September 2011

Alpine appoints new borough attorney

Wednesday, October 5, 2011
BY MARC LIGHTDALE, STAFF WRITER,
Northern Valley Suburbanite

Russ Huntington, third from right, was sworn in as new borough attorney in Alpine on Sept. 26. – Photo by Kevin Riley

“He outshone the other candidates with regards to the depth of his experience,” Mayor Paul Tomasko said. “He welcomed the opportunity and appreciated being chosen for these responsibilities.”

Huntington, who was confirmed by a unanimous vote of the council, has served as the borough attorney for Westwood since 1978, for Saddle River since 2008, and has also been the Bergen Joint Insurance Fund [JIF] attorney since 1985.

“He’s very experienced and Alpine is one of the many towns in the Bergen JIF,” Tomasko said. “He stood out as far as being the most experienced in both municipal and land use law.”

He will be paid by the meeting, rather than salaried, at a rate of $175 per meeting, with the borough also being billed by the hour at a “typically-discounted” municipal rate, the mayor said.

Huntington is filling the position vacated by Terry Bottinelli, who had held the position since January 2002, and had left to take a position as a Superior Court Judge in June. Nilufer DeScherer, a lawyer in Bottinelli’s firm, had served in the interim borough attorney.

“This is going to be as smooth as possible,” Tomasko said of the new transition to Huntington.