NORTH ARLINGTON –
Eugene Leporiere has quit as the borough’s newly hired CFO, just four weeks after he was appointed to the part-time job, officials disclosed.
“He had a problem with the work load,” Mayor Peter Massa said last week.
When Leporiere, the former CFO of Upper Saddle River, was hired on Jan. 14, it was with the understanding that he confine his time in North Arlington to just 10 hours a week, for which he would receive $25,000 a year.
“He realized he needed two days a week to handle the work so he has formally resigned,” Massa said.
On Feb. 17, the Borough Council hired Mahwah resident Steve Sanzari as the replacement for Leporiere. Sanzari has been serving as CFO/treasurer for the village of Ridgewood, whose 2012 municipal budget was listed as about $35 million.
Massa said Sanzari’s salary remains uncertain at this point until the borough decides whether compiling the annual financial statement should be part of his scope of services.
The Borough Council also voted to hire Steven Lo Iacono, the former city manager of Hackensack, as the new borough business administrator at an annual salary of $125,000 plus the use of a borough car, pending a background check.
According to reports by NorthJersey.com, Lo Iacono was a co-defendant, along with Hackensack Construction Official Joseph Mellone, in a 2011 sexual harassment suit brought by former clerktypist Marcella Sbarbaro that ended in a $495,000 settlement. The lawsuit alleged that Sbarbaro was forced to have sex with Mellone under threat of losing her job and that when she complained to the city manager, he did nothing about it. Lo Iacono denied the allegation.
Massa said Lo Iacono is getting a separation agreement from his former employer to work for North Arlington.
Lo Iacono replaces Terence Wall, who resigned last year to accept a comparable job in Cranford. Wall also served as the borough clerk. Massa said the borough is looking to split up the two positions and expects to fill the borough clerk slot shortly.
In other business, the governing body voted to appeal to the state legislature to exempt the cost of plowing the salting roads and personnel costs associated with that work from the state-mandated municipal budget cap.
Council President Al Granell said: “This winter has blown a hole through our snow removal budget and we still have another six weeks of winter weather when we could be hit by more snow and ice storms.” Granell didn’t say how much the borough has spent so far for snow-related work.
– Ron Leir
