Monroe Township Council held its reorganization meeting on Jan. 4 in the municipal courtroom, where it welcomed four new members, along with a new council president and vice president.
The four new members sworn in were Steven McKinney, Carolann Fox, Ronald Garbowski and Chelsea Valcourt. Each one was escorted by their family members. Garbowski and McKinney were sworn in by Mayor Richard DeLucia, and Fox and Valcourt were sworn in by township clerk Aileen Chiselko.
“I am excited to get to work,” Valcourt said in an email to The Sun. “I sincerely hope the council, working together as one for the betterment of Monroe Township, can accomplish a lot for the residents of Monroe.
“One of many goals I have is to work with current and former Monroe business owners, to create a more business-friendly town and hopefully draw more business to Monroe.”
Garbowski was nominated for council president, but lost the vote to councilman Patrick O’Reilly. McKinney was also nominated for council vice president, but lost to councilman Greg Wolfe. O’Reilly and Wolfe were then formally sworn in.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to be selected as Council President this year,” O’Reilly said in an email following the meeting. “We have a lot of momentum going into 2021, and I would like to continue to build on what we worked on in 2020.”
O’Reilly also mentioned a few projects he was looking forward to in the new year, including completion and design creation for firehouses, main street revitalization and economic development, and joint solar projects and initiatives.
After the swear-ins, DeLucia appointed directors, commissioners and committee members for multiple township departments. Those appointments include: Marie Sheridan, with alternate Debra Valcourt-Sherman, to the board of health; Rick Coe, Christine Feggans and Daniel Ryan, with alternates Janet Schaefer and Brian McBride, to the Economic Development Commission; Jonathan Garbowski, with alternates Darryl Hodge and Anthony Derieux, to the Environmental Commission; Robin Lewis to the library board; Joe LoRusso, Joseph Fisona, Donna Gaudio and Sherrie Kennedy to the Municipal Alliance Commission; Anthony Neri, with alternate Mark Pesotski, to the Monroe Municipal Utilities Authority Board; Autumn Baidouri, Jeffrey Graziano III and Tracy Lavin to the Open Space Advisory Committee; Bill Wright, Evelyn Connors, Patricia Adams and Steve Antes to the Parks and Recreation Commission; Dan Kozak (Class II), Patrick O’Reilly (Class III), Fred Casper (Class IV) and Steven Boorstein (Class IV), with alternate Tom Verratti, to the planning board; Corine Stark to the Seniors Commission; and Brian Cummiskey and Dan Kozak, with alternates Fernando Powers and George Adams, to the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
The next meeting will take place on Monday, Jan 25.
