Tempesta: W. Caldwell Faces Tough Road

In a time usually spent reflecting on the town's accomplishments during the previous year, West Caldwell Mayor Joseph Tempesta instead delivered a grim forecast for 2010 during his mayoral speech at Sunday's re-organization meeting in front of an overflow crowd at the municipal building.

"This isn't a time to talk about accomplishments," he said. "Too many people are hurting right now."

Faced with a $1.1 million deficit that needs to be balanced by March 31, Tempesta promised more layoffs will likely not be necessary, but a reduction in services and perhaps even a consolidation of departments with neighboring municipalities is a possibility. 

"In less than 90 days, by law, we have to introduce a balanced budget," Tempesta said. "We have to make some very difficult decisions. We've made some of those decisions. We have some more difficult decisions to make. We'll get there. But there's no magic. We have a lot less money coming in. We have rising costs. That's a recipe for a budget gap. We have to plug that gap.

"We made the first and necessary steps. Over the next couple of months, we have a few more difficult steps to make. I hope and I believe we're OK with our employee base as it stands now. I don't believe there will be any more employee cuts. But I do believe there will be some additional cuts and it may involve some cuts in service. We've never had to do that. "

The mayor did deliver some good news to start the meeting. As first reported by The Caldwells Patch on Thursday, an agreement has been reached between the town and the police department that will maintain the positions of two officers who were to be terminated and four others who would have been demoted on Dec. 31.

The settlement, which was reached late Wednesday night after more than a week of negotiations, will save the town approximately $130,000 a year, according to newly appointed Council President Joseph Cecere.

"We've tried to sit down with them for the last six, eight or 10 months. But this binding arbitration process is the worst process that I've ever seen in the world. Sometimes they prevent us from speaking to each other directly. Instead, we're talking through attorneys and arbitrators," Tempesta said.

"But once we got to sit face-to-face, generally in a week, we agreed. That's generally always the case, because reasonable people come to reasonable conclusions when they sit down down face-to-face. They made sacrifices. They sacrifice their lives everyday, but they also made sacrifices financially."

The police department, however, is one of the areas that could eventually be consolidated to reduce costs within West Caldwell and the surrounding municipalities as well.

"We have talked to our neighbors about consolidating services," Tempesta said. "We can no longer afford to have all of us have our own police department, fire departments, public works departments, recreation departments—it's gotten too expensive. Stay tuned, because it's going to be a rough road."

The council, which welcomed new members Stanley Hladik and Thomas O'Hern, will begin that journey at its first formal meeting of the year Tuesday.

"I think a very special thanks is in order for the men and women who work for this township," Tempesta said. "This has been an extremely difficult year. You all read what's going on in the economy. We are family. Our community is a family. Our employees are a family to us.

"We've had to make some very difficult decisions this year. I ask that you keep those employees in your hearts and your prayers, because a few of them, unfortunately, are not going to be employed with us in 2010 due to budget cuts. Unfortunately, it was necessary. It's a sign of the times. But families hurt together. We grieve together and we will pull together and we will be stronger for it."

Here's a list of appointments that were announced Sunday:

Standing committees of the council:

Parks and Recreation—Dominick Aiello (chairman), Joseph Cecere (vice chairman) and Stanley Hladik (member)

Legal and personnel—Cecere (chairman), Hladik (vice chairman) and Aiello (member)

Water—Hladik (chairman), Aiello (vice chairman) and Cecere (member)

Public works—Thomas O'Hern (chairman), Rosemarie Sutherlin (vice chairman) and Richard Otterbein (member)

Finance & welfare—Sutherlin (chairman), Otterbein (vice chairman) and O'Hern (member)

Public safety—Otterbein (chairman), O'Hern (vice chairman) and Sutherlin (member)

Special Committees of the Council

Pool utility committee—Aiello, O'Hern and Hladik

Real estate committee—Cecere, Otterbein and Sutherlin

Council representation on other committees, boards and commissions

Local assistance board—Cecere

Environmental commission—Cecere

The Bridge—Aiello

Senior citizens transportation board—Hladik

Planning board—Sutherlin

Board of health—Otterbein

Camp Wyanokie—O'Hern

Drug alliance board—Aiello

Library board—Hladik

Annual appointment: Nominated by mayor with advice and consent from council

Municipal attorney—James L. Lott Jr.

Municipal prosecutor—Thomas Callahan Jr.

Assistant municipal prosecutor—Nicole Masella

Public defender—Matthew J. O'Donnell

Public works and water utility director—William J. Frint

Community development  block grant program committee—Andy S. Katz (mayor), Jock H. Watkins (council) and Peter Tabbot (alternate)

Three-year term:

Fire official—Jock Watkins

Emergency management coordinator—William Frint

Department of officers: West Caldwell Fire Department

Chief—Charles Holden

Deputy chief—James C. Alvine III

1st assistant chief—Michael Luker

2nd assistant chief—Robert Hebrank Jr.

Captain—Jared Z. Fout

1st lieutenant—Mark Poli

2nd lieutenant—Megan Stout

Safety officers—Jean Wypler Sr., Richard C. Otterbein and Frank Norton

Citizen appointment: Nominated by mayor with advice and consent of council

Planning board—Richard Mudd (4 years), Christopher Smith (3 years), Stephen A. Jarossy (4 years), Patricia Garruto (first alternate, 2 years) and Robert Palmisano (second alternate, 2 years)

Board of adjustment—Jerry Selvaggi (4 years), Edward Malia (4 years), Kathleen Marchetti (4 years), Leo Adriaenssens (4 years), Mitchell Payne (4 years), Meredith Otterbein (first alternate, 2 years) and Michael Shannon (second alternate, 2 years)

West Caldwell Public Library—Anthony Grosso (5 years)

Local Assistance Board—Dolores Jones (4 years)

Environmental Commission—Mark Cohen (3 years) and Joseph Emmanuelle (3 years)

Board of Health—John Raio (4 years) and David Black (4 years)