year as one of two final candidates.

Then a few months ago, he saw the Caldwell opening.

"I had a very good career at L'Oreal. They were very good to me. I enjoyed it," Carelli said. "I liked what I did. It wasn't that I was miserable, but I just felt that after 26 years there has to be more to life.

"I needed a new challenge in my life. I thought this would be a great opportunity. The fit had to be right. You see positions open often for borough administrators. I was kind of picky as to what towns I sent my resume to."

According to Councilman Richard Hauser, Carelli was one of about 80 to 100 applicants for the position and one of about 10 to 15 who were interviewed. 

Hauser, chairman of the personnel committee, said the governing body was looking for someone who was well-organized with strong leadership skills along with government knowledge and the ability to manage a small group of employees.

"He has first-hand experience. He's organized and he brings leadership," Hauser said. "When a lot of us on the council talk about running this like a business, it means looking at something that has been done and if it doesn't make sense, then make the appropriate changes.

"Paul brings a background that he can recognize these changes that need to be made. He's stepped up so far and has done everything that we had hoped."

Carelli had a pretty good idea of what the job would entail since Riverdale doesn't have an administrator and some of the responsibilities are handled by the governing body.

Among Carelli's ideas to enhance the Caldwell position are to infuse some of the "efficient" strategies that are followed in his home town.

"In Riverdale, we're a little more efficient and organized. I'm using part of that experience to try to bring some of those aspects here to be a little bit more efficient and organized with shorter meetings," Carelli said.

"I laugh and tell them that the meetings where I'm from are shorter and don't last as long as they do here. An hour is a long meeting in Riverdale. But it takes time to make those changes and there's a lot more going on here though also."

Carelli said his career change hasn't had a significant impact on his family. But Carelli admitted his wife, June, and children, Michael, 16, Tommy, 14, and Samantha, 7, may get a glimpse of him being a bit more content now.

"The only adjustment is when I have meetings here at night or a committee meeting," Carelli said. "Other than that, they probably sense that dad's a little bit happier. My wife surely sees that."

Providing a pleasant work experience for the rest of Caldwell's municipal employees is one of Carelli's priorities, including finding a way to provide them with a long-awaited wage increase next year.

"I have an interest in finance, so I really want to hit the ground running with our budget this year. My goal is to see our employees get a raise," Carelli said. "There have been some discussions and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that happens. I think that's what people expect. 

"There are plenty of employees. These people work hard. What I've seen is great commitment. I feel that at the end of the year when you work hard, the following year you should at least have a cost-of-living increase to try to keep up with the times."

Carelli said finding that additional source of revenue to accommodate salary increases and other enhancements is right outside his office window, as he pointed to the struggling community center.

"I've done an analysis of their finances, and it's on a downhill slide over the last five years," Carelli said. "Revenue is down. Membership is down. It's such a nice place and maybe people forgot about it. Our goal is to bring them back."

It's on Carelli's growing list of priorities.

Carelli admits it's been a stressful few months from leaving the only job he's ever known to tackling the challenges of the borough administrator position.

"L'Oreal was the only job I had out of college. It was a little nerve-wracking," Carelli said. "I was wondering if I was doing the right thing, if this was the right place for me, but I can honestly say that in two months, I'm quite pleased.

"It was more of a challenge than I thought it would be. There are a lot more things going on, but the day goes quick. It's a lot of fun."