Ron Tappan appointed county administrator

The Sussex County Commissioners on September 14 appointed a new county administrator to replace Gregory Poff, IV, who resigned from his position in May to become the business administrator for Randolph Township.

Ron Tappan was appointed to a three-year term effective September 19. He will be paid an annual salary of $175,000.

He had served as the Hopatcong Business Administrator since 2017 when he departed the Sussex County Department of Central and Shared Services. He also served as interim business administrator in early 2017 before Poff was officially appointed.

“Mr. Tappan is an experienced administrator with an excellent track record and is familiar with Sussex County, our county organization and our county stakeholders, and of course, our residents,” Commissioners Director Anthony Fasano said. “I’m also confident that his background and his vision is an excellent fit for the current and future needs of Sussex County and the people who call it home.”

Tappan will replace Jon Lovell, who was appointed as an interim business administrator on May 11; Poff left the county around May 24. Lovell thanked the commissioners for appointing him for the past several months and said he met with Tappan early last week to help facilitate the transition.

Tappan wasn’t present at the meeting because he was on vacation.

Sussex County Community College President Jon Connolly said he was thrilled with Tappan’s selection and said Tappan was “incredibly supportive” when the college was trying to move forward into technical career education.

“We were really trying to shift in ways that our college had not in a long period of time, and Ron brings, I think, to the job, a great diversity of both professional experience but also educational experience,” Connolly said. “That makes him incredibly approachable. He is easy to work with.”