Loading...
HomeMy Public PortalAbout1999/02/25 A Special Meeting of the Mayor and Council of the Borough ofCarteret was called to order by Mayor James A Failace at 6:00 P.M ., on Thursday, February 25, 1999 at the Municipal Court/Police Facility, 230 Roosevelt Avenue, Carteret, New Jersey. Upon individual roll call, the following were noted present: Councilmember Patrick Crilley Jack Fazekas Stanley Gutowski James Mancuso James O'Brien " " " " Also noted present was Borough Attorney Craig J. Coughlin. The Clerk stated that on February 19, 1999, in full compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act, a notice oftonight's meeting was sent to The Home News Tribune, The Star Ledger and posted on the bulletin board. To appoint a Police Director and any other business that may come before the Council Mayor Failace said we are here to make an appointment to the position of Police Director. He turned the meeting over to Police Commissioner Stanley Gutowski. 1 Police Commissioner said about two years ago the previous Council took an unenviable task, to reevaluate our Police Department. To see if they were operating at peak efficiency. To see if there were any problems to solve or things the Council could do to help them. They retained a Special Prosecutor, Gary Stowell. who gave them a report on the Police Department. In the report there were a lot of things cited as problems. One of the things not cited in the department were the rank and file personnel Many times he and Mr. Stowell have stated that they have many fine police officers. There were problems noted in the administration of the department. The way the department was run. The direction our officers were given. When they undertook this task they passed a new ordinance that included the position of Police Director. FEBRUARY 25, 1999 SPECIAL MEETING ROLL CALL STATEMENT OF MEETING NOTICE PURPOSE DISCUSSION FEBRUARY 25, 1999 DISCUSSION Continued Police Commissioner Gutowski said at the time the ordinance was passed, we stated that there was no indication that they would ever hire a Police Director. The Chief, Mr. Sica, would probably be here forever. He didn't need to explain what happened to Mr. Sica, they all know he retired. At that point they undertook the monumental search for a person to fill the Director's position. They could have easily given it to someone from the local area, but we didn't do that. They could have given it to a political hatchet man, as people have said To pay back a political favor to some politician from Woodbridge. It was never their intention to do that. They set out to find the best person. A person that they felt would do the best job in the department. They advertised locally, statewide and nationally. Initially they received responses from 48 candidates. They went through the resumes and cut it down to 24. They sent out very comprehensive questionnaires. They wanted to know every little detail of their lives. Most of them filled it out and some ofthem didn't, so they were eliminated at that point. They narrowed it down to the top five candidates. They met with them. They made sure of who they wanted to bring in here and made sure they knew what they were up against, what was expected of them and why we wanted a Police Director. We wanted someone who would be answerable to the Council and the Mayor. If the people felt he wasn't doing the job, they could come to the Council with their opinions. It would be very tough to remove a Police Chief. There were three or four very good candidates. The one they settled on, they believe, is the right person for the job. Police Commissioner Gutowski said he would give a little bit of the gentleman's background He is a policeman. Has always been a policeman rrom the time he was 17. He started out as a Junior Detective. By the age of 17 he was working as a Crime Scene Investigator. At the age of 20 he was a patrolman At 25, a Sergeant and at 31 a Lieutenant. At the same time he was promoted to Lieutenant he was promoted to Captain. The next was Chief and he still holds the rank of Chief in the department he works for. While selving as a policeman he took it upon himself to go to law school and completed his law degree. Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice, Master of Science in Criminal Justice and Juris Doctorate. 4.0 Grade Averages. He took the Florida Bar, 1,080 take the bar and he finishes Number One. It's a resume that knocks his socks off. He is a licensed emergency medical technician. He is Director of Public Safety in the town he is working for. He has vast experience He was appointed by Attorney General Janet Reno to work on a Task Force for the federal government. There were 30 people in the entire United States that were selected to do that. It was a task force on Missing Children. At the same time he was a Police Captain, in his former jurisdiction, he served as the Prosecutor at the same time. He is a man of many talents He belongs to the P.B.A. and the F.O.P. He believes he will be sympathetic to the causes here and what goes on. He spoke about his training It's amazing to him that someone with these qualification fell into his lap. Was born and educated in New Jersey, than moved to Florida. He is a member of the International Association of Police Chiefs, Washington Association of Police Chiefs; Florida (inaudible); Florida Law Enforcement Officers, the list goes on and on He is a licensed lawyer in the states of Florida and Colorado. 2 ."i\\¡,_ Police Commissioner Gutowski said he sat face to face with this gentleman for four hours and has talked continuously on the phone for the last two weeks and he expressed a great interest in the job. He has the experience to handle it and will bring leadership to this community. Leadership for everyone He plans to seek input from the officers and the community. He said there is no need for radical change. They are not hiring a hatchet man They are not hiring someone to come in and clean house. That has been done by the people who are no longer here. We have a gentleman who has been acting as Chief of Police, who retired yesterday. He thanked Deputy Police Chief Hack for filling the shoes of the two people who were here before him He did a lot better job. The morale in the department is a lot better since Mr. Hack took over. He wished him well in his retirement. He will be here to lend his guidance and any information he could possibly share with the new director and he would do it for no pay. That show's the kind of guy Mike is. This gentleman is what he feels this borough needs. Leadership is lacking here. They are not bad guys, they just lacked leadership for the last 12 years. This gentleman retrains police officers on the job. This man will do the job they want him to do. He has to do the best job he is capable of doing. He comes to us rrom the State of Washington, by way of the State of Florida. His name is William Elfo No one on this Council met him before he was an applicant and he does owe them a thing. He said he wanted to place the name of William Elfo as the next Police Director of Carteret. Mayor Failace said they had five or six excellent Candidates and Mr. Elfo was right up there. He received a call from Mr. Elfo that his wife was rushed to the hospital for an emergency heart operation. We told him to take care of that and wished his wife a speedy recovery. Today Mr. Elfo called him and told him that the problem with his wife is much graver. Mr. Elfo will not be here to start on March 1st. We have a signed contract with Mr. Elfo, but because of the situation with his wife, our prayers go out to his family. He is going to ask the Council to table the resolution, because they are not exactly sure what Mr. Elfo's position will be until he finds out the extent of his wife's problem. It's very difficult and devastating to say that. We are not going to hold Mr. Elfo to the signed contract, but allow him to take care of his needs at home. He will be a real asset to Carteret. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Crilley and Fazekas and unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present, the meeting was opened for public input on Resolution #99-83. JAMES HOJECKI said the Police Department extends their sympathies and hopes everything works out with his wife. 3 Mayor Failace said they told Mr. Elfo that was their main concern. FEBRUARY 25, 1999 DISCUSSION Continued MEETING OPENED Public Input On Resolution FEBRUARY 25, 1999 Public Input On Resolution Continued ~IEETING CLOSED RESOLUTION #99-83 Appointing Police Director TABLED Comments ADJOURNED LOUIS MANGIERI asked how old Mr. Elfo was? Mayor Failace said he was 43 years old UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN asked if Mr. Elfo was going to live in the Borough? Council President Gutowski said Mr. Elfo has been to local real estate agents. Mayor Failace said Mr. Elfo was here two weeks ago looking. They are not forcing him to live in town, but they would like him to stay in the general area There being no further comments or discussion on Resolution #99-83, upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Crilley and Fazekas and unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers, the meeting was closed. RESOLUTION #99-83 was introduced by the Mayor and was referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C,by Council members Crilley and Fazekas RESOLUTION #99-83 "APPOINTMENT TO THE POSITION OF POLICE DIRECTOR IN THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET" was tabled. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Crilley, Fazekas, Gutowski, Mancuso and O'Brien voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Quinones was noted absent. Mayor Failace asked everyone to keep Mr. Elfo in their prayers. He is a good man and he will be an asset to this town. There being no further discussion or business, upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Crilley and Fazekas and unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 6:22 PM. ~ub:itted' Á . ~~/ KATHLEEN M. BARNEY,"-../ Municipal Clerk 4 KMB/sj A Special Meeting was held by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Carteret on February 25, 1999, 622 PM., Municipal Court, Police Facility, 230 Roosevelt Avenue, Carteret, New Jersey. The following were noted present: Mayor James A Failace Councilmember Crilley " Fazekas " Gutowski " Mancuso " O'Brien Noted absent was Councilmember Remy Quinones Also noted present was Borough Attorney Craig Coughlin The Clerk stated that on February 19, 1999, in full compliance with the Open Public Meeting Act, a notice of tonight's meeting was sent to the Home News Tribune, The Star Ledger and posted on the Bulletin Board. To appoint a Police Director and any other business that may come before the Council. Mayor Failace said, we are here to appoint a Police Director and I would like to turn this meeting over to Stanley Gutowski, the Police Commissioner. 1. Police Commissioner, Stanley Gutowski, thanked the Mayor and said about two years ago, the previous Council undertook the task to evaluate our Police Department to see if they were operating at peak et1ìciency and if there were any problems that we could solve and we could do to help them. We retained an Attorney, a Special Prosecutor, and that is Gary Stowell. He gave us a report on our Police Department. In that report there were lots of things sighted as problems in the department. One of the things that wasn't cited was the rank and file, the personnel Many times Mr. Stowell has stated that we have a very good police officers. There wasn't a problem with our rank and file, but, there were problems with the administration of the department, the way the department was run and the direction our ot1ìcers were given. When we undertook this task we passed a new Ordinance. In that Ordinance, it included the position of a civilian Police Director. At the time we passed the Ordinance, there was no indication that we would ever hire a Police Director, that Chief Joseph Sica would be here forever. When Chief Sica retired we FEBRUARY 25, 1999 SPECIAL MEETING PRESENT STATEMENT OF MEETING NOTICE PURPOSE OF MEETING RE: POLICE DIRECTOR DISCUSSION FEBRUARY 25, 1999 DISCUSSION (Con't) undertook a monumental search for a person to fill his position. We could have easily given it to someone from the local area, that we knew, but we didn't do that. We could have given it to a "Political Hatchet Man", as people have said, to pay back political tàvors, we did not do that. It was never our intention to do that. We set out to find the best person and when I say person, it could have been a man or a woman, that we felt could do the best job for the department. We advertised locally, statewide, and nationally. Initially. we received responses rrom forty-eight candidates from all over the country We went through their resumes, we managed to cut it down to the top twenty-four. We sent out questioners. We wanted to know every little detail of their lives We searched through them with the help ofMr. Stowell and the Police Committee and we managed to narrow it down to what we thought were the top five (5) candidates. We met them face to face, we talked to them on the phone. I dealt with most of it. We brought some of them in and we made sure of who we wanted to bring in here. We made them aware of what they were up against and what was expected of them. We wanted a Police Director who could be answerable to us as a Council and to the Mayor and to the people of this town. not someone that if they did something wrong, you had to charge them administratively and go through that whole process and basically create very hard feelings. If the people felt he wasn't doing a good job then the people of this town could come and say he/she isn't doing their job. There were three (3) or four (4) very good candidates and the one we settled on, at this point, we believe is the best person for the job and I would like to give you a little bit of his background, he is a policeman and has always been a policeman, from the time he was seventeen (17) years old. He started out as a junior detective. By the age of seventeen he was working as a crime scene investigator. At the age of 20, he was working as a patrolman. At 25 he was sergeant, at 31 he was a lieutenant. At the same time he was a lieutenant he was promoted to Captain.. At this point in time he holds the rank of chief in the department that he works for. While he was serving as a policeman, he took it upon himself to go to law school and complete his law de¡''Tee. He has a Bachelor of of Science, Master of Science in criminal justice and a Jurist Doctorate with a 4.0 grade average. He took the Bar in Florida, 1,280 applicants take the Bar He finished # I. He is a licensed Emergency Management Technician and he knows the problems we have here in town with ambulance services. He is the Director of Public Safety in the town he works in. He was appointed by Janet Reno to work on a Task Force for the Federal Government, he was one of 30 people in the entire United States that were selected to do that. The Task Force was for Missing Children. At the same time he was a police captain in his former jurisdiction but he worked as the proseutor in a different state. He belongs not only to the PBA but to the FOP. His training consist of the FBI, North West Law Enforcement Second Command College, Washington Criminal Justice Training, Commission National Center for Missing Children, FBI Law Institute. He was born in New Jersey and he moved to Florida with his parents. He is a member of the International Association Chief of Police, Washington Associated Chief of Police, Florida Associated Police Order and a licensed lawyer in the state of Florida and in Colorado. I sat face to face with this gentleman for four hours and spoke to him on the phone continuously for three weeks. He expressed a great interest in this job and he has the experience and the leadership qualities to bring to our Community. We have a gentleman who has been acting as the Chief of Police and as of yesterday, he retired I'd like to thank him for filling the shoes of two people. I know the moral of the department is better since Mr. Hack took over and I wish him well in his retirement. He will be here to lend a hand with the New 2. Director and he said he would do it for no pay. I told him I wanted to pay him and he insisted that he did not want to be paid. This gentleman is what this Borough needs He trains Policemen that are on the job. The laws have changed and they had to try to keep up by themselves. They shouldn't have to, they should have someone here who does it for them. They should be out doing their jobs, not worrying about the administrative part. So, I think this man can do the job we want him to do He his here for one purpose, to do the best job he is capable of doing. He comes to us rrom the State of Washington. His name is WilJiam Eltà. Again, we owe no political tàvors to this gentleman. He came through the system just like the rest of us did, just like the other 48 applicants. It just so happens that the police committee thought he was the best qualified man for the job. No one on the Council knows him, no one on this Council met him before. I recommend to the Council that the name WilJiam Elfo be placed on that Resolution. He will be the next Police Director of the Borough of Carteret. Mayor Failace stated that before we go on to the Resolution, you heard the credentials ofMr Elfo. He is a fine candidate I will tell you this, that we had five (5) or six (6) excellent candidates. He was the cream of the crop. Yesterday I received a call from Mr. Elfo (he is not here this evening) telling me his wife was rushed to the hospital for emergency heart surgery. We wish her welt and a speedy recovery. Today Mr. Elfo called me and said that the problem with his wife is much greater than they realized. Mr. Eltà is not here. He was to start on March 1st. I have a signed contract here for Mr. Elfo. Because of the problems Mr. Elfo is having with his wife right now, our prayers go out to him, his wife and his family. I'm going to ask this Council to table this resolution. We're not exactly sure what Mr Elfo position will be until he finds out the extent of his wife's illness We'll talk to Mr. Elfo over the next two weeks to find out what he wants to do. We have a signed contract rrom him but the humane thing to do would be to not hold Mr. Elfo to this contract right at this moment. We will allow him to take care of his needs at home. He is a good man. I've spoken to him many times He will be a real asset to Carteret. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Crilley and Fazekas and unanimous affirmative vote of the (5) members present, the Mayor declared that the meeting was opened for public input on the Resolution. RESOLUTION #99-83 was introduced by the Mayor and was referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C, by Coutlcilmembers Crilley and Fazekas 3 RESOLUTION #99-83 " APPOINTMENT TO THE POSITION OF POLICE DIRECTOR IN THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET" FEBRUARY 25, 1999 DISCUSSICtiI (Can't) RESOLUTICtiI 199-83 APPO:;:NJflEN]' TO "''HE POSITICtiI OF POLICE DIRI:C'lœ IN THE B(R()UGH OF CAR'i'ERET FEBRUARY 25. 1999 RESOLl1rICN 199-83 WAS TABLED PUBLIC DISCUSSICN PUBLIC HEARING CLOSED was so introduced and tabled by Councilmembers Crilley and Fazekas. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Crilley, Fazekas, Gutowski, Mancuso and O'Brien voted to table the Resolution. Lieutenant James V. Hojecki said that the Police Department would like to offer their sympathies to Mr. Elfo and his family. Mayor Failace said that it is a tragic thing that happened to his wife. That is Mr. Elfo main concern. We will deal with whatever we have to deal with after he makes his decision and everything goes well. That is all we care about. Someone from the audience asked the age ofMr. Elfo. Mayor Failace said that he is 43 years old. That is why he said he would like to be with us for 25 years or so. The Mayor asked if there were any other questions. A lady in the audience asked ifMr. Elfo would live in the Borough Council President Gutowski said that Mr. Elfo has been to local real estate agents and that is all he could tell her at this point in time. Mayor Failace said that Mr. Elfo was here two weeks ago looking in Carteret and Woodbridge. We're asking him to stay in the area. We wouldn't want him in North Jersey or anything like that. Council President Gutowski said he received a telephone call last week from a real estate agent who said that he heard that we had a new Director and he was looking for a house. The Mayor said that Mr. Elfo is a good man. He will be a great asset to this Community. He asked that we keep Mr. Elfo and his wife in our prayers. There being no further comments or objections to the Resolution, the Mayor declared the Public Hearing to be closed upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Crilley and Fazekas and the unanimous affirmative vote of the (5) members present. 4 There being no further business or discussion, upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Crilley and Fazekas and unanimous at1ìrmative vote of the (5) membership present, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 6:20 P.M. Respectfully Submitted, ~I! £:2J/SfJ;tA-:1'Lé '/ 'KATHLEEN M BARNEY, C:::::V. .', Municipal Clerk KMB/apm 5 FEBRUARY 25, 1999 AOOOORNED FEBRUARY 22, 1999 SPECIAL MEETING 6.