De Luca to be Mayor (again) and Adams to be Deputy Mayor in 2016

http://villagegreennj.com/uncategorized/de-luca-maplewood-mayor-2016/

Article says caucus vote was unanimous, so I guess this was not contested or controversial.  No surprise on Vic returning as Mayor, but I was somewhat surprised that a new TC member will be Deputy Mayor over the returning veterans.  That being said, I wasn't too shocked given Nancy Adams' long experience on the Planning Board, with Springfield Avenue Partnership, etc.

I would be interested to hear if anyone has any thoughts or opinions.  

Perhaps the other incumbents were not interested in the position.

krnl said:

Perhaps the other incumbents were not interested in the position.

that would be my guess.  Especially if the vote was unanimous.  

I think it would be healthy to have a more frequent rotation of the Mayor position, but I agree with krnl and ml1.  It will be interesting to see if Adams or Lembrich make a push to be Mayor in 2017.  I hope they do.

Under the Township form of government the Mayor gets a lot of extra grief and has to spend extra time as the "public face" but has no additional power. Does not sound very appealing unless you are an egotist.

bramzzoinks said:

Under the Township form of government the Mayor gets a lot of extra grief and has to spend extra time as the "public face" but has no additional power. Does not sound very appealing unless you are an egotist.

....or very dedicated to public service....

We are lucky to have these people who give so much of their time and effort for so little return!

Well said.

Theoldtimer said:

We are lucky to have these people who give so much of their time and effort for so little return!

I think the Mayor also has some ability to control what makes it onto the TC meeting agenda.

bramzzoinks said:

Under the Township form of government the Mayor gets a lot of extra grief and has to spend extra time as the "public face" but has no additional power. Does not sound very appealing unless you are an egotist.

Second that!

jeffl said:

Well said.

Theoldtimer said:

We are lucky to have these people who give so much of their time and effort for so little return!

bramzzoinks said:

Under the Township form of government the Mayor gets a lot of extra grief and has to spend extra time as the "public face" but has no additional power. Does not sound very appealing unless you are an egotist.

A description of parenthood also sounds very unappealing. It's the vision that is rewarding, not the actual work. It is a wonder that people sacrifice to be small town mayors or serve on boards of ed. Thank God some do.

So if finding mayoral or parental work is egotistical, thank God for egotism.

It is one of those jobs where you have to take pleasure in what you can get done and tune out the over-the-top criticism and negativity.

tjohn said:

It is one of those jobs where you have to take pleasure in what you can get done and tune out the over-the-top criticism and negativity.

Good point - tough to do though! Good work gets few thanks, and any action gets many complaints. 

I did not say that serving on the council was egotistical.  Only tbat taking on the job of mayor,  which has no additional power,  is.  In SO the President,  has specific powers.  The Mayor in a Township system does not.  

bramzzoinks said:

I did not say that serving on the council was egotistical.  Only tbat taking on the job of mayor,  which has no additional power,  is.  In SO the President,  has specific powers.  The Mayor in a Township system does not.  

Can't let this be the last comment since it's so clearly wrong. You clearly have missed the subtleties that go along with the workings of a township committee and one now composed of people who voted unanimously. Tom's answer to you applies whether you're talking about serving on the committee or serving as mayor too. So that should be the last comment here imo. Congrats to all the committee members new and old for the jobs you do and will do for us.

Tom_Reingold said:

bramzzoinks said:

Under the Township form of government the Mayor gets a lot of extra grief and has to spend extra time as the "public face" but has no additional power. Does not sound very appealing unless you are an egotist.

A description of parenthood also sounds very unappealing. It's the vision that is rewarding, not the actual work. It is a wonder that people sacrifice to be small town mayors or serve on boards of ed. Thank God some do.

So if finding mayoral or parental work is egotistical, thank God for egotism.

I personally am glad to hear that Vic will stay on as mayor. I like the way he operates and feel that we, as a community , are in good hands.

georgieboy said:

I personally am glad to hear that Vic will stay on as mayor. I like the way he operates and feel that we, as a community , are in good hands.

Well said! 

georgieboy said:

I personally am glad to hear that Vic will stay on as mayor. I like the way he operates and feel that we, as a community , are in good hands.

Amen.

wendy points out that your comment is inaccurate because you're not sufficiently familiar with how the Maplewood Township Committee works.

Statutorily in NJ the mayor has no powers that differ from the rest of the committee members. Period.

That's not so.

The mayor is the chief executive and by law is the one that signs the contracts and the paychecks.

The mayor automatically serves on some committees that others don't automatically serve on.

bramzzoinks said:

Statutorily in NJ the mayor has no powers that differ from the rest of the committee members. Period.

What the hell do YOU know, anyway?

ctrzaska said:

What the hell do YOU know, anyway?

I was thinking the same thing ... 

You've been shown numerous times that your understanding is shallow and incomplete. Yet you persist as if there's no deficiency. Is there a word for that?

signing checks is a task not a power since there is nk discretion or powe over which ones are signed.  Being on a committee also does not increase statutory power. 

Why is this important?

If what I say here has to be important, I will never be able to say anything!

Tom_Reingold said:

You've been shown numerous times that your understanding is shallow and incomplete. Yet you persist as if there's no deficiency. Is there a word for that?

Wait, are you talking to Jerry? Cause this has been my experience of Mr Ryan as well.    

deborahg said:

Why is this important?

It's a slow news day ...