South Orange Hiring New Village Administrator

Posted on January 20, 2012 at 4:40 PM

Text of release:

  January 20^th, 2012 - For Immediate release

South Orange, NJ - The Village is pleased to announce that at the Board of Trustees Meeting scheduled for Monday, January 23^rd 2012, Village President Alex Torpey will be asking the Board of Trustees to consent to his appointment of Barry Lewis to the position of Village Administrator. 

The Board, through a search committee of trustees, the Village President, Village Counsel and Village Clerk, assisted by the expertise of the search firm Government Management Advisors, conducted an exhaustive search which resulted in the finding and selection of Mr. Lewis. The Village received over 50 applications for the position from many qualified candidates. Throughout two months, and ahead of schedule, the search committee narrowed the field down to a number of finalists, with Mr. Lewis being the most qualified and best fit for South Orange.

Mr. Lewis acquired his B.A. In political science from the University of South Florida and his J.D. from Florida Sate University College of Law. Mr. Lewis practiced law for several years before focusing on the public sector, first through practicing local government law before becoming a planning board attorney, then municipal administrator. Mr. Lewis has extensive management experience, as the former administrator of Mine Hill, NJ, Spring Lake, NJ and most recently the manager in Mountain Lakes. In addition to his legal expertise and qualifications, Mr. Lewis is a Certified Municipal Finance Officer.

Mr. Lewis’ excellent history of strong fiscal management, IT and project management, planning and development experience, legal expertise, labor negotiations, shared-service implementation, grant writing, and creative budget balancing without personnel layoffs made him an exceptional choice. The search committee reported that there was strong consensus among the Board and Village President that this candidate has all of the necessary academic and practical qualifications, specific skillsets perfect for South Orange’s challenges and a personality that will fit well within the Village.

Village President Torpey commented that, “Although there were many strong candidates who applied for this position, and we thank all of them for applying, Barry and his experience and references made a real impact on all of us. We are all extremely excited to begin working with him, and will be beginning the transition immediately upon his anticipated appointment Monday night.” 

The Village President went on to thank former administrator John Gross for his years of tireless service to South Orange, and the hard work of the interim administrator Reagan Burkholder.

 Mr. Lewis will be paid competitively at an annual salary of $147,500 and will begin transitioning responsibilities immediately upon the anticipated appointment Monday evening.