In a 3-0 vote, the Verona Township Council tonight appointed Cory Schor, the chairman of the local Parks and Recreation Committee, to replace Cynthia Holland, who resigned earlier this month.
The three incumbents – Mayor Christopher Tamburro, Deputy Mayor Jack McEvoy, and Councilman Alex Roman – cited Schor’s attendance at meetings and his ability to jump right into municipal issues.
“Mr. Schor has been here a lot lately and has put forth a lot of very useful opinions and reporting and analytical material about how to operate the recreation community service function in our township, and gathering consensus of the recreation committee,” said Roman. “
Councilwoman Christine McGrath abstained from the vote because one of the four candidates who sought appointment, Kate Hartwyck, is a county employee.
“I am running for Essex County Commissioner-at-Large. Should I be successful in November in winning the election, I will be overseeing Miss Hartwick’s department as part of the Essex County Board of Commissioners, and it’s for that reason I’m going to abstain from this discussion and voting.”
Tamburro said he would have liked McGrath to participate, but noted that “every council person is their own judge on conflicts.”
Two others applied for the appointment to the seat: Zoning Board Chairman Dan McGinley and Monica Vincent, a member of the Verona Library Board of Trustees.
Schor’s appointment is temporary. The winner of a November special election will fill the remaining 25 months of Holland’s term.
During their interviews, none of the candidates indicated whether they would seek the seat in the November special election to fill the
The filing deadline to run in the nonpartisan special election is August 20.
Tamburro said he expects another vacancy this year.
“There’ll be another potential opportunity for a temporary appointment, depending on when Councilwoman McGrath decides to step down, whether it’s after the November election or before that,” he said.
