The meeting was virtual but the emotions were real, as the Morristown mayor and council said goodbye to three local mainstays on Tuesday.
Michael Fabrizio, a key player in the downtown’s redevelopment, had been laid to rest hours earlier. The 55-year-old executive director of the Morristown Parking Authority died suddenly last week.
Linda Kiger Smith, who helped put the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival on the music map as its co-promoter, succumbed to breast cancer a few days before Fabrizio’s death.
Tuesday also was the final council meeting for Vij Pawar, who leaves this week after a dozen years as town attorney to become a state Superior Court judge.
“Let’s power through, man,” said Jennifer Wehring, fighting tears to deliver a virtual presentation of the Morristown Partnership’s $1.2 million budget.
Wehring succeeded Fabrizio as executive director of the business nonprofit in 2017, after years of mentoring by him.
“Michael laid the foundation for the revitalization of Morristown, and I was honored to work alongside him, and then carry on that mission” when Fabrizio moved downstairs to lead the Morristown Parking Authority, Wehring said.
Her former boss was “deeply proud” of Morristown, and committed to the town.
“We honor Michael today by carrying that torch,” Wehring said, during her recap of all the Partnership events curbed by the pandemic. “Boy, did we have to be creative in 2020.”
Pawar recounted good-natured political banter with Fabrizio.
“I would call him a right wing nut, he would call me a socialist. We would fight, we would argue. We had a lot of laughs about politics…and I know he’s up there, looking down and smirking, with his silly giggle…Just want to say I love you, Michael, and I’ll miss you.”
Between tears, the governing body managed to conduct business. David Minchello, a partner in Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin’s law firm, was hired to succeed Pawar as municipal attorney, at $150 an hour.
Relaxed pandemic rules for sidewalk cafes were extended through October 2021. A slew of liquor license renewals was approved. And the council authorized a five-year, $362,165 contract with Axon Enterprises Inc. for police body cams and related services.
All votes were 5-0. Council members Michael Elms and Tawanna Cotten were absent.
‘SURPRISED I LASTED THIS LONG’
It was a difficult evening for Mayor Tim Dougherty. He promised to come up with special recognition for Linda Smith, who booked the acts for a music festival that celebrates its first decade in September.
“She really came up with a stellar show every year, and we don’t want to forget her,” said the mayor, sending thoughts and prayers to her husband and co-promoter, Don Jay Smith.
Fabrizio was Dougherty’s fishing pal and confidant for decades.
“People really don’t know the thumbprint he had on the community for so many years with the Partnership, and his understanding of all the different facets of redevelopment and keeping the downtown alive, those types of things,” Dougherty said. “He’s a great man who will be really missed.”
Dougherty recalled meeting Pawar, “this skinny Indian kid in his 20s who just got out of law school,” one rainy evening in 2002.
The young Democrat told him he was running for Congress against an entrenched incumbent, Republican Rodney Frelinghuysen.
“This kid’s out of his mind,” Dougherty remembered thinking. Pawar insisted on heading into the downpour, to hand out campaign literature at the train station.
“‘Okay, I’m going with you,'” Dougherty told him. “And we’ve been together ever since. And he had no idea I was ever going to ask him to be the town attorney. But it was clearly the best choice in my political career. Love you, buddy.”
“I’m surprised I lasted this long,” quipped Pawar.
From the start, he said, he and the mayor agreed to pursue what they felt was best for Morristown, even if decisions were unpopular. “I’m proud to have been part of this administration, and I’ve been proud to say that the mayor has always followed that guiding principle of putting Morristown first.”
Pawar thanked Dougherty and the council.
“You have all helped me grow, you’ve all helped me better myself, as an attorney, as a human being, as a person…it is a collective success. Because of you, I am who I am and I am where I’m going,” the lawyer said.
While Pawar leaves big shoes to fill, Councilman Robert Iannaccone said, Minchello is a “great selection” with extensive experience.
“Clearly, it was, I believe, the right choice for Morristown,” Dougherty said, “and we look really forward to a great relationship.”
