After 24 years of service Alan Danser moves on.
By: Matthew Kirdahy
Danser has been a name on the Township Committee for three generations, starting with Clendon Danser, then Arthur Danser and now Alan Danser.
The youngest Danser, Alan, has served on the committee more than any resident in Cranbury’s history. He gave 24 years to the township as a committeeman. But, for the first time in a long time he won’t have to attend meetings the first, third and fourth Mondays every month.
"I guess I’ll be able to watch more ‘Monday Night Football,’" he joked. "I don’t know. I’ll find something."
In the November election, a 24-vote deficit meant that for the first time in a very long time, the lifelong Cranbury resident wouldn’t be returning to his seat on the Township Committee.
His loss to Thomas Panconi meant the end of more than two decades of having Mr. Danser’s farming expertise and insight on major township issues on the committee.
Mr. Danser said he would not consider running for re-election in next year’s race.
"It’s no fun losing an election," he said. "It’s hard to immediately put your family or yourself through that again."
During his time on the committee, Mr. Danser served as Cranbury’s mayor 12 times, from 1983-1987, 1989-1993 and 1996-1997.
He also served on the Cranbury Board of Education for 20 years and on the Planning Board for 19 years. He continues to serve on the Middlesex County Agricultural Board and is one of the First Presbyterian Church of Cranbury’s elders.
He has served on the committee longer than anyone in Cranbury’s history.
During 1983-1987 and 1989-1993, the role meant more administrative work until the township hired its first administrator in 1990. He also served as mayor from Since then, the mayor’s duties are to head the committee meetings and sit on the Planning Board.
As a Cranbury committeeman and in particular as its mayor, he said a person has to welcome calls at home from residents regarding community issues.
"It’s about letting the person express their opinion, have them ask questions and have a one-on-one dialogue," he said. "That way, if they don’t agree with you, at least they’ll understand."
He said that historically, Cranbury’s committee members have waited until their second year to pursue the role of mayor and once they do, they have a tendency to rotate who fills the position.
"The first year on committee is nothing but a learning process," Mr. Danser said. "It’s wonderful to be mayor and to have some continuity, but it’s always good to take a year off too."
Mr. Danser said that being a committee member means sacrificing a lot of personal and work time.
He said part of the reason he’s been able to contribute much of his time to the township is because he is self-employed farmer.
He said it has especially helped during January and February, when his crops were out of season and the township was preparing its municipal budget.
His expertise in the field has helped him and the committee make key decisions for Cranbury.
"As we grapple with how best to preserve farmland, it’s beneficial to the town to have someone with hands-on knowledge and experience in that area," he said. "The fact that we’ve been able to accomplish preserving 2,000 acres in the last 20 years is nothing short of extraordinary. Nobody would’ve believed we could’ve preserved that much."
"It’s all just community service," Mr. Danser said. "Somebody did it when I was a kid and kept Cranbury the best it could be and I always assumed I could do it. I never thought I could do it for quite so long though. There’s no end to the amount of respect I have for them and the job that they did. I try to sort of continue the tradition and I’ve never really thought of it as more than that."