Michael Marra was reappointed to the position of town clerk by a unanimous vote of the Town Council at their meeting Nov. 26.
The reappointment, along with Marra’s certification from the state, gives him the municipal equivalent of tenure. This means, said Town Attorney Frank Leanza, that Marra cannot be removed from his position for political reasons. To replace him, Marra must face a hearing and proof of incompetence or wrongdoing in office.
This becomes an important issue since Marra replaced Geraldine Morgan in 1999, apparently just before Morgan was to receive her own tenure. Marra was selected out of four candidates seeking the post, although critics of the administration claimed politics may have played a role in the selection process. Marra is the brother of 1st Ward Councilman Christopher Marra.
A town clerk receives tenure upon reappointment after three years in the office, provided he or she has been certified by the state. Marra, now 34, took courses and passed the state’s examination for municipal clerk’s certification in 1995. The reappointment on Nov. 26 guarantees some level of job protection – even though Marra has ceased being the target of political bickering as the unanimous council vote seems to indicate.
Marra, who graduated Ramapo College in 1990, worked in the town’s data processing office, then financial office before becoming deputy town clerk in 1995. Marra served as temporary town clerk from 1995 to 1996 after Claire Grecco retired. He replaced Morgan in 1999.
Marra had been in the running for the post in 1996, but was passed over in favor of Morgan – a resident of Bogota. Marra later admitted the three years working under Morgan gave him a better education about the workings of the office and prepared him for when he took over the post in 1999.
“I had a little bit better of everything when I took over in 1999,” Marra said. “I had better organization skills, better time management skills, even better office equipment.”
He had learned a lot as deputy town clerk, but since taking over the as the clerk, he said he was able to apply what he had learned.
“You might say I took my experiences as deputy clerk and learned how to put them into action,” he said.
Day care fees to rise
For the second year in a row, parents who leave their kids with the Secaucus Aftercare Program will face a $25 hike in the price, from $160 per week to $185.
Town Administrator Anthony Iacono told the council during the Nov. 26 that while the After Care program has taken significant positive strides over the last few years, it still runs a deficit, and that workers at the facility will be given raises in order to keep them competitive with other daycare facilities in the area.
Last year, the council authorized the increase and raises in salary because the town-run facility could not keep workers because of the low salaries the town paid.
“When we started the aftercare program in the mid-1990s, we thought it would be self-sufficient,” said Mayor Dennis Elwell during a later interview. “But then we discovered that we had a waiting list with people on it for over three years who just couldn’t get in.”
Last year’s changes, Elwell said, allowed the town to catch up on the waiting list, and though the facility still has a waiting list, this is made up of new people seeking to admit their kids.
“Those people get into the program usually in the next cycle,” said Iacono. “Now people are generally on the waiting list less than six months.”
Currently there are about 15 people on the waiting list, he said, as opposed to the more than 60 several years ago.
Part of the waiting list was reduced by increasing the space. Formerly the program was operated totally out of the Front Street Recreation Center. The town has an agreement with the school board to use the all purpose room at Huber Street School – something that has also allowed the town to reduce transportation issues.
“Instead of the town transporting the kids from Huber Street when the school ends, the kids stay there,” Iacono said.
A similar agreement is being worked out with the Board of Education to possibly use the new all purpose room at Clarendon School.
Initiated in 1996, the program offers residents a package of supervised sports, arts and crafts, recreation and television as well as study time and possible help from qualified counselors. By providing supervised quality child care from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on school days, officials seek to relieve working parents of the burden of finding childcare. It is open to all children who reside in Secaucus.
Iacono said the town made the mistake of maintaining the price for four and half years even though costs to operate the Front Street facility and to pay the staff were edging up.
“We should have increased the cost a little every year,” he said.
In 1999, the town was forced to raise the price by $10 to cover additional costs.
Iacono said the town always sought to make the program self-supporting.
Councilman John Bueckner asked whether the new increase would achieve that objective. Iacono said no, but noted that the deficit will be reduced. Until the increase last year, the town only took in about $48,000, yet expected nearly $90,000.
“With the new increase, we will cover all except about $10,000,” Iacono said.
Town seeks proposals on new recreation center
The Town Council agreed to seek proposals for the construction of a possible new recreation center to be located near the high school.
Iacono said the town would seek a developer to “design, construct and then lease” the facility to the town.
If an agreement can be forged, the town would lease the facility for 30 years and then purchase the building at the end for $1.
This, according to Iacono, would provide the high school-middle school complex – where the new recreation center is proposed – with additional gym space during weekdays, and town recreation programs and private residents would get access during the evenings and weekends.
“The new facility would be connected to the high school by breezeways,” said Elwell. Breezeways are outdoor hallways that connect buildings. Elwell said limited discussions had been conducted with some Board of Education members as well as the superintendent and his staff.
Although the town has yet to settle its differences with the Board of Education over the sale of land near Meadowlands Parkway to NJ Transit, the town is looking to use the $1.8 million from the transaction as a revenue source to pay the lease. (The town had originally thought to construct the recreation center itself through combined funds generated from the sale of land as well as revenue it is currently receiving from a billboard near Kane Stadium.)
“We would put the [NJ Transit] money into an escrow account and then talk to the Board of Education about it,” Elwell said. He said he believes the board would allow the money to be used for a recreation center.
Estimates for construction, however, were much higher than first believed. The town originally thought it could construct a new recreation center for about $2 million – which the land sale would mostly pay for. But Iacono said the cost will likely exceed $4 million and possibly go as high as $5 million, making the lease option more attractive.
If the town receives proposals from reputable companies, all the associated fees for land studies, design, and construction would be borne by the company, not the town.
“They would bring in all the experts. They would take our input and the input from the Board of Education, and then they would build what we want,” Iacono said. “We would not have to go out to bid.”
Iacono said the town is merely seeking companies that might be interested.
“We are not yet committing ourselves to anything,” he said. “This is phase one to see if it is feasible. If it isn’t, then we’ll have to go back to traditional bonding.”
If it is feasible, however, the project could break ground by June and be ready within a year.
However, Elwell said the recreation center would meet state standards for school construction, and that town has already had discussions with the officials from the Department of Community Affairs about the project. The new recreation center would be located near the existing high school gym.
“This would have been included in the school bond just passed, but we felt it would have cost too much to include it,” Elwell said. “We wanted to see if voters approved the other construction before we moved ahead with this idea.”
Voters approved a $14 million bond in September that will upgrade the high school/middle school complex, pay for additional work on both elementary schools and build a 1,000 seat auditorium.