TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—Immediate past mayor Janet Sobkowicz, a political history-maker and ardent fan of all things Washington Township, died on Wednesday, Sept. 29. She was 74.
Her successor and fellow Republican, Peter Calamari, posted that evening, “Janet had the distinction of being the first woman on the Township Council as well as our first female mayor. Janet loved this town and the people in it.
Even after she left public office, she could be counted on to attend and participate in many of the town’s functions and events. She and her presence will be missed by many. May she rest in eternal peace.”
A cause of death was not reported by press time. News of her passing drew surprise, sadness, and colorful anecdotes on local social media.
Councilman and Planning Board member Thomas Sears posted Sept. 30, “When I was placed on the Planning Board Janet was a mentor to me. She was one of the most knowledgeable people on the Planning Board. She always protected the town and always knew what was in the codebook. She advised me to research everything that came before the board. May she rest in peace.”
A councilwoman for 28 years before being elected mayor in 2009, Sobkowicz was re-elected in 2013. She’d served as council liaison to the Planning Board for 20 years and served on the Bergen County Planning Board for another six.
A self-described fiscal conservative, and a township resident of nearly 50 years, she said she was pleased to bring forward her experience in budgeting, municipal finance, planning and zoning, and municipal services to face new and difficult challenges.
In election materials and in interviews, she said she worked hard to maintain the town’s residential character, advocated a municipal tax rate among the lowest in the Pascack Valley, supported recreation programs, and led in the building of a new municipal complex and senior center financed principally by grants.
She cited as points of pride planning a new fieldhouse at Clark Field with volunteer efforts, supporting emergency service groups, supporting clubs, organizations, and citizens in worthwhile endeavors, presiding over the success of the Fall Festival, and sounding out as a strong independent voice on the council.
She supported the reopening of Pascack Valley Hospital, resolving the cell tower issue leading to improved phone service as a profitable revenue source, and upgrading fields and parks through grant money.
Memorial Field work an ongoing challenge
Sobkowicz empaneled a citizens committee to report back with proposals to rehabilitate Memorial Field in the wake of the defeat of a 2016 ballot measure that would have borrowed $2.45 million to install lighting and artificial turf there.
She told Pascack Press in an interview in 2017, when she retired from elected office, that she felt she would have enjoyed another run but felt party support had turned against her. She said any woman who runs for council or mayor here would face a sharply uphill battle, and that this sense stayed with her as she worked to lead the town.
Though she left the mayorship to Calamari, Sobkowicz continued with her work as a K-12 supervisor in the Waldwick School District. And she spoke at town events and was a presence in the gallery at town council meetings, most recently speaking on her efforts to acquire 450 Pascack Road for the township, a project still under way.
Her mayoral tenure was tarnished by complaints from town workers who found her abrasive, including one who presented an inadvertent voicemail recording of Sobkowicz deriding the employee and seemingly threatening her pay.
As well, she faced critiques of her spending and hiring priorities.
Perhaps most damaging was an April 2017 complaint from Police Benevolent Association Local 206 over deteriorating conditions at police headquarters. Officials also said equipment and facilities at the DPW and the firehouse were deteriorating.
At the time of the PBA complaint, Sobkowicz said the township had opted to invest funds on items that would help officers better perform their duties, including laptops and digital cameras installed in patrol cars and new computers and cameras at headquarters.
A day after the PBA filed its complaint, Sobkowicz withdrew her petition to run for re-election.
At the Nov. 9, 2019 dedication of the Township Veterans Memorial at the public library, a project of Eagle Scout James Stickel that she championed before and after she left office, Sobkowicz suggested the site was perfect for a town commons.
She expressed joy for “all the scouts — all the young people — who are becoming aware, becoming educated. I think it’s just marvelous and a grand tribute.”
She added, “I can’t wait until the gazebo goes up in the spring so we can all sit here and enjoy each other and help each other.”