Dr. Gabbert will begin his tenure in Ridgewood on Monday, November 2nd. He resigned his position as Borough Administrator of the Borough of Little Ferry to accept the position in Ridgewood. Gabbert previously served as Westwood’s Borough Administrator, and as Chief Financial officer for the Borough of New Milford. He is currently serving in his second consecutive term as the mayor of Upper Saddle River.
Voting for Dr. Gabbert’s appointment were Mayor David Pfund, Deputy Mayor Keith Killion, and Councilwoman Anne Zusy. Councilman Patrick Mancuso was absent from the Special Public Meeting, and Councilman Paul Aronsohn abstained from voting.
In public comments made during the Special Public meeting at which Dr. Gabbert was appointed, Councilman Aronsohn expressed his personal concern over Gabbert’s ability to devote professional time and energy to Ridgewood matters while serving as mayor of another community. Aronsohn cited this as the only reason he could not cast a yes vote for Gabbert’s appointment.
It is rumored that the real reason Aronsohn would not cast an affirmative vote is that Dr. Gabbert is a loyal Republican; he serves as chair of the Bergen County Republican Mayors Association, a group that strongly supports Chris Christie in the 2009 NJ Governor’s race. It is reported that Aronsohn was concerned that a yes vote for Gabbert could have resulted in backlash from key members of the Bergen County Democratic Organization, who are obviously strongly supporting Jon Corzine for Governor.
Even in a community with non-partisan elections, party affiliation is still of importance to some folks. Get over it Paul, please.
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15 comments:
Paul knows exactly what he's doing. The vote against Gabbert helps, the new job at MWW working for big Dem Michael Kempner helps. He wants badly to be the next BCDO head, and he's using the VC as his personal stepping stone.
I just wish Paul would reveal his ulterior motives for these positions and votes.
I think the real issue to attend to is not that he is a Mayor of another town but rather he has jumped from town to town in a very short period of time. Many administrators move from town to town because they cant really handle the daily tasks. How long will he stay in Ridgewood?
We should scrap this silly illusion of non-partisanship in our VC and establish a real government with an elected mayor and political parties.
The maybe our taxes will go down because we will know which assholes to blame for raising them.
I think the non-partisan approach is the way to go to help insulate VOR from party influence. However, seeing that Paul is a Democrat honcho wannabee, he can't help buy sullying the water. Too bad his affiliation to party rises above the needs of the Village.
His divided loyalties should be considered by the voters in evaluating whether he should be re-elected.
Aronsohn, what a joke.
Still trying desperately to revive that pathetic career of his.
Thank God he got that job at MWW so he can get the heck out of Ridgewood.
He was never loyal to the Village. This is and always has been all about being a bigger cog in the political wheels that own NJ.
MWW?
You have to start somewhere. Local politics is the jumping off point for many seeking other positions. I see nothing wrong with that as long as the job at home is carried out and I think he's doing a fine job.
Paul may be a nice guy, but he seems like just another Democrat gadfly or Apparatchik.
When voters hire someone for a position in a non-partisan town, they don't expect you to withhold/give support based on outside partisan forces.
I am disappointed in him, but we are just stepping stone I suppose.
Apparatchik seems to the right word... Mr Paul "MacGrevey is not gay" Aronsohn
Lets give the kid a break. he might be a liberal democrat but besides keith he has the best voiting record. I even agree that we should not have double-dippers running the village. Gabbert should make a choice between towns he wants to rule.
I think 2:59 and 4:58 are both right. There may be legit concerns about the appointment. Unfortunately, it is hard to believe that if Gabbert had been a BCDO regular Paul would have voiced the same concern. His partisanship is evident and should not be condoned in this Village.
Why would the Village Council give this guy tenure on his first day of work. Maybe this is could be a problem.
Everyone here seems bothered about village government becoming too partisan but noone is complaining about the actively partisan new village manager. Gabert's a partisan mayor who runs a couple of partisan groups. Do I smell hypocracy?
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