By Sunayana Prabhu
LITTLE SILVER – Mayor Robert Neff Jr. officially resigned Oct. 21 after 15 years of serving the borough. “It’s bittersweet,” he said on a brief phone call, but added that “this is the right time to do it, to let a calm, orderly transition take place.”
Council member Christopher Faherty was appointed to fill Neff’s unexpired term, which ends in December 2027; he was sworn in Monday, Nov. 2. The local Republican committee submitted three nominees for the vacancy, and the council unanimously appointed Faherty during an Oct. 26 special meeting.
Faherty, a lifelong Little Silver resident, was elected to the council in 2023. His current council term ends this December. A former chief of EMS and longtime chair of the Little Silver Fire Department, Faherty attended Point Road and Markham Place schools before graduating from Christian Brothers Academy and St. John’s University.
Neff said the borough was in good shape and that he wanted to avoid stepping down during a mayoral election year.
“The town is running so well,” Neff said. “We have such good elected officials, volunteers and employees.”
He said he never planned to serve so long. “I figured two terms at best,” he said, but added that something always came up around elections and compelled him to serve the community for another term. This time, “there wasn’t any burning issue I felt that I needed personally to be involved in,” he said.
At Neff’s final public meeting, Monmouth County Commissioner Director Thomas Arnone, state Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-13), and council members made presentations recognizing his service. The police department also made a presentation.
Neff’s last council meeting, Oct. 19 was standing-room-only, a meaningful send-off for an official who has always been respected for his humility and restraint under chaos, borough administrator Kevin Burke said. “He’s just a world-class gentleman, and we’re sorry to see him leave,” Burke said.
Burke has been working as borough administrator with Neff for nearly four years but has known him as a resident for over two decades. “He’s always calm under pressure. He treats everyone with dignity and respect. He listens. He’s very humble always. There are so many good qualities to describe Bob,” Burke said.
“Everyone works together with Bob,” Burke said. “I never saw him be adversarial toward someone. It was always for the common good of the town and how we can make it a better place for all of us as residents.”
As he steps away from public office, Neff said he hopes one of his accomplishments was showing that people can work together across party lines. “The less divisive you are, the better,” he said. “The more inclined you are to work together and have a discussion and come to a conclusion, the better off the town is.”
A practicing lawyer and former journalist, Neff always sent a monthly newsletter to residents so they would know what was happening in town and have the opportunity to offer feedback. He said he hopes residents remember him as “accessible, responsive, as being honest.”
Little Silver’s family-oriented character remained largely unchanged during his tenure, with the population staying near 6,000. Neff said development pressures, affordable housing requirements and traffic did challenge the council during his tenure and it is something that the new mayor may have to inherit, but Neff assures a smooth transition and said he was not leaving behind any major crisis.
Although he’s stepping away from the mayoral position, he may still remain connected to the borough office. Neff said he intends to apply for the municipal court judge position, which is expected to become vacant at the end of the year. He plans to continue practicing law and spend more time with his family, including visiting his son and daughter-in-law in Washington, D.C., who are expecting a child.
This article originally appeared in the November 5-11, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
