Mayor Becky Beauregard to step down at the end of the year.
By: Josh Appelbaum
Mayor Becky Beauregard won’t be seeking another temr on the Township Committee, but that doesn’t mean she won’t remain active in the community.
Ms. Beauregard, a Democrat, decided not run for another three-year because she intends to focus more on her career and will step down when her term expires Dec. 31.
"With the issues of needing to go back to work, I don’t think I could have make a commitment to the community in good faith," Ms. Beauregard said.
Ms. Beauregard is a part-time consultant for the Population Resource Center, a nonprofit bipartisan group that works to share information on population-related issues affecting foreign and domestic public policies, with offices in Princeton and Washington, D.C.
She also is working to develop a funding plan for the Pearl Merrill Institute for Children, an organization her husband, Jeffrey Merrill, was working to organize before his death in June 2003 of cancer.
Ms. Beauregard also has plans to sell her Prospect Street home, but isn’t sure if she’ll leave Cranbury.
"Some people believe because I’m selling my house that I’ll be gone," Ms. Beauregard said. "This is a matter of coping with change and rebuilding some aspects of my life."
Ms. Beauregard is serving as mayor for the second time this year, previously serving in 1993. She had served on the committee from 1990 to 1996 and returned to the committee in 2003.
Saying she’ll play it by ear, Ms. Beauregard has no specific plans for her time after her committee term ends. But, she said she’s glad to be serving out the rest of her time as mayor.
"This position is not a power position," Ms. Beauregard said. "But I’m happy my final contribution to the committee will be to coordinate committee life."
Ms. Beauregard said her departure from elected office will not prevent her from interacting with the community.
"I enjoy community life, whether I’m in public office or not," she said. "Working with people is my favorite part of being on the Township Committee."
Ms. Beauregard received her bachelor’s degree in government from Indiana University and has done postgraduate work in business and political science at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She has worked with various federal, state and local government agencies, including the U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging.
She also has served as president and vice president of the nonprofit Family and Children’s Services of Central New Jersey and was the executive director of former Gov. Tom Kean’s Maternal and Child Health Project.
Ms. Beauregard has two sons, Nicholas and Jonathan Merrill.

