Kemp and Sandom are sworn in, committee members get assignments and mayor makes appointments.
By John Tredrea
Francesca Bartlett is Hopewell Township mayor for 2003.
At the Hopewell Township Committee’s annual reorganization meeting Jan. 2, the full committee voted in favor of Ms. Bartlett. She had been nominated by Committeewoman Marylou Ferrara, seconded by Committeeman Jon Edwards, who was mayor last year. Ms. Ferrara also is a former mayor.
"She’s worked hard to be a productive member of the committee, said Ms. Ferrara of Ms. Bartlett, who has been on the committee two years. Ms. Ferrari said "the expertise in finance" of Ms. Bartlett, who is an accountant, will serve the township well.
There were no other nominations for mayor during the reorganization meeting, during which Arlene Kemp and Vanessa Sandom took the oaths of office as committee members. Ms. Kemp, a Republican, is new to the committee. Ms. Sandom, a Democrat, was appointed in October 2001, to fill the vacancy created by Democrat Kathy Bird’s resignation.
Although unanimity reigned on the vote for mayor, it did not with the selection of deputy mayor. Mr. Edwards nominated Ms. Ferrara. Ms. Sandom nominated Mr. Edwards, who declined to accept the nomination. Ms. Kemp nominated Ms. Sandom. Ms. Ferrara got the job, via votes from Mr. Edwards, Ms. Bartlett and herself. Ms. Sandom and Ms. Kemp voted against Ms. Ferrara.
Nominating Ms. Ferrara for deputy mayor, Mr. Edwards praised her work on the township’s new Master Plan and downzoning ordinances. "They really do fight sprawl," Mr. Edwards said of those measures.
In nominating Mr. Edwards for deputy mayor, Ms. Sandom said he has a strong track record on public safety issues that will be the dominant ones facing the township in the future, she said. Mr. Edwards said he was "thankful and flattered," but declined to accept the nomination.
Ms. Kemp thereupon nominated Ms. Sandom for deputy mayor. "The voters have said a change is needed," Ms. Kemp declared. Soundly defeated in the November election was last year’s deputy mayor, Robert Higgins, who came in fourth in a field of four candidates for two committee seats.
After the oaths of office had been administered to the mayor, deputy mayor and new committee members, Ms. Bartlett delivered a brief mayoral address, as has been the custom at township reorganization meetings for many years.
Mayor Bartlett said that, notwithstanding differences of opinion among committee members over such matters as who should be deputy mayor, "we really are a team of five, and we will work together as a team for the betterment of the township."
The new mayor repeated her pledge, made when she voted in favor of the downzoning ordinance last month, to investigate how the township might be able to compensate owners of relatively small tracts of land that have been downzoned. During public hearings on the downzoning, several owners of tracts smaller than 20 acres in size said the new zoning would prevent them from creating a new lot on which a family member could build a house.
Mayor Bartlett said her predecessor had set a high standard. "I think Jon Edwards did a wonderful job as mayor," she said. "I hope I can match his calmness and sense of humor."
Leaders get assignments
At each annual reorganization meeting of Hopewell Township government, the mayor metes out departmental assignments to each of the five Township Committee members.
At the Jan. 2 township reorganization, the departmental assignments made by new mayor, Francesca Bartlett, shifted responsibilities from the way they have been delegated in the past.
As mayor, Ms. Bartlett will be in charge of township finance, administration and courts. This continues the practice of prior years.
However, Health and Welfare, which formerly was handled by one committee member, will be shared by Committeewomen Arlene Kemp and Vanessa Sandom. A key focus for Ms. Kemp will be affordable housing, the mayor said.
As was the case last year, the planning and zoning departmental assignment goes to Marylou Ferrara, also a member of the township Planning Board.
In prior years, public safety, technology and communications were handled by one committee member. This year, Jon Edwards will continue to be in charge of public safety. Ms. Sandom will be in charge of technology and communications.
Also split up this year is the fifth department assignment, which has included public works, public buildings, public grounds, and recreation. Ms. Sandom will handle the first three. Mayor Bartlett will be in charge of recreation.
All the changes made by the new mayor were endorsed by a unanimous committee vote.
Mayor makes appointments
Over the objections of new Township Committeewoman Arlene Kemp, Mayor Francesca Bartlett reappointed Marylou Ferrara as the committee’s liaison to the township Planning Board for 2003.
Ms. Ferrara has held that post for several years.
Ms. Kemp, who was elected to the committee in the November election, when she received the most votes of four candidates for two committee seats, took the oath of office as a committee member Jan. 2. Shortly after doing so and taking her seat on the dais, she said it’s for a committee member other than Ms. Ferrara to hold the liaison position. "We should rotate assignments," Ms. Kemp said.
Mayor Bartlett, in her third year on the committee, reappointed Ms. Ferrara to the post nonetheless, citing Ms. Ferrara’s long experience on the Planning Board and intense involvement with the rewriting of the township Master Plan and zoning ordinances.
Other one-year appointments made at the reorganization meeting include municipal public defender John Holliday, deputy court administrator Margaret Umbro, deputy municipal clerk Anne B. Moore, treasurer Elaine Cruikshank-Borges, certifying agent for public employees retirement system Deborah L. Smith, searcher for prospective assessments Annette Bielawski, tax search officer Kathleen Cantwell, and school crossing guards Miriam Voorhees, Susan Weidl, Deborah Lenz, Norman Thornton and Dawn Weil.
Robert Miller was reappointed township zoning officer. There was no end to the appointment date. Shirley Kunz was reappointed registrar of vital statistics for three years.
Russell Swanson and Billie Moore were appointed to the Affordable Housing Committee, both for two-year terms.
Appointed to the Mayors’ Task Force on Traffic and Trucking were Joseph Kowalski (chairman), Harold Eickoff, Karl Light, Kate Mittnacht, Christine Stockman, Alan Wiseman and Craig Rolwood.
Appointed to the Master Plan Advisory Committee were Joan Hall (chairwoman), Bill James, Judy Karp, Billie Moore, Russell Swanson, Edward Truscelli, Robert Kecskes, Thomas Seessel, Stephen Rhoads and Leonard Ramist.
Appointed to the Sewer Advisory Committee were Richard Willever, Peter Lawrance, Raymond Paperman, Kris Palombo and Thomas Pfeffer.

