Gavan another black eye for Wantage

When last year came to a close, we were looking forward to a time when Wantage would reverse itself from being the tail end of Sussex County. We elected a new committeeman, the committee picked a different mayor and reappointed Glenn Keinz as municipal attorney, but before we even got started, a new scandal was taking shape in the underbelly of Wantage politics.

The Herald gave brief mention of Glenn T. Gavan's appointment as judge of the Wantage Joint Court on Jan. 8, 2015, but omitted the "process." On Feb. 12, 2015, the committee, under pressure from angry citizens, admitted that the "new" judge, with an "old" history of alleged conflict of interests, had attended "judge school", received the "blessing" of Judge Thomas L. Weisenbeck, and was waiting for Judge N. Peter Conforti to give his "blessing" before his name could be forwarded to the governor and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Inquiries to Judges Weisenbeck and Conforti's offices revealed that is not how the "process" works, but no matter, two judges' professional reputations were recklessly impugned by the mere suggestion that either gave his approval or affixed his signature to Gavan's appointment. Had we known, we would have protested this appointment earlier before the judges got dragged into a scandal that besmirches their judicial judgment, integrity and reputations, which most assuredly will come up time and again to bite them, the committee, Sen. Oroho and the governor if the appointment is not rescinded. The court is the foundation of our democracy, and only a judge whose reputation is above reproach should be allowed to sit in judgment on those appearing before him. In my opinion, Gavan is not that person.

Less than six months earlier, Gavan was forced to resign as board chairman of the SCCC Board of "Trustees" after he was outed for doing business with CP Engineers, a firm that was paid more than $800,000 for work that it did for the college and for failing to disclose that he relocated his office into CP's Sparta office. Mayor Bill Gaechter referenced SCCC's Saiber Law Firm's report as an excuse to appoint Gavan; but, how could they have missed "the non-interested board members can vote ... again ... to ratify the original decisions … tainted … by the undisclosed conflicts of interests" on P. 25?

There was a black-out on Gavan's whereabouts until he popped up in Wantage. In what appears to be another breach of public trust for which Mayor Gaechter admits the committee was anticipating "pushback," Gavan emerged as the Committee's "best" choice (their words) when five other candidates without "baggage" applied for the position, one of whom is a respected judge, who currently presides over five Sussex County courts. Was this judicial opening an opportunity for a quid pro quo by a Sussex County crony to "leave a stink bomb" in Wantage (while his hands remain clean) because he was assured that Wantage, Stillwater and Sussex shared-services folks fit Jonathan Gruber's definition of "too stupid to know" and if so, just exactly who is this Sussex County crony, whose quid pro quo played into this bizarre appointment?

Never at a loss for words, Committeeman Ron Bassani interjected himself by declaring, "We all have our own personal definitions of morals and ethics." Bassani is not the only person who holds this view. Bernie Madoff, Charles Manson, Rod Blagojevich, Jon Corzine (MF Global) and Lance Armstrong appear to be in agreement, as is Mayor Gaechter, who refers to Gavan as a "fine gentleman."

Then candidate-now-Committeeman Jon Morris lamented about Wantage's bad press in his uncontested race. We cannot agree more. The solution is simple. Let your conscience be your mentor and vote for "clean" government that does the business of Wantage without outside interference.

Ann Smulewicz
Wantage