As most political observers in town predicted, the Secaucus Town Council could not agree last week on a replacement for the 1st Ward council seat vacated by Richard Kane in February.
At Tuesday’s caucus meeting, the council held interviews with three candidates whom the Secaucus Democratic Committee had recommended to fill the vacancy. The Democratic Committee had made the recommendations since Kane was elected as a Democrat.
The interviews were closed to the media and the public. After the interviews, the governing body held its regular meeting, at which the councilmen voted twice to try to fill the vacancy. Three Independent members of the governing body backed one candidate, while the three Democrats supported someone else.
The 28-member Secaucus Democratic Committee will now make the final decision.
The three candidates were Dawn McAdam, Robert Zych, and George Heflich. When the Democratic Committee selected the candidates it also passed a resolution urging the appointment of McAdam to the vacant seat since there are currently no women on the Town Council.
Mayor Dennis Elwell had hoped the council would vote on a replacement at its Feb. 10 meeting. However, at that meeting, the Independent faction of the council requested that the governing body be given the opportunity to interview McAdam, Zych, and Heflich. Democrats on the council agreed to the request, and in-person interviews were scheduled for Feb. 24.
When the council took a vote at the public meeting that followed the interviews done in private session, the Democrats – Elwell and Councilmen John Shinnick and John Reilly – voted for McAdam. The Independent faction of the council – Councilmen Michael Gonnelli, John Bueckner, and Gary Jeffas – threw its votes behind Zych, whom they saw as “an independent voice,” according to Gonnelli.
There were no votes for Heflich, a former councilman and fire official.
The Democratic Committee will now meet on Tuesday to select Kane’s replacement. The committee, chaired by Elwell, is almost certain to appoint McAdam. Her appointment would again give the Democrats on the council (who are Elwell’s allies) a one-vote advantage over the Independents.
Interview questions
In private interviews held with each candidate, the council asked four questions: Why do you want to be a councilperson; why do you think you are best suited to represent the 1st Ward; how do you feel your background and experience will help you in your representation of that ward; and do you have the time available to represent the ward?
Town Administrator David Drumeler asked the candidates the questions. Individual councilmen were also able to ask follow-up questions of their own. Gonnelli and his allies probed the candidates’ views regarding televised public meetings, professional service contracts, and pay-to-play campaign donation laws.
Other councilmen asked the candidates to outline what they think is right about Secaucus, what could be improved upon, and what they would do to address the problems.
Mayor Elwell chaired the closed session and did not ask any questions of his own.
All the councilmen stated at the public meeting that the interviews were valuable.
“All of candidates presented themselves very well, and it was clear they cared about the interests of the residents of the 1st Ward,” said Jeffas, who also represents that ward. Each of the town’s three wards has two council representatives.
“The interviews, frankly, helped me come to a conclusion, because I wasn’t sure where I was going to be on this,” Jeffas added.
The 28-member committee will vote this Tuesday.
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“I agree that the interview process was a good process,” Shinnick said. “They all gave informed answers to the questions.”
Bueckner added, “Each one of the candidates had valuable, important attributes that were unique to themselves. One had a lot of experience. One had views that are very close to my own views. And the third one made some very good points during the discussion. I could probably live with any one of them.”
Bueckner and Jeffas criticized the notion, made by McAdam in letters to local newspapers last week, that the interviews were a “sham.”
Some wanted interviews open to public
Gonnelli, Jeffas, and Bueckner had wanted the interviews to be open to the public. Noting that confidential personal issues could come up during the interviews, however, Elwell and his allies argued that the interviews should be closed to the public.
McAdam and Heflich also wanted the interviews to be done in private. Zych wanted to keep the process open to the public.
On the advice of Town Attorney Frank Leanza, the council conducted the interviews in closed session, but voted for candidates during the open Town Council meeting.
Citing case law, Zych and Secaucus Public Defender Peter Weiner, who attended the caucus meeting, argued that this was a violation of the Open Public Meetings Act. Weiner has announced his candidacy for mayor and will challenge Elwell in the June Democratic primary.
Leanza interpreted the case differently and closed the interviews to the public. He advised that general discussion of the candidates and the vote be done in public, however.
In Committee’s court
The new councilperson will serve out the remainder of Kane’s term, which ends on Dec. 31. Since Kane was also up for re-election this year, that person is also expected to join Elwell’s ticket for the Democratic primary in June.
Gonnelli, who is politically at odds with Elwell, has indicated he will put together a slate of Independent candidates for the November general election. Aside from 2nd Ward Councilman John Bueckner, however, no other Independent candidates have been named. So it is unclear who the new councilperson may face in the general election if he or she wins in the Democratic primary in June.
If the local Democratic Committee appoints McAdam to Kane’s old seat this
week, her first council meeting will be next Tuesday, on March 10.
E. Assata Wright can be reached at awright@Hudsonreporter.com.