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NJCM’s recently concluded 45th Anniversary
Conference:
Garden
State
Mayors: Where the Buck Stop and Starts!
was really a “sea change” event for the venerated
organization.
Thankfully, it was yet another “home run” based
entirely on the numbers (which is always the best way
to measure anything. There can be no “spin” when
you’re dealing with numbers!) So, from an attendance
and financial perspective things went “swimmingly”
again this year. This kind of performance, of course,
never happens by accident. Multiple hundreds of hours
of hard work by NJCM’s incredibly small work force,
its Officers, Directors and volunteers all came
together, as if on cue, and another success story is
added to the Pantheon of New Jersey Mayor
achievements. From afar it almost looks easy.
The “sea change” aspect of the recently concluded
event will come in a moment, but first let’s take just
one more look back at the era just ended to see that
we’ve adequately recognized and thanked everyone who
contributed to its success. Any retrospective of NJCM
success has to include Don Fauerbach’s alter ego Lee
Veal. Lee, as you all know,passed away several years
ago, and we continue to miss him and his multifaceted
talents…desperately. Lee was to NJCM what a
gyroscope, stabilizer and GPS are to a modern cruise
ship. He kept us both focused and balanced for
more than a dozen years. Happily, his wife Sheila
continues as a dedicated NJCM volunteer – a role she
first undertook when Lee initially began his career
with the Mayors. So here’s a special “thank you” to
Lee and Sheila, unsung heroes both!
There are also a bunch of other Cumberland County NJCM
volunteers that need to be recognized as well. For
openers there is the ubiquitous Fauerbach Cousin Jim
Shannon. We could never afford to actually pay him
for all he does for us. We’ve also enjoyed years of
free labor from “Sharpie,” – Don Sharp! Then there is
Joe DiGiacomo, Steve Clark, Gordon and Patti Gross,
and Nelson and Sue Trout, who are always ready to help
out. Three photographers come to mind too: the late
Don Dobson (“let’s try this picture one more time,
this time with feeling…” ), Greg Alber and Judd
Moore. These penultimate professionals know just how
to play to the often oversized egos of NJCM’s
membership – present company included!
And no “thank you” list could fail to include former
Mayors Lorelei Mottese and Cathy Frank White whose
smiling faces have greeted the fresh arrivals at the
April Conventions for more than a decade.
Last, but by no means least, on the list are the rest
of “The Fauerbach’s:” Toni, Caryn, Angelina,
Rudy, and Margaret. Their 16 years of effort and
generosity on behalf of NJCM are incalculable. There
is simply no other way of saying it.
And finally…Don Fauerbach, our omnipresent Executive
Director, a person often described as not simply “the
wind beneath our wings…but also the wings!” rides off
into the sunset – not on a horse mind you, but in a
race car! Needless to say, we all wish him every
success as he undertakes the establishment of the New
Jersey Motorsports facility in
Cumberland
County.
Don is one of those “lucky ones” whose vocation and
avocation have just completely merged into one and
same thing. Few people is the world get to realize
such a wonderful development. “Good luck old
friend!”
Now about that “sea change.” NJCM has had only one
Executive Director so far who also served as a Mayor –
Len Ruppert (who actually was elected Mayor of two
different municipalities: Montgomery Twp and Franklin
Twp.). Well, we just got our second former
Mayor/Executive Director – Dick Knight! Actually
Mayor Knight’s curriculum vitae also includes a
stint as Municipal Manager and Clerk too! So clearly
he’s a talented and successful multi-tasker –
essential traits for NJCM’s top
administrator/fundraiser. I’m especially proud that
Mayor Knight is also an alum of “The Telephone
Company/ Ma Bell / The Bell System / AT&T – take your
pick - at the time they were all one and the same
company. So he and your humble servant both share
that same and wonderful beginning. Mayor Knight is
also a Past-President of NJCM, so he definitely knows
what side of the bread gets the butter.
Dick’s colorful and diverse career make him unusually
suited to take NJCM to even greater heights going
forward, and aided and abetted by Rita Weber, newly
installed President, Mayor Colleen Mahr, our Officers,
Directors, and enthusiastic MEAC volunteers, the
winning formula for future success is already in
place. If this was the Old West, I’d proudly exclaim,
“There’s a new Sheriff in Town!”
And finally, one last observation. Every newly
elected Mayor understands the awkwardness of the
ending of one administration and the beginning of
another. The chances for missed communications and
perceived slights are many. The word awkward
and clumsy are perhaps very accurate
descriptions of these transitional times. Mercifully
they are always brief and the dizzying pace of newly
assumed duties and responsibilities quickly relegates
transitional missteps – real or imagined – into a
distant memory. The foregoing notwithstanding, let’s
all close ranks and get behind our new “Sheriff!” A
great day lies ahead! |
