Swain’s failure to provide an explanation for her about-face prompted a visibly annoyed Mayor Jeanne Baratta to comment, “She’ll get back to you when she’s done speaking with her handlers.”

Did Alan Marcus tell Jeanne "Pelosi" Baratta to say that?

Dual Government Offical Mayor and County Deputy Chief of Staff Baratta has scammed the taxpayers. The conflict of a Bergen County offcial and Mayor is disgusting. Lawyer Botta is also Bergen Republican MAYOR of Ramsey. Baratta and dual government offical/double dipper Donovans Adminstrator and Deputy Mayor Trewinksi have put the Bergen Republicans and their GOP friends above the taxpayers of Fair Lawn and "honest" Cosgrove, voted with them.. Kudos to Swain and Peluso for looking out for taxpayers!!! Disgusting corrupt Bergen Republicans,,,, have to go... this is sicking.

That is some spin Delgado the BCDO got you on here quick. Where to begin, I am puzzled as to why you are praising former mayor Swain. She has refused to say why should wouldnt vote for the settlement. A settlement she already voted for, it's reminiscent of senator Kerry. I guess she was against the settlement after she was for it. But let's be honest she voted against this for one of two reasons either she changed her mind without explanation so she can say she voted against a settlement that cost money or because voting for it is an acknowledgment that there was a complete failure of leadership during her tenure as mayor. A fact a jury of 7 people and the voters of Fair Lawn confirmed. I for one think swain owes the people of fair lawn an explanation as to why would cast a vote that could expose the town to further damages, attorneys fees and sanctions.

Now as to attorney Botta, he represented the town during the prior administration so I fail to see how that relates to the current leadership.

Delgado do you really think you could find 1000 people in this town that agree with you.

Now that the town has accepted the jury's verdict, why is Rose still on the payroll? He should either resign or be removed from office.

How is Swain looking out for the taxpayers by once again showing her ability to just be difficult and without explanation? It didn't take her too long to silence Peluso . As for Cosgrove's comment “In these tough budgetary times…this is not a vote that you like to take, to spend the taxpayers money, because they didn’t get one service or anything out of this",that vote was taken a couple of years ago, you just got stuck with having to do something about it. The issue here lies with the leadership of the PD, and appointed but not qualified attorneys.

Enough with the politics and vote for the right thing for the taxpayers. The current council has been left with a massive mess to clean up. Take a stand! My big question is: do they expect to lose the other lawsuits that have been filed and if so, how much is that going to cost us? Why did the previous council allow this kind of management to fester so long and why is it continuing?

Look at all the posts and the varied theories and innuendo posted here. This is exactly wat the politico's breed and live for, taking everyone's eyes off the real prize. Bottom line, a jury awarded the Sergeant a large sum and to this day those who created this mess were not held accountable!

Baratta's comment in front of everyone was uncalled for, unprofessional, and unbecoming a leader.

Considering there is still more litigation with this person it is prudent of Swain not to discuss her reasons in public.

That being said, knowing only what has been reported about the case I think the jury award should stand. They made their judgement based on the evidence that was given to them.

Unfortunately, if in fact the problem does lie at the upper management of the police force, this administration seems to be no more inclined to end it than the last was accused of doing.

@BellairBerdan Baratta's comment was made to me after the meeting, not in front of everyone.

This is what happens when lawyers and politicians looking out for themselves take over your town. I solved the problem by moving, Worked for me.

Can somebody explain to me why Erik Rose is still Chief and is indemnified? The tail really wags the dog in this town.

Thank you Michael Roney. Can someone please answer this question, how is this guy still Chief ? our officers have no confidence in him, rose and cooke are going to cost the town over a million $ in lawsuits- why on earth is he still employed?

dunay- no one cares that she does not accept compensation or benefits, why would she when the tax payers are already paying her massive county salary and benefits?

There are so many issues with this article and these comments...
1. It is so obvious that this article is slanted in favor of the Republicans (as are most of the articles on this site). It almost seems like they had a hand in writing the article.
2. I hate the word flip-flop. Is it really so wrong for someone to do further research into an issue and then change their mind if it is going to be a better decision for the people they represent. Personally, I would rather elected officals who change their mind about things than have people who are so close minded and stuck in their ways that they never consider the other side.
3. I am sure Councilwoman Swain did not provide more information because it is not information that can released to the public. Nothing is final until all the paperwork is done (I would think). So perhaps she is legally prohibited from sharing those facts.
4. As to Mr. Dunay's comment...I think that that is a horrible thing to say that our police force is not fully doing their job and protecting the people of Fair Lawn.

Personally, I think this is a horrible precedent we are setting. It makes the borough look weak and makes it seem like they will just settle on any case because it is easier than going to court. It also seems from the article that 2 courts had 2 different opinions which in my mind means that we had a solid chance of winning and paying out much less than $550K.

As far as the Mayor and Counsel I think it was a no brainer to stop the bleeding how many law suits get dragged on because who wins 100% of the time. It's always the lawyers.
So for Swain to vote No with her profession as we all know, it makes no scene what so ever.
The party in question was out to win hell we all are when were on the other side of the bench.
With the Insurance company willing to settle and absorb half the liability it was a win for Fair Lawn.
Thank you to all that voted YES to stop the blood bath. This could of went on for a long time at the tax payers expense, with a chance of liability being pushed entirely on Fair Lawn and been totally liable and not have the insurance co. pick up 1/2 of the liability.

Rose should definitely go, but it's probably almost impossible to fire him due to union contracts. So what now?

and who pray tell is willing to become the chief in a town that is so politically dysfunctional? Who would want the job? I am willing to bet the next Chief of police will be facing the same crap all the chiefs have in the past, no matter who it is. It is probably the most unrewarding job in town. Thank god we have had a long line of cops that are willing to take the s%*t handed to them every day by faceless, nameless civilians.

God bless Messina. He is a Hero and one of the best cops I ever met. It is a shame what they did to that man and the previous council shares in the blame. They failed to take appropriate action when the jury found the Chief of Police guilty, so now we have lawsuit # 2 from Messina. Great job guys, when are you going to wake up and fix the problem instead of hiding behind the politics.

Messina will be an even bigger hero if he spreads his new found wealth.

This whole thing exposes the man behind the curtain Richard Lustgarten. He was the former Borough attorney and is the Democratic power broker in Fair Lawn. Lisa Swain can’t make a move without consulting with King Richard who’s behind the scenes moves have gotten us in this mess from the beginning. He was part of the brain trust that appointed Chief Rose and at the time Joanne Kwasniewski as Borough Manager. He also raked in lots of money for himself while yielding his power. Don’t let the Democrats fool you they own this mess and the Republicans are left to fix it.

The man behind the curtain, Richard Lustgarten, needs to be exposed in this case. He was the former Borough attorney and is the Democratic power broker in Fair Lawn. Lisa Swain can’t make a move without consulting with King Richard who’s behind the scenes moves have gotten us in this mess from the beginning. He was part of the brain trust that appointed Chief Rose and at the time Joanne Kwasniewski as Borough Manager. He also raked in lots of money for himself while yielding his power. Don’t let the Democrats fool you - they own this mess and the Republicans are left to fix it.

The bottom line is that a leader leads with his head up high, looking into the eyes of his men with strength and confidence. Wars were won in the past with great leaders, even when the troops had no equiptment, no food, no shelter! There are many formal and informal leaders in this organization, the silent ones too, who work under the worst conditions, day in-day out.

What really should happen is County investigation into Ramsey Republican Mayor Botta and the County Adminstrator (who is also a lawyer)/Deputy Mayor of Fair Lawn and his SUBORDINATE, the Fair Lawn Mayor/Deputy Chief of Staff into any conflict of interest. Its clear while the are all from the same policitcal party, that there may have been a case of pay-to-plantiff, where the elected officals (Fair Lawns Mayor) did what is right for the Ramsey Mayor Lawyer and in return got political support (ie, Hermansan endorsement)... ,,,,, and yes they are double dippers (Barrata gets $$ when she retires)

Mr. Delgado, with respect, wasn't Mr. Botta chosen as the attorney by the prior DEMOCRATIC administration? I'm just confused.

We could have painted half of the water tower with this money...

I’d just like to point out that the man behind the curtain is Richard Lustgarten, the former Borough attorney. The Democratic counsel doesn’t make a move without him. He was part of the brain trust that appointed Chief Rose and at the time Joanne Kwasniewski as Borough Manager. He also raked in lots of money for himself while yielding his power. Don’t let the Democrats fool you they own this mess and the Republicans are left to fix it.

@Joel, who are you referring to as a leader in the PD?

I asked Joel who he is referring to. Boy did you jump off a cliff with that post. I am interested in his opinion.

oops? Where did Robert Johannson go? LOL

just post it here.

what's the number he/she left here Tom? Bergen Pines?

he keeps coming and going.

@TP- I have no idea. Never met a Tom Paine in FL.

RJB...so by your own posts, your thoughts and posts are ..well....not what you really believe.
Stu, get off the anonymous whining, didn't seem to be a problem when writing in the snow

Who's whining?

@Tom- just remember Hal from 2001 A Space Odyssey ;)

First off, the current Council continues to pay for the sins of its predecessors, and will be doing so for the foreseeable future.

A neglected library roof; a neglected water tower; a municipal pool left for months without repair and no flood insurance; an absentee Borough Manager; skate park equipment without a skate park; artificial "0%" tax increases which actually cost us significant chunks of the town's surplus; Richard Lustgarten's fees that left us with the bill; and, an issue most recently in discussion, costly lawsuits levied against Fair Lawn.

To the topic...if our officers are disgruntled it appears so from the Messina verdict and the no confidence vote that those feelings maybe justified.The PBA overwhelmingly had a no confidence vote of 92% for Chief Erik Rose and there are currently numerous costly lawsuits still being pursued with Fair Lawn as a defendant.

Councilwoman Swain does not feel there is a problem. She said so in a shopper article titled "Mayor says Police not dysfunctional". One of her running mates said that "there are only a few disgruntled employees". Lisa Swain nodded in agreement at the debate after this comment. This constant denial of and refusal to address these very real, very serious, very COSTLY problems is both absurd and stale. With all the time Concilwoman Swain had to come up with an answer to why she is voting No, why haven't we heard it yet? What happened? Why is she hiding her reasons from the people of Fair Lawn?

good to hear Bergen County Police Department are prepared to take over policing services in Fair Lawn. As our Bergen officials have said, they are prepared to take over and save the taxpayers money... this will also be great for the double dual government officials, the Deputy Mayor and his subordinate the Deputy Chief of Staff and Mayor

Hi Delgado, do you have any documentary support for your BCDO talking point that fair lawn has considered having the BCPD take over policing in fair lawn?.........No, of course you don't because no official of either party has ever made such a suggestion. But heck poor grammar, misspellings, name calling and baseless allegations are par for the course with you.

Now I actually know Frank and Brent....welcome fellas.

"On Friday, however, in a flip-flop that irked the Republican members of council, Democrats Lisa Swain and Kurt Peluso – who both previously supported the settlement -- voted to not authorize it, against the advice of both Hanrahan and borough attorney Ron Mondello.

“I’m not voting for this because I don’t feel it’s in the best interest of Fair Lawn,” said Swain, who explained she now preferred to try the case in court.

Afterward, Swain declined to answer why she believed taking the case to court was preferable." What an awe-inspiring example of journalistic objectivity. I'm impressed.

Stuart, Thank you for the welcome. I think that the patch is an excellent resource for town news and a great forum for the discussion and debate of the issues must pressing to Fair Lawn. As for me2's request, my leadership form and resume were submitted to the town for review and I believe that they are still on file. Now, I would be more than happy to outline my relevant education and work experience on the Patch if you will identify yourself and indicate if you post under any other ID's on this patch. Because let’s be honest, you aren’t really concerned about my background. What you are trying to do is undermine my arguments by saying I am politically biased, because you cannot attack the merits of what I have said. Who do you think that you are to make demands of me from behind a veil? While there are some who post anonymously for personal or professional reasons there are others who do it so they can engage in baseless personal attacks or push a political agenda without having their name besmirched by such acts. That is the behavior of cowards and phonies and I have no tolerance for same. I think you will see that I will be very critical of those who spin, deceive or make baseless attacks. Fair Lawn is a great town, populated by hard working people dedicated to family and community, and this forum should serve a place for the open exchange of ideas and thoughts, that allows our citizens to better understand the issues and providing some entertainment.

I dont post under my name for the same reasons i mentioned above. the people 'in charge" show favortism towards thier friends and family. i believe it could also work the other way, if i point out problems with the way they are running things it could effect my family and i negatively. if my son applies for a part time job at the community center and is more qualified than a friend of john cosgrove, im pretty sure my son wouldnt get the job, ecspecially if he has the same last name as someone who openly questions the councils decisions.
mr pohlman you are right about one thing, "fair lawn is a great town, populated by hard working people dedicated to family and community'. and i bet some of those residents are building inspectors, engineers, architects, and planners who would be great for the zoning and planning board. however i dont recall the current council advertising that they were looking for new qualified members of the planning and zoning board, and were accepting applications. all i heard was they got rid of 2 members that the dems picked and replaced them w/ 2 of thier guys.
ill check borough hall to see if they still have your resume and mr sina's resume on file, ill also compare them to my friends resume who is a retired building inspector who was never aware they were looking for new member for the board.

I'd still like to know why Republicans ( or whatever you want to call yourselves even though you always vote the same way) need to gather the names of those that question them? It's only Republicans that do that. I realize this as many other blogs right leaning, filled with right leaning people patting themselves on the back saying they're right and everyone else is stupid and evil, but why do you need a name? You'll certainly engage with anons that agree with you all the time, but when it comes to answering a question y'all get on your high horse about identity. Even presidential candidates answer anonymous questions in debates, yet on the local level you refuse. Seems Republicans care more about who you are and Democrats what you are. But of course, anyone can go into a phone book, pick any name and use it as theirs on this site. They don't certify accounts on Patch. But, in the minds of the Republicans here that would give those names respect? Then they go on to rant about others being partisan while they themselves are doing the same thing. How ironic.

Me2 when you file your OPRA request I would encourage you to review the qualifications of all the the members of the Borough's Boards. Do you personally know any of Fair Lawn's elected officials because if so I find it hard to believe that you would think they would retaliate against you or your family. Clearly I know the mayor and deputy mayors very well and they are concerned citizens who truly care about this town and are open to constructive criticism. I also know councilman Paluso, and I would never imagine that he would ever take a retaliatory act against me because I may disagree with him on a policy matter. An imagined fear of retaliation seems like a poor excuse.

Things run so much more smoothly over in Morris County..................
http://jefferson.patch.com/articles/three-to-run-unopposed-in-gop-primary?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001

Thomas, below is the link for the Citizen Leadership Form. Rather than draft a biography I elected to attach my resume. I cannot attest to what other people did, but as far as I am aware everyone is required to fill out this form. I would hope that after reviewing my service the council, regardless of its makeup, would consider me for reappointment. I am not blind to the politics, and if the "D's" regain control my reappointment is less likely. However, the Republican majority kept and elevated some "D's" and I would think that that if the "R's" are no longer in the majority when my term is up the "D's" serving on the council at that time would do the same.

http://www.fairlawn.org/Forms/Clerk-CitizenLeadershipForm.pdf

Getting back to me2's concern about the posting of consideration for Board positions. I believe that notice was given through the Borough website and the Community News.

BB, I would never do something just because it is easier.

OK. borough (means all of us) will pay 275K. How much pay cut police chief will get?

I am not a Fair lawn resident , but this story did catch my eye. I was wondering how many deputy mayors fair lawn has . two were qouted in this article. Which one is the deputy Mayor?

Thank you, for clearing that up. I have seen Mr Trawinski's name in other articles regarding the county goverment. He seems to be in the paper a lot lately.

I guess the town can thank Mike Messina for adding another $300,000 or so to its deficit to pay him off. I can appreciate that we shouldn't take advantage of our employees but was he really so harmed by taking on more responsibility when the town needed him to? Did he really need to run to the state like a child? Can the town really afford an over $550,000 settlement given these economic times even with the state/ins. co. picking up a couple of hundred thousand of it. Given the absolute ridiculous nature of the civil service rules the towns need to do a much better job screening new hires to make certain they are bringing on individuals that are mature and professional.

CCJ, what your post doesnt say, is that the town administrators have to do better at running the town...period. Mature and professional is what is needed. That starts with your Mayor and joke council, your part time plumber manager, (although, it trumps a washed up secretary), a high school graduate PD chief and an MTV reality show star of a captain. Now, add in a mix of favoritism and bad policy setting and you have a recipe for a failure. Thats where FL is at right now. Last time I looked, Messina's name isnt on the removal of insurance for Memorial, he didnt buy a hovel called the Naugle house, doesnt have a stake is skateboard equipment,didnt invent charging for the ambulance and is not the reason for layoffs or library closings. These are just the most recent of blunders. Blame your administrators, blame your attorney(s). You couldnt deal with what the officers and boro employees have to deal with everday. BTW, hold on to your undies, there are a few more in the hopper, this was only the second to be settled.....