Annette Bielawski: An example of ‘grace under pressure’

By: centraljersey.com
Well-deserved was the extended standing ovation Annette Bielawski received at the Sep. 27 Hopewell Township Committee meeting.
After 23 years as the township’s municipal clerk, Ms. Bielawski was retiring.
Former mayor, Francesca Bartlett, may have said it best with her remark that Ms. Bielawski is a powerful example of "grace under pressure." That phrase comes from Ernest Hemingway, who used it to define courage, probably as shown by bullfighters or other men nearly as macho.
Saying a municipal clerk has shown courage may appear an overstatement, especially in as bucolic a place as Hopewell Township. Though still a lovely place in many ways, the township isn’t nearly as bucolic as it used to be, and that’s where the pressure facing Ms. Bielawski came in.
Sometimes when I’m walking into the township municipal building, I’ll mutter something like this to myself: "Here we go again. Brace yourself."
And no wonder. Over the past 24 years, I’ve witnessed a pretty incredible degree of turmoil during government meetings in that building.
Ms. Bielawski has not only witnessed it all, but she had to take minutes of it all. If you think that’s an easy job, think again. Some of the sessions in there have been so emotional, so contentious, so off-the-wall, that you asked yourself: "What in the world is going on here?" And you realized you didn’t have a very satisfactory answer.
Well, Ms. Bielawski had to come up with an answer, because she had to write down a summary of what was happening for the township’s official records.
This is not to say township hall is a non-stop rodeo. Most of the meetings are calm, civil and, dare I say it, maybe even a little boring.
But during her tenure we have had a great many intense debates. Some of them went on for many months. The participants were very upset with one another and made no bones about saying so. The rumor mill was cooking full blast and reputations paid the price. The list of the debated topics is long: whether the township should build a connection to the Trenton sewer system; whether Merrill Lynch should be built; whether Brandon Farms should be built; whether a complex of athletic fields at Timberlane Middle School should be built, among many others.
Yes, many of the debates were about whether something should be built, and no wonder. The human race is capable of constructing all manner of lovely artifacts, but none rival the beauty of nature when it has been simply left alone. That’s why, I think, these debates were so intense. Beauty is truth and truth beauty, etc., etc. etc.
Yes, it got very stormy in that room, many times, and will again. That’s our system. Giving everyone his/her say can make for a bumpy ride.
One thing was always the same though: Annette Bielawski sitting at the end of the Township Committee dais, doing her job as an operative definition of "grace under pressure."
Bravo!
John Tredrea is staff writer for the Hopewell Valley News.