Hours late, Anklowitz finally gets sworn in at West Windsor council session

Mercer County Board of Elections issues late-night official verifiction

By: Molly Petrilla
   WEST WINDSOR — Newly elected West Windsor Councilman Will Anklowitz spent much of Monday night’s agenda session waiting for a phone call that took hours to come.
   Though the council had planned to swear in Mr. Anklowitz at the beginning of its meeting, after more than an hour of public comment, the Mercer County Board of Elections still had not called to verify his victory over incumbent Barbara Pfeifer in the Nov. 7 election.
   Though Mr. Anklowitz defeated Ms. Pfeifer 3,339 votes to 2,537, county officials insisted that he could not be sworn into office until the results had been officially certified.
   Mr. Anklowitz sat with the council as the other four members voted on six resolutions, but he was unable to cast his own vote. As time passed, the standing-room crowd that filled the municipal building — including the councilman’s wife and two young sons — trickled out.
   About two and a half hours into the meeting, Deputy Clerk Gay Huber received the go-ahead from county officials, and at 10:15 p.m., Mr. Anklowitz was finally sworn in.
   The newly elected council member said Tuesday that his oath of office was "anti-climactic," adding that he was "disappointed that everybody couldn’t have gotten what they came to see."