B.A. APPOINTMENT CONFIRMED

Fehrenbach Drops ‘Interim’ From Title

(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 15, 2010)

PERTH AMBOY — If you have the opportunity to hire the top person to whom

other city Business Administrators and the N.J. League of Municipalities turn

for advice for under $200,000, and not have to pay any benefits whatsoever,

is that a “no-brainer”?

Four members of Perth Amboy’s City Council thought-so when they voted last

week to confirm the appointment of Gregory Fehrenbach as Business

Administrator by Mayor Wilda Diaz.

The Resolution was moved by Councilman William Petrick, seconded by

Councilman Kenneth Gonzalez and adopted 4-1.

“I’m completely-in-favor of getting-rid-of the ‘Interim,’” Gonzalez

declared.

The lone holdout was Councilman Fernando Gonzalez, who explained that he

voted “no” on the confirmation because Fehrenbach would be granted a waiver

from the city’s residency requirement as part of his employment package.

“Due to the residency, I do not waive it,” Fernando Gonzalez declared. “I

vote ‘no.’”

Fehrenbach’s experience spans nearly four decades and includes numerous

stints as Sussex County Administrator and work for Dover Township, Edison,

Lakewood, New Brunswick, Ocean Township and Piscataway, and consulting in Bergen

and Union Counties.

“His knowledge-base is such that he’s acknowledged as one of the

most-recognized municipal-government people in the State of New Jersey,” said City

Law Director Mark Blunda, who was called-upon by Diaz to do independent

research on Fehrenbach.

“He has frequently testified before the State Legislature on

local-government matters as well as the League of Municipalities,” Blunda went-on. “When

he telephones state officials, they call him back and they listen.”

The Council’s vote on Fehrenbach followed a report by Middlesex Water Co.

updating its public-private partnership with the City of Perth Amboy under

which the city’s water and wastewater systems and Runyon Watershed in Old

Bridge are being operated by the privately-owned water-provider.

As-always, Fehrenbach came to the table fully-prepared to go toe-to-toe

with the firm’s three top administrators, which he did — laying at their

doorstep the documented responsibility for causing nearly 52 percent of Perth

Amboy’s potholes during the course of laying the groundwork for a renegotiation

of the terms under which former Mayor Joseph Vas agreed to privatize the

delivery of water and wastewater services to the city’s residents and

businesses.

Fehrenbach’s ability to understand and analyze complex financial matters

such as “the water contract,” as it is called by Council members, and to

explain them to laymen is often cited by city officials in dealing with the man

referred to by Blunda as “the Derek Jeter of the profession.”

“He announced a tax-increase on July 1, and he got a standing-ovation,”

Council President Kenneth Balut said of Fehrenbach, who was first

brought-aboard in an “acting” capacity — along with Blunda — by Diaz, a newcomer to

elective public office, at her first Council Reorganization on July 1, 2008,

following her defeat of 18 year-incumbent Vas by about 1,200 votes less than

two months earlier.

Fehrenbach served as Interim Business Administrator through Jan. 5, 2009,

when former Trenton Business Administrator Jane Feigenbaum was appointed as

Business Administrator by Diaz at a $130,000 salary, plus the usual benefits

that go with that job.

Fehrenbach continued to work on an “as-needed” basis as a consultant on

various projects requiring his expertise, returning as Interim Business Admi

nistrator on Sept. 22, following his presentation of “a session on budgeting

in New Jersey local government” at a Council Special Meeting to get

newly-elected Councilmen Kenneth Gonzalez, Joel Pabon Sr. and Petrick up-to-speed on

financial issues they would be facing.

As predicted in the Amboy Beacon’s Sept. 8 edition, Feigenbaum resigned,

and the Council voted to confirm the Mayor’s appointment of Fehrenbach on a

90-day contract through Government Management Advisors LLC at the monthly rate

of $17,500 and to waive the residency requirement on 3-1 vote, with

Fernando Gonzalez again opposed and Balut absent.

Under his newest contract with Perth Amboy, Fehrenbach is to be paid for

the next six months at the hourly rate of $125 “for no more than an average of

133 hours per month.”

That amount would work-out to a maximum of $199,500 in one year, which all

five Council members acknowledged as “a lot of money.”

However, Blunda explained that Fehrenbach’s contract also specifically

waives all of the benefits to which he would be entitled as Business

Administrator, which is “less than the city would pay anyone not nearly as-qualified.”

Blunda said that Fehrenbach will receive no health insurance

(hospitalization, prescription or vision), no pension, no sick-leave, no vacation-days, no

paid-holidays, no professional dues, no conference-reimbursements, no

travel-expenses, no cellphone and no longevity-pay.

Fehrenbach “will be paid only for the hours that he works,” Blunda said.

“In all my years of experience, I’ve never seen anyone who’s

more-knowledgable about government, more-efficient or more-hardworking,” he added. “We

strongly-recommend this to the Council.”

After the Council voted, Diaz thanked the governing body for confirming her

appointment of Fehrenbach.

“Thank you for doing the right thing,” she said. “He’s been the voice of

reason.”

Praising both Fehrenbach and Blunda, Diaz said that “their expertise and

their experience is committed to the City of Perth Amboy.

“It’s not about just earning a paycheck; it’s caring-about what’s

going-on in our city,” she said. “They came-in and gave Perth Amboy a fresh start.”

Resident Alan Silber applauded Fehrenbach and Blunda as “the A-Team” of

municipal government.

“It’s not a matter of whether someone lives in Perth Amboy, although I

invite Mr. Fehrenbach to move here,” he said. “We had people who lived here,

and they’re going to jail. Living here doesn’t make you a good person.”

Silber’s remark was a reference to Vas and his longtime Mayor’s Aide

Melvin Ramos, who are awaiting sentencing on federal corruption convictions.