HILLSDALE—The Borough Council on July 16 approved six resolutions not listed on its public meeting agenda. Only one councilman, immediate past mayor John Ruocco, objected to the last-minute resolutions.
It was unclear why none of the measures made the public agenda or why several were discussed in closed session. Only two police department hires and a promotion appeared to deal with personnel issues, which are legally exempt from public discussion under the Open Public Meetings Act.
Ruocco, a regular advocate for more council transparency, called out the lack of public discussion. During council commentaries, Ruocco said he was “a little bit distressed” that six resolutions were introduced and voted on with minimal public discussion. He cited the new emergency siren, ambulance study, and joining a multi-town affordable housing lawsuit, noting he doubted residents understood “what the hell we did here tonight.”
Mayor Michael Sheinfield responded, “For the sake of brevity, we all understood what it was, and it’s going to be out there (on the borough website).” When Ruocco pressed — “We do serve the public” — Sheinfield replied, “Point taken.”
With minimal discussion, the Borough Council publicly approved six resolutions mostly discussed in closed session, including the hiring of two police officers, a police promotion to sergeant, a new town emergency siren, joining a planned affordable housing lawsuit by Montvale, and a three-town ambulance study to enhance regional emergency response.
While most resolutions involved nominal costs, Ruocco noted the hiring of two police officers—increasing the department headcount to 23 officers—deserved a more thorough discussion. He pointed out that over a 25-year career, each officer was approximately a $4 million investment for the town.
Neither the mayor nor council explained why the resolutions needed to be discussed in closed session before being publicly voted on. Starting with Resolution 24216 and ending with 24221, none were listed on the July 16 agenda.
Borough Clerk Denise Kohan told Pascack Press that the six resolutions were posted on the borough website by the following day. Moreover, at our request, she sent them separately to Pascack Press on July 17.
Ruocco was the only council member to raise concern about the last-minute additions to the agenda. He focused on Resolutions 24218 and 24219, which hired probationary officers Christopher Miller and Gianellys Mena. Ruocco said he did not know the two officers and, though both seemed qualified, he noted the two resolutions would grow the police roster to 23 officers, more than the 22 approved last year. The 22 total officers was up from 20 officers on the force, Ruocco said.
He said he did not believe the council received “justification” for growing the department to 23 officers when an increase to 22 officers was only recently approved. As “a fiduciary of public funds,” he required more justification for adding another officer, which he estimated would cost nearly $6 million over a 25-year career.
“If any department asked us to spend millions this year on a project, you would think that the mayor and council would demand a robust discussion in an open session, weighing the pros and cons, and requiring a public hearing,” he emailed.
Ruocco told us that the council eliminated the need for a public hearing with a change via ordinance to the Borough Code in 2022 that “permitted increases in staff solely with the passage of a resolution that could be motioned and adopted in five minutes.
“It’s irresponsible,” he added.
As immediate past mayor, Ruocco vetoed the ordinance, but the council overrode his veto.
According to FBI data, “We are right on size in terms of our police department staff” with 22 officers as previously approved, Ruocco said.
He abstained on both resolutions hiring the officers, noting he did not want the officers to think he was personally against hiring them but needed more justification. The vote was 5-0 to hire both officers, with Ruocco abstaining.
Members also approved, 6-0, assigning Detective/Police Officer Matthew Soltes to sergeant; approved a Whelen Mass Siren replacement for $62,076.25 for a new town-wide emergency siren; approved $5,800 for an ambulance feasibility study with Old Tappan and River Vale; and approved $20,000 for 2024 and 2025 legal fees to join Montvale’s proposed litigation to challenge why 62 “urban aid” municipalities are exempt from affordable obligations.