Page 4 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • April 18, 2012 Franklin Lakes Resignations will bring change of borough attorney by Frank J. McMahon The recent resignation of Franklin Lakes Borough Attorney Richard Lustgarten and the expected resignation of Councilman William Smith from his council position will provide the opportunity for the governing body to appoint Smith as the borough attorney on May 1. Lustgarten’s resignation was contained in a March 20 letter to Mayor Frank Bivona and the borough council. The attorney explained that he is leaving the post due to unanticipated circumstances. “It has been a great honor and pleasure to work with you on behalf of the residents of Franklin Lakes who are extremely well served by all their elected officials and administrative staff,” Lustgarten wrote. Lustgarten was appointed to the position of borough attorney in February 2010, and his resignation will become effective May 1. Smith told Villadom TIMES he will resign from the council prior to his appointment as borough attorney. He previously announced that he would not seek re-election this year. Smith’s resignation will leave a vacancy on the council which will be filled, according to state law, by the governing body’s appointment of a new council member. The council will select a successor from a list of three names that will be submitted by the Franklin Lakes Republican County Committee members, since Smith was originally nominated as a Republican. The county committee members for both the Republican and Democratic parties are elected every other year in the general election to represent the voting districts in the borough. It is expected that one of the names to be submitted by the Republican County Committee will be Thomas Lambrix, who recently filed a nominating petition to seek election to the council in the June primary. If the council names Lambrix to the council, he would fill out Smith’s unexpired term, which ends in December. If elected to his own term on the council in the general election in November, Lambrix would start his own three-year term on the council on Jan. 1, 2013. Smith has resided in Franklin Lakes for 37 years. He has four children, all of whom attended the borough’s school system. A Fairfield University and Fordham Law School graduate, he served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1970 and in Vietnam in 1969. He was previously elected to the council in 1976 and 1979, and served as the borough attorney from 1980 through November 2008. Presently a member of the Franklin Lakes Lions Club, Smith is a life member of the VFW, a former member of the Most Blessed Sacrament Parish Council, and former member of the Indian Trail Club Advisory Committee. He has been active in the borough’s recreation programs for many years, serving as a basketball coach at the middle school and as assistant tennis coach for eight years at Ramapo High School. Smith served as borough attorney for 18 years until November 2008. In 2009, he was elected to the council. Lambrix has lived in the borough for 20 years. He was (continued on page 12) At 6:53 p.m. on April 7, Franklin Lakes police responded to a report of suspicious persons at a Pulis Avenue residence where the homeowners were not present. Officers arrested two adult males, one from Oakland and one from Franklin Lakes, and detained three juveniles. The two adults, both of whom are 18, were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and criminal trespass. A 17-year-old female and a 17-year-old male, both of whom are residents of Franklin Lakes, and a 17-year-old female resident of Oakland will be charged with criminal trespass and possession of drug paraphernalia. The charges against the juveniles will be forwarded to the Bergen County Family Court. The juveniles were released to their parents’ custody. Sergeant William Cook and Officers Denny Knubel, Richard Osenbruck, and Jon Rynander investigated. As a result of a motor vehicle stop made on Route 287 at 1:29 a.m. on April 7, police arrested a 21-year-old Haw- Police file charges for criminal trespass, paraphernalia possession thorne man. The man was charged with possession of marijuana, possession of a controlled dangerous substance in a motor vehicle, and speeding. Officers Rynander, Knubel, and Osenbruck investigated. A 17-year-old male resident of Franklin Lakes was detained at 6:26 p.m. on April 5 after it was determined that he had struck a neighbor by firing a pellet gun from his back yard. The victim did not sustain any injury. The juvenile will be charged with aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a firearm, defacing a firearm, and criminal mischief. The charges will be forwarded to the Bergen County Family Court. Officers Mark McCombs and Nicholas Klein investigated. At 4:34 p.m. on April 5, a Smoke Hollow Trail resident reported that several pieces of jewelry were missing from the home. There were no signs of forced entry. Sergeant Karl Klein, Detective Anthony Pacelli, and Officer Robert Smith investigated.