Superior Court Judge Peter Geiger will allow a bid by Park Ridge voters to recall 20-year-old school board member Robert Fisher from office to proceed on November 4, overruling a decision by the Bergen County Clerk to invalidate petitions due to a technical error.
Organizers collected 2,141 signatures – more than the 1,864 needed to put the measure on the ballot – but they neglected to have the petitions notarized. That caused the county clerk, John Hogan, to reject the recall election.
But Geiger decided that petitions are not required to be notarized.
“This court will not disenfranchise the will of those voters,” he said of those who signed the Fisher recall petition.
Paul Kaufman, an attorney representing the county clerk, accepted responsibility for the mistake.
“This case was a result of my office screwing up and I apologize,” he said.
Fisher, elected two years ago at the age of 18, faces criticism for missing 30% of meetings this year, for not attending community events, and for not serving on any school board committees.
He also faced residency issues: his family moved out of Park Ridge after his high school graduation, and he rents a basement apartment in town for $10 per month. Fisher has stated that he has spent thousands of dollars commuting back to New Jersey due to his public duties. Fisher attends Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.
