WAYNE – This sprawling town – the home of 54,000 people in addition to many shopping centers – is probably not all that easy to govern.
But does it need a full-time mayor to run things?
Some Republicans think so.
The GOP-majority township council last week introduced an ordinance to create a full-time mayor’s position at a salary of $140,000 a year. The now part-time job pays $18,750.
If adopted after a public hearing on Jan. 18, it will obviously benefit all mayors to come. But just as obviously, the main beneficiary at the moment would be Chris Vergano, the current mayor.
When stories like this surface, it’s instructive to remember that Republicans enjoy stressing their commitment to curtailing spending by not expanding government.
But not always – apparently.
In an interview with TAPinto Wayne, an online news source, Vergano explained why this move is necessary.
“This begins my 16th year as mayor and things have certainly changed since January 1, 2008. The town is growing. We have a budget of $87 million and we have a water and sewer utility of $20 million. So we have an over $100 million corporation with over 600 employees – including our part-timers and summer help – that has a CEO who is part-time. And I think the township of Wayne deserves more than a part-time CEO.”
Francine Ritter, the only Democrat on the nine-person council, says, in effect, this is nonsense.
She notes that Vergano knew quite well that the job was part-time when he ran for reelection a few years ago. An online petition has been started asking residents to oppose the idea.
Wayne is a purple town – sort of.
The 2020 presidential election here was very close; Donald Trump won by a bit more than 1,000 votes out of more than 31,000 cast.
But as mentioned, the council is solidly Republican.
Broadly speaking, other than large cities, most municipalities in New Jersey do not have full-time mayors, although one exception is Parsippany just a few miles to the west.
Next week’s hearing looks like it may be interesting.
If council members truly feel the township merits a full-time mayor, why not adopt an ordinance that says the change will take effect after Vergano’s current term ends? That would allow the public to select the township’s first full-time mayor.
It also would stop criticism that the council is simply giving Vergano a juicy benefit.
Just a humble suggestion.