RAHWAY, NJ — Rahway Business Administrator Cherron Rountree has taken on the role of Rahway’s acting mayor. Rahway Mayor Samson Steinman has taken a 28-day medical leave of absence to “address a series of personal issues that began in childhood,” according to a statement released by his office.
The mayor’s decision was brought on by a recent automobile accident. Fortunately there were no physical injuries, and “Steinman volunteered and passed a sobriety test,” the statement said. “He will be in a therapeutic setting that will allow him to focus on healing.”
In the statement, Steinman requested that his privacy be respected, and any attempts made by LocalSource to contact Rountree about her new role were unsuccessful.
The vehicle crash and medical leave occurred just seven months after another car accident in which Steinman struck a parked Honda Accord at 5:38 a.m. on Aug. 26 near Central Avenue and Pierpont Street in Rahway while he was driving a 2007 Dodge Durango owned by the city.
In the August crash, Steinman told police that he swerved to avoid hitting an animal that ran into the middle of the road. Steinman was charged with driving with an expired license. He was never tested for drugs or alcohol after the crash. Rahway’s city manuel states that city employees must undergo an evaluation “in the case of an accident involving a fatality or the issuance of a citation to a city employee.”
The city’s policy also requires employees to be tested for drugs and alcohol within two hours “after an accident occurs during employment hours and which involves damage to city property, where the employee’s performance contributed to the accident, and where the use of drugs or alcohol cannot be reasonably discounted as a contributing factor to the accident.”
The statement released following the most recent accident assured residents that the city would continue to provide the same satisfactory service as it would under ordinary circumstances.
“The city’s operations will be uninterrupted and the residents will continue to receive the same high-quality services that are a hallmark of the administration,” the statement said.