Administrator
to start new post May 1
BY SUE M. MORGAN
Staff Writer
Michael Jacobs
A new business ad-ministrator will finally occupy the office next to Mayor Jim Phillips in Old Bridge Town Hall.
Michael Jacobs, 44, who is the business administrator in neighboring South River, will assume that same post in Old Bridge on May 1.
The appointment of Jacobs, Phillips’ choice for the position over as many as 10 other candidates, was unanimously approved by the Township Council on Monday night.
Jacobs’ work experience and administrative skills, combined with words of praise from former employers, were the deciding factors in his favor, Phillips said.
Positive comments that came across in conversations between Phillips and some of the South River municipal employees who worked under Jacobs were also considered, the mayor added.
"Everyone had glowing remarks about him," Phillips said.
From now until April 30, Jacobs plans to tie up loose ends in the small borough where he has earned $79,000 annually as the head of day-to-day operations since February 2003.
In order to finish those tasks and to provide his present employer with sufficient notice, Jacobs chose to give 30 days’ notice to South River, with Phillips’ blessing.
"South River has been so great to me," Jacobs said. "I want to finish everything up before I leave."
Jacobs’ will earn $100,000 yearly, pulling double duty as both the township’s business administrator and public safety director, according to Finance Director and Acting Business Administrator Himanshu Shah.
A native of Smyrna, Del., Jacobs first worked as an administrator in that city for 15 years. Initially, he served as the city’s assistant business manager and municipal planner for five years.
In 1992, Jacobs was promoted to city manager, remaining in that post for 10 years until his wife, Mary Ann, was transferred by her employer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, to an office in New Jersey.
South River Mayor Robert Szegeti subsequently hired Jacobs to oversee that borough’s operations in part because of his experience in managing an electric utility in Smyrna.
Szegeti hired him for the administrator’s job at that time because South River, like Smyrna, also has its own electric utility, Jacobs recalled.
"I’m a huge proponent of municipalities owning their own power," he said.
While Old Bridge, a community of more than 60,000 residents, does not have its own electric utility, Jacobs is looking forward to tackling other challenges, particularly with land use and economic development.
Drawing upon his background as a municipal planner and experience in successfully attracting an office park to Smyrna, Jacobs said he hopes to do the same for 500 acres of township-owned land at the crossroads of Routes 9 and 18.
That property, the former Olympia & York site, has been targeted by the township’s Economic Development Corp. for light industrial use or as an office and conference center.
"When we grow residentially, we have to grow commercially in order to provide jobs for the new residents," Jacobs said.
A 1982 graduate of the Delaware State Police Academy, Jacobs also plans to draw on his experience as a Dover, Del., police officer when he supervises the township’s public safety operations.
As city manager in Smyrna, Jacobs supervised the police chief and other law enforcement personnel and took charge of the department’s budgets for two years.
"I always felt that my job is whatever they say it is," Jacobs said.
He also pointed to his accomplishments in dealing with collective bargaining units, which will also be part of his new job.
"My strength is dealing with people," Jacobs said.
Since coming to the Garden State, Jacobs has been pursuing a master’s degree in business administration at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. He also holds a bachelor of science in the same specialty from Wesley College in Delaware.
A resident of East Windsor Township, Mercer County, Jacobs and his wife have a son, Nicholas, 19, who is a student at Mercer County Community College.
Jacobs will take over for Shah, who will continue in his job as finance director.
Shah was appointed by Phillips on Jan. 1 to temporarily succeed former business administrator Alayne Shepler, who left on Dec. 31 to take a similar post in neighboring Manalapan Township.