It’s official.  Barry R. Lewis, Jr. is the new Village Administrator for the Township of South Orange Village.

In a unanimous vote on Monday, the South Orange Board of Trustees voted to confirm Lewis’ appointment.  Lewis is the former Borough Manager of Mountain Lakes, a small town in Morris County. 

Lewis takes over for former Village Administrator John Gross, who announced his resignation in late August, leaving to become the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of West Orange.  A search committee comprised of Village President Alex Torpey, Village Council Steven Rother, Village Clerk Robin Kline and Trustees Deborah Davis Ford, Howard Levison and Gould were given the task of finding a new Village Administrator.  The committee was assisted by Government Management Advisors, LLC, who also provided the town with their interim administrator, Reagan Burkholder.

“It was a wonderful process,” Trustee Deborah Davis Ford said on Monday.  “It was transparent, it was arduous, and I’m really really proud of the work of the board for this selection.”

During Lewis’ tenure in Mountain Lakes, from September 2009 – October 2011, the town became the most affluent town in New Jersey, with a median income of $181,938 per family.  In addition to Mountain Lakes, Lewis has also served as manager for Spring Lake, NJ and Mine Hill, NJ.  Lewis will be paid competitively at an annual salary of $147,500.

“It’s an honor to accept the position and I thank you for all the trust and the confidence and the kind words tonight,” Lewis said following the confirmation.  “I think I realized going into the process that you, like every municipality in New Jersey, has many challenges in front of you.  I got a firsthand exposure to some of them tonight.  But I’m still here, I’m enthusiastic and I’m looking forward to it.”

Now that he is confirmed, Lewis will immediately begin the transition to the new job.  Burkholder will stay on for 2-3 additional weeks to help with the transition.  In addition, he may stay on longer to continue working on a salary study.

Gross will also be assisting in the transition as stated in the contract he signed in September.  In addition to being the part-time CFO for South Orange, Gross is signed to a consulting contract requiring him to work up to 10 hours a week until March.

"I'm delighted that Mr. Lewis will be joining South Orange as our Village Administrator," Trustee Nancy Gould told Patch last week.  "We received over 50 resumes for the position and interviewed numerous candidates.  Although many were qualified and were good candidates for the position, Mr. Lewis stood out due to his exceptional management skills and his expertise in fiscal matters."