Freeholder Gabor Will Resign Sept. 16

CLARIFICATION: A July 27 story about Freeholder Kristine Gabor’s resignation should have noted the most recent freeholder to depart the board was M. Susan Sheppard who resigned Dec. 31, 2012 to become Surrogate. E. Marie Hayes was appointed to fill the unexpired term.
CREST HAVEN – Freeholder Kristine Gabor, the self-described “working girl on the board,” has submitted her resignation effective Sept. 16. That date, too late to place a candidate on the general election ballot, will result in a local Republican convention to select a replacement. That person will fill the seat until the November 2017 election. 
Gabor said she had accepted a full-time position with “a large corporation (headquartered in Florida) and I want to commit 100 percent to that new job. I won’t be able to hold an elected position.”
Gabor began public service as a member of the Upper Township Committee serving two years of a three-year term from January 2010 until Jan. 5, 2012. That’s when she took her oath as a freeholder.
In 2013, Gabor set her sights on a First District seat in the General Assembly but was unsuccessful. Her running mate Samuel Fiocchi won one of two seats; the other was won by Democrat Robert Andrzejczak.
While she acknowledged her priority would be her new job, she said, “I want to have an understanding of what the community is doing. I will be paying attention as a lot of people do.” For her, politics will take a back seat, at least for the immediate future.
Gabor’s three milestone achievements by her estimation included:
* Bringing about some attention to the addiction issue with the heroin problem in the county. Getting the conversation started removing the stigma. Getting some committees together, non-profits and church groups to become active in the fight against that issue.
* Issues surrounding homelessness and establishing a Homeless Trust Fund, which is being worked on currently.
* The biggest accomplishment was the Workforce Development Board, transitioning away from Atlantic County’s partnership with us and moving into the Cumberland and Salem board. She believes that will be beneficial to the greatest number of county residents, working in conjunction with economic development. A new department will be established in January 2017 with Economic and Workforce Development as an entirely separate department. “At least that’s the plan,” said Gabor.
“I was able to see that from the very beginning, initiate that, actually see that happen, and be established before I left,” she said.
What was it like to be a freeholder?
“I was well advised in advance of what I should expect,” said Gabor. She lauded her peers on the all-Republican board as “wonderful people.” While there were different opinions and backgrounds, the board, while not always agreeing “Always respected each other’s opinions,” she said.
“It’s a lot of personal time commitment; you lose a lot of time with your family. You lose a little bit of privacy, but that’s OK. You go knowing that, and you accept it, it’s all part of the position. I actually enjoyed being out and somebody seeing me and knowing who I was and asking questions or concerns. They felt comfortable enough to approach me and talk to me about it.”
Being a freeholder isn’t made for someone who works for a living, as she did. Gabor noted she was the only member of the board who was not retired or self-employed or who had a staff to handle matters for them.
There were also conflicts of “time or politics that got in the way,” she noted.
Citing Director Gerald Thornton, Gabor noted, “It is a full-time job. He’s in there every day.”
Gabor would routinely dedicate about a half hour to an hour nightly, in addition to board and sub-committee meetings, events, read through emails or return telephone calls.
“It’s pretty close to a full-time job,” she added. “You need to make that commitment. That was a struggle for me. I did the best that I possibly could. People who elect you deserve to have your attention as much as possible. I don’t want to shortchange the people who elected me,” Gabor said.
Moreover, a stipulation of her new job was that she resign her board position.
Gabor has no idea who will replace her. She pointed to Republican Chairman Marcus Karavan as well as to Thornton, who would likely be involved in sorting through interested persons for the seat.
“I am not part of the conversation any longer,” Gabor said.
“I hope that the work I did for the county left the county in a better position,” she said.
Not a First
Replacing a freeholder who resigned is not new, but has not taken place for over a decade.
County Clerk Rita Fulginiti did some research and shared the following:
In 2002 Jeff Van Drew resigned his position on the Board of Freeholders to take office as a member of the General Assembly. John Mruz was appointed by the Democratic Party to fill the seat on the board until the next General Election.
Leonard Desiderio ran in 2002 and won the one-year unexpired term.
The following year there was a vacancy for the seat occupied by Robert Matthews. In the 2003 elections Ralph Bakley and others, including Stig Blomkvest, sought the endorsement of the Republican Party. 
Bakley received the nod; ran and won Matthews’ unexpired one-year term.
I have a letter from Kristine Gabor resigning her seat; her last day of service being Sept. 16, 2016. That is too late for the position to appear on the 2016 General Election Ballot. 
Since Ms. Gabor was a Republican Primary Election nominee, the Republican Party may fill the position on the Board of Freeholders until a candidate is duly elected to the post in the 2017 General Election.