Son of former Old Tappan mayor takes over the office
OLD TAPPAN — When Thomas Gallagher was sworn in Tuesday as the borough's newest mayor, he was in familiar surroundings.
The chamber in which he was sworn in is named for his father, former Mayor Edward Gallagher, who served from 1980 to 1996.
"My father was mayor when they were building the new borough hall," said Gallagher, 54. "Previous to the new building, the council meetings were held in a room above the firehouse, and town hall was in a section of one of the schools. Dad had to deal with installing the sewer system and its first traffic light."
In a county where many residents depart for cheaper property tax havens as soon as the last child graduates from high school, Gallagher is that increasingly rare commodity, a nearly lifelong resident committed to his hometown.
Similar to outgoing Mayor John Kramer, Gallagher moved to Old Tappan when he was 6, where he attended grade school. After graduating from Bergen Catholic, he received a bachelor's degree in marketing from Fairleigh Dickinson University, where he met his wife, Sue.
A long-term member of the borough's volunteer fire department, Gallagher is its former chief and has spent eight years with the First Aid Corps, where his wife is president of the administrative officers.
"My wife talked me into it," Gallagher said. "She argued if I could drive a firetruck, I could drive an ambulance."
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The couple have two sons. Brady followed in his father's footsteps, joining the Fire Department as a junior member at age 16. He got a degree in construction engineering technology at SUNY Alfred, attended Lincoln Tech and is a fire alarm inspector. Son Caden is attending Bergen Community College pursuing a career in hospitality management.
In his "spare time," Gallagher is president of Altherm, a building materials company based in Ridgefield serving the plumbing and heating industry.
Gallagher served on the Planning Board and was appointed to the Borough Council in February 2016, serving eight years before running unopposed for mayor in November.
"I have four objectives. The first is dealing with affordable housing, which is not a dirty word, " Gallagher said. "A lot of residents have told me we should just buy up all the open space, but we can't buy everything. We need to continue to do our best to be sensible with developers."
That said, Gallagher still advocates for open space, "keeping the fields looking good," and supporting their "best-in-class programs," from T-ball to senior activities.
"And, of course, we want to support our fire, emergency medical service and DPW departments," Gallagher said.
Gallagher praised Kramer for doing a "terrific job" as mayor and hopes to continue on his path.
"Old Tappan has been home to me for so many years," Gallagher said. "I just want to keep it great."
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Son of former Old Tappan mayor takes over the office
