Richard Goldberg, ex-Hawthorne mayor, dies at 69

Richard S. Goldberg, the mayor of Hawthorne for thirteen years before his retirement in 2021, died suddenly on Saturday evening.  He was 69.

Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-Paterson) said he was good friends with Goldberg for years.

“We always worked well together even coming from different parties. He only cared about our community. His sense of humor was the best there is,” Pascrell said.  “I just saw the mayor two weeks ago and he looked terrific so this is terribly unexpected. This is a blow for our community and I send my warmest condolences to the mayor’s beautiful family.“

Goldberg began his political career in 1997 when he was elected to the Hawthorne Borough Council by a little under 800 votes on a ticket with incumbents John Lane and Marge Shortway.  They defeated Democrats Jayne Ace-Bosgra, Michael Sebetich and Anthony Spandedda.

That year, Councilman Fred Criscitelli had defeated Mayor Paul Englehardt in the Republican primary.  Englehardt ran as a write-in candidate, but Criscitelli prevailed in a three-way race.

In the 1990s, Goldberg cut off his ponytail when a constituent offered to donate $5,000 to the public library if he did it.  He became Council President in 2001.

Goldberg was easily re-elected in 2001 on a ticket with Shortway and Henry Van Ry.  They defeated Joseph Wojtecki, Sharon Balkjy Ibrahim, and Thomas Irvolino.  He eased into a third term in 2005 against Ace-Bosgra, Mary Frankel and Joanne Graziano by over 500 votes.

Goldberg became mayor in 2008 after Patrick Botbyl resigned two and a half years through his first term because he was moving out of state.  In a special election that November, he defeated Wojtecki to fill the remainder of Botbyl’s term by 159 votes.

In 2009, Goldberg defeated Democrat Naomi Collier, an attorney making her first bid for public office, by about 1,550 votes, a 65%-35% margin.  He won a decisive 60%-40% victory over former Passaic County Freeholder Lois Cucinello in 2013, losing roughly 975 votes.

He was re-elected in 2017 by 716 votes, 55%-40%, against Collier.

His only bid for higher office came in 2011, when he ran for State Assembly in the Bergen County-based 38th legislative district.  He lost to Democrats Connie Wagner and Tim Eustace by 2,006 votes.  Goldberg carried Hawthorne by 659 votes over Eustace.

Goldberg was succeeded by his preferred candidate, Lane.  His mayoral term was far from the longest in Hawthorne’s history.  Mayor Louis Bay was elected to the office in 1947 – and he stayed there for 40 years.

After Bay retired in 1987, Anthony Ross became the new mayor; Ross lost his seat in 1993 to Englehart, the brother of another political legend, Passaic County Sheriff Edwin Englehart.

In 1997, Criscitelli challenged Englehardt in the Republican primary and beat him.  Englehardt then ran as a write-in candidate in the general election, where Criscitelli beat him for a second time.  He was re-elected in 2001 but lost his bid for a third term in 2005 to Botbyl after a heated Republican primary fight.

Goldberg was a small businessman and had led the Hawthorne Cubs Youth Football League.

He was the Hawthorne GOP municipal chairman at the time of his death.

Goldberg is survived by his wife, Sharon and their two children.

A visitation will be held on December 5 at 9 AM at the Browning-Forshay Funeral Home in Hawthorne, followed by a service to celebrate Goldberg’s life  at 11 AM.  The Goldberg family requests that donations be made to The Boys and Girls Club of Hawthorne or Hawthorne Ambulance Corps.