New Leadership in Ridgewood: Meet the Trio Driving the Village’s Future
photos courtesy of Village Manager Keith Kazmark
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood is turning the page on its administrative history with a powerful new leadership lineup. In a formal welcoming ceremony held this week, the Village introduced three key appointments: William Bierwas, James McGrath, and Neil Gallone.
These leaders step into their roles at a pivotal time for Ridgewood, as the community tackles major infrastructure overhauls, water quality initiatives, and a push for high-tech municipal efficiency.
The New Power Trio: Who’s Who?
1. James McGrath: Director of Public Works & Village Engineer
James McGrath arrives in Ridgewood as a seasoned infrastructure veteran, previously serving as the Municipal Engineer for the City of Paterson. A graduate of NJIT, McGrath is being tapped to bring a “fresh start” to Ridgewood’s engineering department.
-
The Mission: Overseeing road paving, drainage improvements, and large-scale site assessments.
-
Why He’s Key: His background in geotechnical analysis and contractor oversight is expected to modernize how the Village manages its aging infrastructure and environmental zoning projects.
2. William Bierwas: Deputy Director of Ridgewood Water
“Bill” Bierwas is a name already familiar to those in the regional water industry. A Licensed Treatment Plant Operator with T3 and W3 certifications, Bierwas has a deep background in water distribution and quality management.
-
The Mission: Navigating the complex world of PFAS treatment and water system modernization.
-
Why He’s Key: Bierwas has been a vocal advocate for transparency in water quality, even running a technical blog to explain water issues to the public in plain English. His expertise is vital as Ridgewood Water continues its multi-million dollar master plan.
3. Neil Gallone: Director of IT/GIS
Neil Gallone is a fourth-generation Ridgewood Water employee with over 23 years of service to the Village. His family has contributed a combined 123 years of experience to local operations.
-
The Mission: Integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into every facet of village management.
-
Why He’s Key: From mapping flood portals to creating a digital inventory of every street tree, Gallone is the architect behind Ridgewood’s data-driven future. His work ensures that every valve, main, and asset is tracked with digital precision.
What This Means for Residents
The appointment of this leadership team isn’t just about filling seats; it’s about inter-departmental synergy. With McGrath handling the engineering, Bierwas securing the water, and Gallone providing the data-driven “map” for everything, Ridgewood is moving toward a more transparent and efficient model of government.
“These new appointments will no doubt strengthen our operations and support our long-term goals. We are looking forward to working together in service to our residents.” — Village of Ridgewood Leadership
Gusto is a payroll and HR software that helps you pay your team, file taxes, offer benefits, and more. See how Gusto compares to other providers, get a free trial, and learn how to switch to Gusto in minutes.
https://gusto.com/i/james3539
So let me ask this – did. KK provide these pictures and story? Because KK trashes the blog every chance he gets.
Zzzzz
I will say this, thank God they hired someone from out of the town to run engineering and the Dpw. Because there was some kind of rumor going around that they were going to hire within. If they did so there was only one candidate to fill that position and he works in engineering. He probably didn’t want it because he don’t need all the aggravation that comes with that job. So on that note, let’s get this new guy a shot let’s see how he does. I will say this now the mayor and council manager.management are all controlled by this political party. Oh yes.
A one party town in a one party state.
The democratic gold mine.
Listen closely to hear leaders advocate for centralized control watch for the consolidation of BOE and Village.
If it saves money, I’m in.
Well, that might be a good thing years ago they were together and it worked out just fine. As long as you have the manpower and equipment, it can be done. Because in the past 15 years or so ever since the Board of Ed privatize the grounds crew is for nothing but problems. With employees equipment work not getting done. And how many supervisors they go through, and they all say the same thing it’s from the top mismanagement just like when a privatized the janitors the schools went to shit, filthy than ever. Things being stolen, revolving door with employees in and out. No one knows who’s who.
Big changes is coming in the D p W .
They’re not gonna save any money, are you kidding me with all these projects? They’ve been doing in the past five years. And many more to come I forget about the projects. Let’s start repairing our village owned building sites., Because many of them are beyond repair.
turning Ridgewood into Hackensack, thanks to the Village voters
It’s amazing how it took so long to push out the old engineering boss, he should’ve been fired over 10 years ago. He should’ve been handcuffed to village Joel and brought down to Trenton. He cost a village millions and it’s not gonna stop .