1 hopeful for 1 seat

Mayor to step aside; GOP comes up empty.

By: Elaine Worden
   Democrat Angie Cook is the only candidate to file for the Township Committee seat currently held by Mayor Becky Beauregard.
   Ms. Beauregard, a Democrat, will not be seeking re-election. She did not return telephone calls by Thursday afternoon.
   The Republican Party failed to field a candidate for the lone seat. Last year, only one Republican, Richard Abrams, filed to run for Township Committee. A second, Jack Ziegler, was added to the ballot after running a write-in campaign during the primary.
   Write-in candidates would need to get three votes during the June 7 primary, or 5 percent of the total Republican votes cast during the last General Assembly primary election.
   Ms. Cook, 38, has lived in Cranbury since she was 4 months old. She is a member of the township Municipal Alliance, a former member of the Cranbury School PTO Executive Board and has been a trustee at the Peddie School in Hightstown for four years. She considers herself a "stay-at-home mom," who takes care of her 8-year-old son Jackson and 6-year-old daughter Olivia.
   She said that, because she is a lifelong resident, Cranbury "is a part of me." She grew up in town, has parents living in Cranbury and children in the school. Even her husband grew up in Cranbury, she said.
   "I love the community, and I think the committee has done a wonderful job preserving farmland and preserving the integrity of the town," said Ms. Cook.
   Ms. Cook said her goals, if elected to the committee, would include continuing to preserve open space and maintaining the town.
   "I would really like to look five to 10 years down the road to what our long-term goals would be for the town," said Ms. Cook.
   She said this would include things such as keeping taxes reasonable and maintaining the school system.
   "I don’t want to force people out of the community because of skyrocketing taxes," she said.
   She said she believes she is able to connect with a wide range of people, young and old, because of her time in Cranbury. One of her favorite things about Cranbury, she said, is "being able to walk down the street and recognize people."
   "I think the strengths of the town are the involvement of people and that it is a close-knit community," she said.
   Ms. Cook said she would be a good committeewoman because she has an ability to assess situations and work with others to find the best solutions.
   "I am hopefully going to be that middleman, so to speak, to get those ideas that people have in the community and take them to the Township Committee," said Ms. Cook.
   For now, Ms. Cook will run unopposed. Republican Party Chairman Jaime Klein said he is not writing off the possibility of a Republican candidate being added to the ballot.
   "We’ll see what happens, obviously, in June," said Mr. Klein. "It is my hope that someone will step forward — who that will be, I don’t know."
   Mr. Klein said there will be discussions among Cranbury Republicans, but it will depend on whether there is interest.
   He said he believes the amount of time required of committee members and a lack of interest on the party of local Republicans has made it difficult to find candidates.
   "I don’t think a lot of folks see there being a payoff, in the sense of a return on the emotional investment," said Mr. Klein.
   He said that this is a result of dual-income families wanting to come home and relax and have time to spend with one another.
   "I understand the feeling of many Cranburians — most of the Republicans in town seem to commute, and have less time for their families and so forth, and it’s really a time constraint," said Mr. Klein.
   He said lack of recent success also takes its toll. Republicans have not won a committee seat since 2001, when Michael Mayes was re-elected. The party had a committee majority from 1996 to 2000, including a 4-1 majority in 1999.
   "I think they get tired of it, they don’t get elected, they’re not going to get elected, and they don’t care," said Mr. Klein.
   He noted that in the past 10 years Republicans have not had much political success within township.
   "How do you talk someone into running in a race where they are going to lose by 20 or 30 percent?" he asked. "It’s not about the individual."
   He asked that Republicans interested in running for committee to contact him at (609) 395-9001.