By JAN BARRY- STAFF WRITER
The Record April 19, 2008
RINGWOOD - The all-Republican Borough Council stands by its selection of former Mayor Scott Heck as deputy borough manager.
But questions were raised at the 2008 municipal budget hearing Thursday as to how Heck, who was the municipal Republican leader until recently, was chosen for the newly created, $60,000 post
"Was there a job search?" asked resident Steve Michelin. who said he's a political independent. "I'm questioning the process. It doesn't pass the sniff test"
Heck, who operated a landscaping service, served on the council from 1994-2005, including a term as mayor. In his new post, he will oversee public works projects and respond to citizen complaints, acting Borough Manager/Borough Clerk Kelley Rohde said in announcing the appointment this month.
Shortly after taking office in January, the council dismissed the previous borough manager, named Rohde as acting borough manager and created the post of deputy borough manager.
Michelin's questions were echoed by a prominent Democrat in the audience.
"How many other candidates were interviewed?" said former Democratic Councilman Tom Mac Allen, who lost a reelection bid in November, when Republicans won four contested seats that had provided Democrats a slim 4-3 majority in recent years.
Mayor Walter Davison, who previously served as borough manager after retiring as Passaic County's deputy administrator, replied that Heck was the most-qualified person for the job.
“I am proud of having him sitting here," Davison said as Heck filled in for Rohde, who was out ill. "Probably no one else in Ringwood has as much knowledge of Ringwood as he does." Replying to Mac Allen, Davison added: "I don't know that there were other applicants. I don't know that it was advertised."
Deputy Mayor Donna Anderson said: "We had a number of resumes for borough manager. None of them were appropriate. There was no one better-qualified than Scott Heck. This is not a political issue; this is just the right person being put into the right position."
Michelin was not satisfied, but moved on to another fiscal item that he questioned.
Why, he asked, was the council voting to add a second-lieutenant post in the Police Department. He said that by his reckoning, there would be nearly as many "chiefs" as "Indians" on the 23-member force.
The response from the council was that the department's captain is retiring, so the new post will replace the captaincy and won't cost taxpayers more money.
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