Cosgrove's Pleas to Extend Manager's Contract Failed

Mayor John Cosgrove went to bat for manager Tom Metzler during a failed closed session conversation he called back in February to discuss extending the manager's contract, Patch has learned.

According to recently released closed session minutes, Cosgrove repeatedly asked council members to reassure Metzler that they would extend his contract until the end of 2014. Extending Metzler was important, he said, because the borough had already turned over its manager four times in the past seven years and, for the sake of continuity, could not afford to do it again.

"What I tried to do was frame the situation and let the council members know that Tom had received numerous (job) offers and that in order to keep him we really needed to give him a vote of confidence," Cosgrove said Wednesday. "I know he serves at the discretion of the council, but I think if we had given him a vote of confidence we would have been able to retain him. That would have been the best thing for the community."

The minutes show that Democratic council members Lisa Swain and Kurt Peluso both opposed extending Metzler's contract.

Swain said she didn't understand why Metzler's contract should be renewed when it hadn't yet expired and Peluso said he felt the decision should be left up to the next council, which is guaranteed to include two new members since Deputy Mayors Jeanne Baratta and Ed Trawinski are not seeking re-election.

Trawinski recused himself from the manager's contract extension discussion and left the meeting citing a conflict of interest, according to the minutes.

He said Tuesday that he recused himself for two reasons.

For one, he knew that as a departing councilman his opinion would have no effect on Metzler's decision to stay or leave because the council's decision would not have been binding.

"[Metzler] was looking for what could be the (future) council majority to say, ‘Manager, regardless of what happens in November, we’re committing to you that we’re not going to make the change for political reasons,'" Trawinski said. "So whatever Trawinski or Baratta voted would have been of no consequence to Tom Metzler’s decision to stay or go."

Trawinski, who serves full-time as county administrator, said he also recused himself due to what he perceived as a conflict of interest.

"I was thinking about offering [Metzler] a position with the county if he didn’t get the support of the three (council members) that were excluding me and Jeanne," he said. "Knowing that I was thinking that, I couldn’t in good conscience say, 'OK, I'm going to sit here through this whole thing and participate in it.'"

As a result, consensus to extend the manager's contract failed with Cosgrove and Baratta voting in favor and Swain and Peluso dissenting.

Cosgrove said Wednesday that the Democrats' decision not to extend Metzler struck him as bizarre because it leaves the town with a dearth of experience in essential managerial positions.

"In my opinion, it would have been beneficial to them more than us to keep Tom," he said. "If they win [in November's election], you're going to have two new council people, a new manager, police chief, two new captains...Who's going to hold this whole thing together?"

Trawinski said Metzler, who announced his resignation following the failed contract extension vote, has accepted the deputy emergency management coordinator job at the county.

"If you know Tom's history, that’s his real love," said Trawinski, who was scrambling to find a replacement at the county after its emergency management coordinator and deputy emergency management coordinator both retired.

"I’m happy to have [Metzler] at the county," he continued. "I’m sorry to lose him as a Fair Lawn resident to Fair Lawn, but that wasn’t my choice, that was his."

Metzler's last day in Fair Lawn is May 30.

Council chose his replacement for the remainder of the year during a closed session meeting Tuesday, but the decision hasn't been made public. Borough clerk and former manager Joanne Kwasniewski, tax assessor Tim Henderson and assistant to the borough manager Jim Van Kruiningen were all under considerdation, Trawinski said.

"As disappointed as I was in the budget vote, I was very pleasantly surprised and proud of the vote on [Metzler's interim replacement], because we did come to a unanimous conclusion as to who the acting manager will be," he said.

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