Roth, Sbarra Take Over as Mahwah Council President, VP

After a rescheduled reorganization meeting Thursday night, Mahwah’s local government has a new leadership team.

Each January, the Mahwah township council reorganizes and elects two of its members to serve as president and vice president.

Thursday night, the council elected John Roth as its new president. Roth made a brief speech thanking his fellow council members and his family.

“This is not a time for platitude, it’s a time for gratitude,” Roth said after the council unanimously selected him as the president, noting that he would not be able to serve on the council if not for the support of his family.

Roth was first elected to the council in 2004, and has previously served as town council president. He also previously served as a member of the Mahwah Board of Education. He is retired, and currently serves on several other township boards, including Mahwah Community News.

Councilman Steve Sbarra was sworn in as vice president, the first time he’s served in that role since being elected to the council in 2012. Sbarra, who owns the Sports Clips in Wyckoff’s Boulder Run shopping center, was a longtime volunteer with township sports organizations before joining the council.

Both men said they were looking forward to leading the council in 2014, and commended leadership team Harry Williams and Lisa DiGiulio, who served as president and vice president, respectively, in 2013.

The annual reorganization meeting was initially scheduled to happen last Thursday, but was postponed thanks to last week’s snowstorm.