Passaic County Improvement Authority's incoming members are no strangers to the area

David M. Zimmer, NorthJersey.com
·2 min read

Two stalwarts of Passaic County over the past 20 years are expected soon to join the county's improvement authority.

This week, county commissioners are due to appoint former County Administrator Anthony DeNova and current Wanaque Police Chief Keith Spillane to the authority's board of commissioners effective March 1.

DeNova retired from his post in December 2022 after nearly two decades of managing the county's day-to-day operations. That same month, Spillane was named acting chief of the Wanaque Police Department, which he first joined in 2002.

The 21-year-old Passaic County Improvement Authority helps finance and plan public improvement projects, such as the construction of new housing developments or artificial turf fields. Its five-member commission makes key decisions on when to leverage the county's credit rating to procure loans for partner projects.

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The authority can issue tax-exempt bonds to not-for-profit organizations within Passaic County, help developers finance state tax credits and municipal tax abatements, and provide municipalities and school boards with credit support, repayment schedules and down payment relief.

Keith Spillane, pictured in 2015 prior to being named Wanaque's police chief in 2022.
Keith Spillane, pictured in 2015 prior to being named Wanaque's police chief in 2022.

DeNova and Spillane will replace longtime members Wayne Alston and Michael Bradley. Alston, the board's longest-serving member, is a former Passaic councilman and contractor who in 1993 was convicted of taking bribes from city landlords. Bradley is a former Bergen County director of safety and security who in 2017 was arrested on a drunken driving charge. Both were reappointed in 2019 to terms that run through February, county records show.

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The board's other three members are former West Milford Councilman Michael Ramaglia, former County Counsel Michael Glovin and lobbyist Dennis Marco. A Paterson native appointed to the board in 2007, Marco is a former special assistant to U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, a former deputy commissioner of the state Department of Commerce and Economic Development and a former vice president of external affairs and corporate communications at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

DeNova's proposed term on the authority would expire Feb. 1, 2029. Spillane's would expire one year earlier, in February 2028, records show.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Passaic County Improvement Authority gaining two new members