Working in Paradise: New Business Administrator Right at Home in Stone Harbor
Bob Smith
Stone Harbor was his childhood playground. Now it’s his professional domain.
Vacation has turned into vocation for new borough administrator Bob Smith, a Washington Township resident who formed an emotional bond with this area as a youth.
“The memories of spending time here in the summers with my family were outstanding,” the 56-year-old Smith recalls. “As a young child, all the way through law school, I loved it here, whether it was bodysurfing with the family or boating out back in the bay. It had a strong allure. Stone Harbor moments become memories.”
They grew into an adult perspective when Smith began his new job in January, seeing his childhood dream borough through a different lens. He commutes daily from Washington Township or from a second home in Lower Township.
“This job has been everything I expected,” he says. “I go to work every day in paradise. There are plenty of seashore towns from Cape May all the way through Sandy Hook, and many have the typical attractions of miniature golf, cotton candy and the boardwalk.
“But Stone Harbor has a quaintness, if you will, that other shore towns don’t have. The slogan of Stone Harbor is ‘The seashore at its best’ and I don’t think that is a false promise. Stone Harbor IS the seashore at its best, and it is my job to make sure that it remains that way.”
Smith considers Stone Harbor’s imminent focus in four broad categories: infrastructure, beach and bay accessibility, environmental stewardship, and maintaining the town’s charisma.
“Each of them is interrelated and always must be accompanied with what I call zero base budgeting,” he says. “Which is, that we justify every dollar we spend. I have a fiduciary responsibility to the residents to ensure every dollar is well-spent, and that touches every single aspect of this job. It goes into our evaluation of how we handle the four categories.”
Some of those areas might be considered a borough’s ongoing mission statement. But town charisma? That’s an advertisement, an element separating Stone Harbor from other communities.
“How has Stone Harbor achieved its charisma?” he asks rhetorically. “It was brought about by a thoughtful master plan, by supporting the vibrant downtown community, by investing in the acquisition of land which later became a bird sanctuary, and by maintaining its beaches and bays. It also has charisma because of the Garden Club, the iconic shopping district, everything as a whole, I guess. This offseason has been a great time to plan for our busy time in the summer and what we are going to be doing.”
Appointed by the mayor and borough council, the borough administrator serves as the principal administrative officer. Smith will implement council policies, provide organizational leadership for department heads and employees, and oversee the day-to-day operations of borough services. His duties include ensuring that the borough’s personnel policies are properly applied and executed. He also administers the capital improvement program, among other responsibilities.
Smith was well-groomed for this job.
A licensed attorney and a former state assemblyman, Smith has eight years of executive-level experience in municipal government. He most recently held the position of chief administrative officer for the town of Kearney, in Hudson County. He was responsible for managing a municipal service program for a town of 42,000 residents.
Before that, he was the business administrator in Washington Township, a municipality of 50,000 residents. Smith’s comprehensive experience with the intricate workings of municipal governments are considered essential to this position.
Smith authored many bills in the state Assembly, where he served from 2000-2006. Nearly 15 years later, a couple of those measures stand out to him.
One law changed adult violence at a youth sporting event from simple assault to aggravated assault. Another makes it mandatory for motorists to slow down and move over when a police officer is making a traffic stop.
“Both were based on personal experience,” Smith says. “I had seen too many instances of adult violence at the games before introducing that bill. In the other, a police officer friend of mine had been severely injured and had to leave the job permanently after getting hit by a motor vehicle during a traffic stop. After what happened to him, I saw a need to have legislation that protects the police officer.”
Smith served in the Assembly on the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee (as chair), Senior Issues Committee (as vice chair), the Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee, the Law and Public Safety Committee and the Intergovernmental Relations Commission.
“The experience serving as the chair for the Agriculture and Natural Resource Committee was very helpful in forming a background and a base for my position as administrator here,” he says. “It provided a tremendous amount of exposure to uses that face Cape May County and, in particular, Stone Harbor, especially in the areas of beach replenishment, dredging and marine issues.”
Smith’s public-service record includes the role of municipal prosecutor in Gloucester County. He also served on the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1998-2000. Smith holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Rutgers and a J.D. from Widener University School of Law.
Smith and his wife, Jennifer, have been married
29 years and have three children. Summer might provide a renaissance of Stone Harbor memories for Smith, who savors an enviable situation.
For years, he couldn’t wait to get down to Stone Harbor.
Now, he’s expected.
