VERONICA YANKOWSKI Mary Suriano listens to her granddaughter speak during her 100th birthday party in South Brunswick on Dec. 28.
NORTH BRUNSWICK — Newly elected Democratic councilmen Bruce Chandlee and Adam Weiss were sworn into office Tuesday, giving their party a majority on the Township Council.
"It’s really an honor," Chandlee said. "I never thought that this could happen. I would like to call all of my family, friends and supporters.
"I only have one regret, that my late wife Anne Marie could not be here. I hope I can be as good and do the same for North Brunswick that she has done."
Chandlee and Weiss won their seats on the council when they defeated council Vice President Leo Ryan and Republican candidate David Barnhard. Chandlee scored the highest number of votes with 4,720, followed by Weiss with 4,529 votes.
This is the second year in a row that the people of North Brunswick voted Democratic. Last year, Womack and Socio were elected to the council, breaking the Republicans’ control and shifting the majority back to the Democrats.
Weiss said he hopes to bring a great deal of change to the township.
"It wasn’t an easy road to get here, but we’re here," Weiss said. "We hope to be able to bring decency, civility and honor to North Brunswick. We look forward to a glorious time. Our duty is to serve each and every person of North Brunswick with all of our vim and vigor. We want to give North Brunswick all of our faith, love, trust and commitment for one another."
Chandlee said he wants to do his best for the town.
"I want to represent you," Chandlee said. "I want to do the best every step of the way."
Also as a part of the township’s reorganization, the council elected Francis "Mack" Womack as the council president and Carlo Socio as the council vice president. Both elections received votes of 4-2, with Republican council members Maureen Little and Larry Baldini voting against the appointments.
Womack said he hopes to do the right thing for the town and everyone on the council.
"The important thing is that all of us on the council work to help people," Womack said. "I want to make this the best kind of town that we can make it. I am especially proud to serve as the council president. I will work with all residents and both parties and do my best to keep my ears open. It might not be an easy job, but I pray to always do the right thing."
Socio said he looks forward to lending his leadership skills to the town.
"I just wanted to thank all of my colleagues on the council," Socio said. "I learned a lot in the past year, and I hope I can take what I learned into this leadership role to take us forward. I look forward to working with the council in this upcoming year."
Weiss said he plans to live up to all of the promises he made during his campaign.
"We’re not going to give up on our campaign promises. We want this town to move forward," Weiss said. "I have never lived anywhere else besides North Brunswick, and I am looking forward to serving the town equally, fairly, justly, and to be open to all residents concerning all of their needs."
Chandlee said his first two priorities would be to lower the water rates and try to obtain open space.
"I want to lower water rates," Chandlee said. "I’m not up to date on the contract as of yet, but I would like to be familiar with everything.
"I still want open space. We are currently looking at properties around the town. We want to fill all of the activity needs, but we would rather have several smaller fields than a complex.
"We are looking to move forward. Open space and the water contract are the two most important things at this point.
"We’re going to move full speed ahead in the best interests of this town," Chandlee added.