Moleta Chosen to Fill Kinnelon Council Seat

The selected Gary Moleta to fill a v on Monday. Moleta will be sworn in at the next council meeting this Thursday.

Moleta, a 28-year resident of Kinnelon, is a retired police lieutenant of the and also a former teacher in the Jersey City Public School District.

Although he has been retired for the past five years, Moleta continues to serve as an instructor for the New Jersey Department of Law and Safety and as a consultant and development coordinator for the New Jersey Association of School Resource Officers.

"We have created a gem here, and I don't want to lose it," Moleta told the council Monday during a special meeting held to interview and select the candidate who would sit on the council. Moleta unsuccessfully ran in a primary for council in June.

The council asked Moleta, as well as other candidates John Carpenter and Carol Sventy, several questions, including why they would like to be on the council, what they foresee as the biggest challenges to the council this year, how they plan to deal with costs associated with recreation field maintenance, and what the borough's three greatest assets are.

Moleta said he would like to be on the council to make the community better for borough children.

"Having good children completes the community," he said.

The biggest challenge, he said, is the 2 percent state spending cap, and the costs of operation, overall. Moleta said he does not know the costs associated with maintaining the recreation fields, but that he feels that maintaining the fields is important for the borough's children.

"You have to give children the opportunity to play. Play soccer, play football," he said. "It has to be able to serve our youth."

The three greatest assets of the borough, according to Moleta, are the borough's educational system, Kinnelon's environmental resources and safety of the community. Councilman Stephen Cobell referred to Moleta's law enforcement experience and asked if Moleta felt the department is faring well. Moleta said he would like to look into call and response records, but that overall, he does not have complaints.

In 2007, Moleta was named Kinnelon's Citizen of the Year. He is also involved with K.A.M.E.L.O.T, Kinnelon's substance abuse program. Moleta also originally purchased the domain URL kinnelon.com, posting information about the borough before donating the domain name to the borough.

Before voting on Moleta as the chosen candidate, Collins described how pleased the council was to have three strong candidates to choose from.

"During deliberations, a couple of quotes stuck out. First and foremost, all three candidates would do a great job," he said.

Collins said that one thing that resonated in all three of the candidates' interviews was that Kinnelon is a jewel, and that all candidates demonstrated how they would work hard to protect that reputation.

"It was a nice problem to have, having three outstanding candidates," Collins said.

Sventy, a 27-year resident, is a volunteer with the Friends of Kinnelon Library and Center for Lifelong Learning, as well as chairperson of the Open Space Advisory Committee.

Carpenter is a 43-resident of Kinnelon and works as a mechanical contractor for a merchandising group for Home Depot. He has served on the Smoke Rise Lake and Environmental Committee and helped orchestrate renovations to the beaches and North Gate in Smoke Rise.

The council will meet again, and swear in Moleta, on Thursday at 8 p.m.