County Clerk: Special Election Must Be Held

The often boisterous Gordon Lawshe said Wednesday he plans to accept a position at the Caldwell Community Center, but his resignation from Caldwell's governing body doesn't mean his voice still won't be heard.

"I'm not going away, trust me," he said.

While he missed Tuesday night's meeting due to a family emergency, Caldwell's council voted 4-to-1 to offer Lawshe the sports programs/membership director position at the community center for an annual salary of $49,000.

Borough Administrator Paul Carelli officially offered the position to Lawshe in person Wednesday afternoon at borough hall. 

On Thursday, Lawshe accepted the position and officially resigned from the governing body. He is expected to start the full-time job on Monday.

Councilman Peter Murray said Tuesday night that the Republican County Committee would submit three candidates to the governing body for review to fill Lawshe's vacated seat for the remainder of his three-year term.

However, Essex County Clerk Chris Durkin said Wednesday that since Lawshe's resignation is prior to Sept. 1, a special election to fill the remainder of his term would need to be held on Election Day on Nov. 2.

According to Durkin, the Republican and Democratic parties have until Sept. 15 to submit a candidate for the position. An independent candidate with 25 signatures can also submit a petition by that deadline, Durkin said.

In addition, once the winning candidate is certified the Monday following the election, that person can immediately be sworn into the vacant seat. Durkin also said the governing body has the option to fill the position on a temporary basis until a candidate is elected.

Lawshe's appointment to the community center position has faced opposition by the borough's two elected Democrats.

Councilman Kay Slattery opposed filling the position and questioned during Tuesday night's meeting the scope of the candidate search that was conducted, since the vacancy was only advertised locally with The Progress, The Jersey Tomato Press and on the municipal website.

Mayor Susan Gartland, who missed Tuesday night's meeting, also criticized the appointment when reached on Wednesday.

"He was interviewed and determined to be the most qualified candidate for the job. But if the Democrats did something like this, they would have been highly criticized," Gartland said.

"Mr. Lawshe may be qualified, but he is a sitting councilman. I just find it interesting how he chiefly criticizes everyone else, but when he does it, it's perfectly fine."

However, Rob Paterson, who was appointed the community center's new director in May, said Wednesday the position was advertised twice and the same procedures he adhered to when hiring a new aquatics director and camp director were once again followed.

Paterson, however, would not comment further on the hiring since it was not yet official.

Carelli said Wednesday Lawshe was clearly the most qualified candidate for the position.

According to Carelli, a total of six resumes were received and five interviews were scheduled. However, only four were conducted after one of the applicants was no longer interested in the position.

Carelli and Paterson conducted the interviews and Paterson provided a summary of each candidate interviewed and a recommendation to Carelli.

Once Lawshe was recommended, Carelli and Paterson met Friday with the personnel committee of councilmen Richard Hauser, Joseph Norton and Slattery. In addition, Carelli said he also informed the mayor of the recommendation.

"It was quite obvious Mr. Lawshe was the only one who met the qualifications and the requirements we had for the position," Carelli said. "There wasn't even a close second. The other candidates just didn't have the experience we were looking for."

According to Lawshe, a member of the community center committee, who he declined to name, suggested that the position would be the right fit for him. The committee consists of Council President Ann Dassing, Gartland and Norton.

After some thought, he submitted his resume, which includes serving as a baseball umpire, basketball official, coaching high school basketball and softball as well as teams on the recreation level.

In addition, Lawshe, 58, served for 10 years as assistant circulation director in Morris and Somerset counties for The Star-Ledger before accepting a buyout about a year and a half ago. For the past two years, he has worked as a part-time demo sales representative for Callaway Golf.

"I originally said, 'No, I'm happy on the council.' We weren't done cleaning this place up," Lawshe said. "But I started thinking about it, I spoke with my wife and I told them that I think I can help the community center and the town."

However, Lawshe has already heard the rumors that the position was created specifically for him.

"People are starting to say that this position was set up for me," he said. "That's simply not true. It's in the budget and it's been vacant."

According to Lawshe, the person who previously held the position was injured on the job and hadn't worked at the community center in more than a year. That person was then terminated in April, Lawshe said.

"This is a good opportunity for me," Lawshe said. "I know a lot of complaints have been lodged at the community center. Rob has a nice little plan. He thinks I can be part of getting more recreation programs, do a little selling, maybe I'll go over to some of the [business] complexes in Roseland and Fairfield and see if any of the employees there want to come over to the community center while they're on lunch.

"The community center is a real jewel. It's a good fit for Caldwell, and once the Kiwanis Oval is done, it's really going to be a state-of-the-art facility."

However, membership and revenue have significantly declined over the past several years. Hauser said Tuesday night revenue has dipped by more than $100,000.

According to Lawshe, these figures hadn't been accurately presented by Gartland and former Borough Administrator Maureen Ruane. 

"Over the last three years, we have been told the community center was in good financial standing. It turns out, that was just a fictitious statement," Lawshe said. "We had been told by the former borough administrator, the mayor and through annual reports that membership was very sound and that the community center has over 4,000 paid members. Membership is seriously down and I'm not sure who's to blame for that.

"It's upsetting that we weren't told the truth about how badly the community center has been doing. The mayor knew about it. Maureen knew about it. We were misled. When you look at the numbers that were presented and you go in and actually calculate them, they just don't jive."

Gartland said Wednesday that the revenue numbers were estimations of the potential amount the community center could reach and were compiled by Ruane and Norton, who has been chairman of the finance committee the past two years.

"I had nothing to do with the numbers or fudging numbers," Gartland said. "The numbers they came to were an estimation of what they felt the community center could reach.

"It was a process of building numbers they thought could be met in a certain time frame. They might not have reflected accurately the condition or the situation at the community center, but they were an estimation as to what the goals were that we could meet within the budget year."

According to Lawshe, he ran for councilman because he was concerned how the borough had been run recently. But Lawshe, who has been the chairman of the public safety committee this year, said he'll leave proud of the accomplishments he and his fellow Republicans have since made.

"I've lived in town all of my life and I got into politics a year and a half ago because I didn't like where the town was heading," Lawshe said. "The two biggest things were to correct the fiscal mismanagement that's been going on and to bring taxes down. This council has done a fantastic job in doing that and presenting one of the lowest tax increases in the state.

"I'm leaving, but I know the taxpayers of this town are in good hands. I have enjoyed the meetings. I tell it the way it is. You either like me or you don't. But I can sleep at night knowing that over the last year and a half, I've done everything I can to benefit the taxpayers of this borough. I'll still be at the meetings and I'll still be heard as a taxpayer of this borough."