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EAST WINDSOR: Council chooses Yeager to fill vacant seat

By Doug Carman, Staff Writer
   EAST WINDSOR — Peter Yeager held many titles in East Windsor, according to a brief biography from the township Democrats: Planning Board member; vice president and treasurer of East Windsor Green Space, soccer coach with the East Windsor Police Athletic League.
   The Township Council decided unanimously Tuesday to give the client relations director at Educational Testing Service another title: councilman.
   The other members of the council praised Mr. Yeager’s experience as they selected him from among three Democrats nominated to fill the vacancy left by Walter T. Daniels, who resigned late last month after he was charged March 1 with driving while intoxicated in Hightstown.
   Mr. Yeager will serve the remainder of Mr. Daniels’ term, which expires at the end of this year.
   ”He’s well-versed in how municipal government works and right off the bat, I think he’ll be a real asset to this council,” Councilman Marc Lippman said during Tuesday’s meeting.
   Mr. Yeager was on a business trip in Idaho that had been scheduled “well in advance” of Tuesday’s council meeting and could not be reached for comment afterward. He left a statement with Mayor Janice Mironov thanking the council for appointing him.
   ”As someone raising a family here I understand how the decisions of the Council can impact our quality of life,” Mr. Yeager’s statement read. “I am looking forward to continuing the progress this Council has made in areas such as our open space, parks and recreating and attracting businesses that can provide the products and services we look for, all while doing so in a fiscally responsible manner. I look forward to getting to work for the community.”
   Since Mr. Yeager was out of town Tuesday, he won’t be formally sworn in to office until the next council meeting on Wednesday, April 20.
   Before Mr. Yeager’s appointment, the council also elected Mr. Lippman in a 6-0 vote to become the borough’s new deputy mayor. The deputy mayor, according to the township’s code, assumes mayoral duties whenever the mayor is either out of town or unable to carry out his or her duties.
   Mayor Mironov said the council was “very familiar” with all three candidates who were nominated to replace Mr. Daniels. The other two considered were John Zoller, the director of environmental compliance at Shiseido, and Mike Shifman, a retiree and longtime firefighter who is a member of the East Windsor Municipal Utility Authority.
   Mr. Yeager and Mr. Zoller are two of the four candidates nominated by the local Democrats for this year’s council elections, along with Mr. Lippman and Mayor Mironov, who are seeking re-election.
   Mayor Mironov, who also is the municipal chairwoman for the East Windsor Democrats, said after the meeting that it was Mr. Yeager’s political and town government experience that made him stand out among the three. He has been on East Windsor’s Planning Board for more than 12 years, and also was a press secretary for Congressman Rush Holt and a communications director for New Jersey Assemblywoman Barbara Buono.
   ”Peter has been involved with the municipal government for a longer period of time,” she said.