Four years finished

The shredder and wastepaper basket were overflowing, suggesting that the office’s prior inhabitant had more than a few things he wanted to get rid of.

The setting was from mid-December 2019. The place was the Middlesex Borough mayor’s office. Sitting Mayor Ron DiMura had just been indicted, charged with laundering campaign money through a scholarship fund and bilking private investors in a Ponzi scheme.

After DiMura resigned, Council President John Madden was in line to succeed him until the end of the year. Madden was subsequently sworn into his first full mayoral term on Jan. 1, 2020. He had defeated DiMura in the general election shortly before.

The office scene in DiMura’s wake suggested things were in disarray. Madden and other Middlesex officials found just how out-of-sorts they actually were in the coming weeks and months.

Madden reflected on the mess left by his predecessor, the work of the past four years, and a few things he feels still need to be addressed, during his last day behind the mayoral desk on Friday, Dec. 29.

As Madden was making his way to the office door for the final time, mayoral successor Jack Mikolajczyk stopped by. Mikolajczyk will be sworn-in on Jan.2.

Mikolajczyk said he intends to continue using his former Borough Council running mate as a resource, noting that they share many of the same views. One role will be on the Joint Land Use Board, on which Madden will continue serving.

The final work day’s gavel passing between the two Republicans was in sharp contrast to four years ago. Then, DiMura’s legal troubles and long-running differences between he and Madden thrust his GOP rival into the mayoral role with no head’s up from the Democratic incumbent.

The reality of difficult times ahead hit Madden soon after DiMura’s departure. The amount of documents found shredded in the mayor’s office was an eye-opener. Soon, there was an unsettling call from Standard & Poor’s which was threatening to downgrade the borough’s bond rating – in part due to reduced surplus.

At that point, Madden had served on the council for about five years. In 2017-18, he was the lone Republican on the three-member finance committee, serving with two Democratic council colleagues. Madden said he was typically rebuffed in attempts to obtain financial details.

Word of his inquiries got back to the then-mayor. Madden recalls a phone call in which he got an earful from DiMura.

“Don’t worry about it, I am handling this,” Madden remembers DiMura yelling. “The chairman of the finance committee is saying you’re asking all these ridiculous questions. Why are you wasting everybody’s time?”

Later, the Republican mayor and GOP-controlled council eventually put the borough’s fiscal house in order. There was some mild pain for homeowners. In 2020, the council adopted a budget that included a 5.47% municipal property tax increase to help rebuild the surplus. Two years of stable municipal taxes followed.

The 2020 budget work ensued as a public health catastrophe – the COVID-19 pandemic – was hitting Middlesex and the nation. Municipal revenue from construction fees and other sources dropped as the country pretty much came to a temporary standstill.

Council meetings, for a brief period, were phone-in only. Once sessions resumed in-person, they were convened at the rec center to allow for social distancing. Middlesex, like the country, weathered the Covid storm that ebbed and flowed over a more than one-year period.

With the financial and health crisis storms in check, Madden acknowledges that in 2021 he was considering pursuing a second mayoral term. But in November of that year, a personal tragedy occurred. His adult son, Kyle – who was living in New York state – passed away. Madden and his wife, Barbara began the bureaucratic ordeal of obtaining custody of Kyle’s young son.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Mikolajczyk would be the Republican mayoral candidate in 2023. Madden would not seek re-election, allowing more time for family matters.

Still on the table are two thorny problems that have occupied the governing body’s time in 2023.

Homes on Heather Lane and Holly Court are endangered by serious stream erosion, with suspicions it is linked to a federal flood control project.

Madden remains incredulous that the feds and state have so far stood on the sideline, contending they have no responsibility to save homes that appear poised to fall into a stream. Middlesex’s status as an underserved community, he asserts, should trigger the release of funds for environmental emergencies. He favors the hiring of an environmental engineer to assess the potential fallout.

The erosion has created “a disaster waiting to happen,” according to Madden. The borough’s Department of Public Works – at the council’s direction – is poised to attempt a short-term fix using Belgian blocks to shore up the stream bank near two Heather Lane homes.

Madden still considers the matter a “dicey situation.” He’s concerned about the potential for DPW staff to get injured during the work. Madden has also heard hearsay that some of the affected homeowners may be talking to attorneys about a potential lawsuit.

Another unresolved matter is the potential purchase of an environmentally challenged parcel. The council is awaiting a state Department of Environmental Protection report on the former Presbyterian Church property, which has been eyed for municipal acquisition.

With a 900+ page consultant’s report already in-hand, Madden believes the borough should abandon plans to buy the church parcel due to environmental issues. Instead, he would revive a several-years-old plan to undertake ADA upgrades at borough hall.

Other initiatives he hopes Mikalajczyk and the council will pursue include revisiting a solar energy program for municipal facilities, reviewing prospective affordable housing mandates, and holding discussions with redevelopers interested in constructing more senior housing.

Madden was touched by the send-off he’s received in his final weeks as mayor. Several speakers, including former Borough Attorney Ed Johnson, congratulated him at his final council meeting on Dec. 19. He was presented with a street sign that says “Madden’s Way” during a recent municipal staff holiday luncheon.

“I’m not used to that much fanfare,” Madden said.

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