ERIC SUCAR staff Richard Gatto, of Freehold Township, has been named chief executive officer of the Freehold Center Partnership. The partnership oversees events and activities in Freehold Borough’s Special Improvement District. FREEHOLD — The Freehold Center Partnership is now being guided by a man who has had the experience of living in Freehold Borough’s downtown.
Richard Gatto took over as the partnership’s chief executive officer on July 1. He resides in Freehold Township, with his wife, Patty, and their daughter, Siobhan, 19.
Mike Page, who chairs the partnership, said he thinks Gatto is “the right man for the job.”
“He knows how to facilitate people connections and he is directed and organized in his mannerisms as he approaches things,” Page said. “He is a local guy who is in touch with all the local issues, which makes it so much better.”
The partnership oversees events and activities in Freehold Borough’s Special Improvement District (SID), which includes the downtown area.
Gatto, who will work for the partnership on a part-time basis, said that years ago he was one of the last residents of the American Hotel when apartments were still being rented in that building.
He recalled having “the pleasure of experiencing the charm, history and character of the hotel and the downtown area from a unique perspective.”
Over the past 25 years Gatto has lived in Freehold Borough and Freehold Township. He brings to the new position with the partnership his experience as a financial manager to five homeowners associations in Monmouth County, including Kingsley Square in the borough. An accountant, Gatto provides tax and financial services to individuals and small businesses.
Within the community, Gatto has served on the board of directors for the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore (formerly the Monmouth Council of Girl Scouts). He sits on the Freehold Township Planning Board and chairs the General Development Review Committee for the CentraState Medical Center, planning for the development of more than 100 acres surrounding the hospital.
Gatto said his goal as the partnership’s CEO is to “enhance the partnership’s economic development and organizational objectives for Freehold Center.”
“My immediate goal is to administratively prepare the Freehold Center Partnership to go forward to even greater heights, incorporating the entire SID from Throckmorton Street, through to Main Street, and up to Tony’s Diner on East Main Street,” Gatto said.
Gatto attended his first Freehold Center Partnership Board of Directors meeting as CEO last week. He said that along with board members, he will work to address the downtown “business mix,” which he said includes traffic circulation, parking and other infrastructure issues.
His goal is to incorporate these and other issues into the short, medium and long-term planning for the partnership.
“The first step is to decide what type of business mix is right for the borough,” Gatto said. “This might involve boutique retail, financial services and different forms of entertainment and culture. It won’t just be for restaurants.”
He said board members approved structural changes to the organization which included a reassignment of duties and responsibilities internally at the partnership.
He said his position “is a great job and [this is] a great time to be given the opportunity to work in this position with the upcoming reopening of the American Hotel. This position will afford me the opportunity to bring some talents to the planning development and infrastructure and economic development.”
On the topic of the American Hotel, Steve Goldberg, who is rebuilding that Main Street landmark as a hotel and banquet facility, said he is looking forward to working with Gatto.
Goldberg said work on the hotel is progressing, although he did not provide a date when work may be completed. He said his contractor, Anthony Cammallere, the president and founder of T&K Contractors, Freehold, is doing a great job on the reconstruction of the hotel.
“This is not always easy,” Goldberg said, “considering that ideas are always changing.”