Kevin Esposito (r.) takes seat in audience after stepping down as interim township manager last week.
BELLEVILLE –
An order by the Essex County Board of Taxation to Belleville to conduct a municipal-wide revaluation has triggered the resignation of Kevin Esposito as interim township manager and his replacement by Nutley Township Commissioner Mauro Tucci.
At last Tuesday’s meeting of the Belleville governing body, Esposito — who has been serving in the dual role as manager/township assessor – said that because the reval would be consuming much of his time as assessor, he “elected to resign” from the manager’s post.
“It has been my honor and privilege to serve as your interim manager,” Esposito said, adding that, “there was a [succession] plan in place. I encouraged the appointment of [Nutley attorney Donald] Rinaldi as my replacement.”
It was not to be, however, as the council kicked around several proposals including creating an assistant manager’s post but after all the debate, the council appeared to be stuck with an empty manager’s office.
After several council members praised Esposito for his work during his nearly four years as interim manager, a clearly frustrated Mayor Raymond Kimble griped: “I could see some people here who orchestrated a coup to take you out and it really hurts me. I really don’t know what to say except at this time, I hate being a politician.”
Township resident Vincent Frantantoni called the proceedings “another sad day for Belleville’s council/ manager form of government where you people sitting on the podium are just representing your buddies. I hope that, from tonight on, you forget your relatives and unqualified people being hired and get people who are qualified and have experience.”
“I agree,” Kimble said. “I intend to save money by letting our [township] clerk [Kelly Cavanaugh] do both jobs until we get a permanent manager.”
Residents Arlene Schor and Jeff Mattingly lauded Esposito for his dedication to Belleville, adding that if the township really needed a replacement, it should do a professional search. “Get someone not from the neighborhood,” Mattingly said.
Councilmen Vincent Cozzarelli and Dr. John Notari agreed that the township needed “someone with municipal management experience,” and Notari added, “I want an outside search [for] someone who knows none of us up here. We need a fulltime manager and I want this done with professionals.”
At this point, Kimble offered a resolution proposing to appoint Township Clerk Kelly Cavanaugh to serve in a dual role as the manager and clerk but it was defeated. Instead, a resolution calling for the appointment of Tucci as manager was introduced and passed 4-2, with Kimble and Councilman Kevin Kennedy dissenting. Councilman Steven Rovell was out-of-state on business.
It didn’t take long for the transition: Tucci – who had previously served as township manager from 2004 to 2006 (when Kimble replaced him) – was on the job the next morning.
“I put in my first full day,” Tucci told The Observer. His first priority, Tucci said, will be “to see how the different systems are working. Kevin is a friend of mine and a smart guy. I spoke with him and the township attorney and department heads. Everybody’s got their own style of doing things. I’ve got to take a snapshot of where everything’s at.”
Tucci, who oversees Parks & Recreation in Nutley, said he brings “over 30 years of full-time government experience” to the Belleville job, including stints as DPW director in Montclair and as director of Essex County Housing & Community Development and as Bloomfield township manager, “so I’m a student of government.”
Asked how he expected to get along with Kimble, Tucci said: “I also had a conversation with the mayor and I think we have a mutual respect for each other.”
Having served three terms on the Nutley governing body, Tucci said he expects to run for re-election this year while working for Belleville. “Our positions [in Nutley] are part-time and here in Nutley, I have a complete staff with whom I’m in contact every day. I don’t see this as being an issue.” While his Belleville job will keep him away from his pool and spa business in Nutley, Tucci said he’s arranging for his brother, a co-owner, to put in more time there.
“My salary in Belleville,” he said, “is still under study.” He said he will work “as an interim for now,” with an expectation that, based on the salary ordinance for the position, he would receive $60,000 a year as a “part-time” manager.
His actual working hours are still, as yet, unsettled, Tucci said.
Nutley Mayor Alphonse Petracco told The Observer that he assured more than 500 people who attended a recently held election fundraiser that it was “a privilege and honor to work with [Tucci] on the Nutley Roche Repurposing Committee. No one I know knows more about government than Mauro and if the township manager job in Belleville pans out, I know he’ll do a good job there as well.”
