Elimination of Health Benefits for Council Members Called 'Political Retribution'

The Fair Lawn Council moved toward eliminating benefits for its members during a meeting Tuesday night, but some members questioned the motivation behind the move.

If a resolution is approved, council members would no longer be eligible for medical benefits after May. The benefits cost the town about $25,000 per year for each member who chooses to take them, Mayor John Cosgrove said.

Councilwoman Lisa Swain called the proposal "a political stunt," saying she believed that she was being targeted as the only council member who uses the benefits.

"This is nothing but political retaliation," Swain said.

Swain said she believed she had been targeted for publicly questioning the Republican mayor's decision to appoint former Deputy Mayor Ed Trawinski to a seat on the Open Space Committee previously held by Joan Goldstein, who ran for council as a Democrat last year.

Cosgrove denied that the decision was political, noting that most of the borough's volunteers are not entitled to medical benefits. He also previously defended Trawinski's appointment, noting his background in land use law.

"It's not political, it's financial," Cosgrove said.

Councilman Kurt Peluso also said he was concerned with the timing, because the council had previously discussed eliminating their benefits in 2012 and seemed to have a consensus to do it then, but the issue was dropped until the 2013 election when then-candidates Dan Dunay and Amy Lefkowitz made it a campaign issue. He noted that he did support the idea of eliminating council member benefits.

"Why it's coming up now, I see as more political," Peluso said.

Lefkowitz and Dunay also denied it was political, saying they believed it was best for taxpayers.

"Dan and I believed in it, and I resent the comment that this was 'political retribution,'" Lefkowitz said.

The elimination of benefits could have repercussions beyond the current council, Swain said. She works part time and has turned down full-time positions so she can continue serving on the council, she said. 

Eliminating the benefits could dissuade some borough residents from seeking council seats in the future if they're not financially stable, Swain said.

Goldstein called the elimination of benefits "elitist."

"You're saying that only the people who can afford to serve can run," she said.