Czech leaves empty seat, big shoes to fill BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer Bob Czech (holding plaque) is surrounded by family members and township officials as his service as township administrator is recognized. MIDDLETOWN - Robert Czech has been sitting at the table at the front of the main meeting room during meetings at town hall for the past seven and a half years as township administrator. At the Dec. 17 meeting of the Middletown Township Committee, Czech was there not as the administrator, but as a recipient of a plaque from the township. "How's it feel to be on the other side?" MayorGerard Scharfenberger asked Czech. "Pretty good," Czech replied. Scharfenberger and the committee presented Czechwith the plaque in honor of his more than seven years of service as the township administrator. At theMonmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders meeting Nov. 21, Czech was appointed the new Monmouth County administrator, replacing Louis Paparozzi, who retired Aug. 1. Czech, 53, was unanimously elected to a three-year term and began his new job on Dec. 3. As county administrator, Czechwill earn $170,000 a year and will oversee an annual operating budget ofmore than $450million. The declaration read by themayor listed all of the township's achievements during Czech's tenure. "His responsibilities included day-to-day operations of Middletown's local government, which is comprised of over 330 employees and 15 departments," Scharfenberger read from the declaration. "Whereas, Mr. Czech's exemplary management skills have been integral to Middletown's continuous financial goal gain and stable tax breaks." Czech stood in front of the people in attendance with his wife, daughter and three sons to receive the award, and as Czech gave his thanks, his family members stood alongside smiling. "I want to thank them for giving me their support and their smiles," Czech said of his family. "I'll need more of those at the county level." He went on to thank the mayor and the committee for all their help and service. Committeeman Tom Hall also made sure to say a few nice words about Czech. Hall he has worked with him for the past four years- two of those as mayor. "Many people here in this room are going to miss the hours that he puts in," Hall said. "In fact, I've spentmany hours of my day calling him on his cell phone while he is sitting at his children's game, driving from here and there, and calling all hours during the day. I want to thank his family, because I didn't think you could do this job and have a family." Scharfenberger said that when he speaks to kids at schools about what Czech does for the township, he describes him as being likeMajor League Baseball manager Joe Torre. "He's prettymuch themanager of everything," Scharfenberger said. "He makes us a winning team or a so-so team. He's made us a winning team. The proof is in the pudding, as we were named 50th of the top 100 places to live in the entire country in 2006 by Money magazine." Czech also made sure to mention the fact that his leaving on such short notice was not something under his control. "The process was prettymuch 'hurry up and wait,' " Czech said. "It all took place in a time frame that happened very quickly." The township is now looking for a new full-time administrator to fill the chair at the table that Czech held for seven years. Scharfenberger said that he wakes up sometimes hoping that the news that Czech was going to work for the county was a bad dream. "There are some people who think that me being here all of those years was a bad dream," Czech replied with a laugh.