By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
LAWRENCE — After an hour’s worth of questioning and nearly another hour of deliberation Tuesday night, Township Council chose Ian Dember to fill — on an interim basis — a vacancy on the council that was created by the death of Councilman Stephen Brame last month.
Mr. Dember was one of three nominees for the open seat. Jerell Blakely, who teaches in the Trenton public school district, and Christopher Bobbitt, an architect who serves on the Planning Board and the Growth and Redevelopment Committee, were also nominated by the Lawrence Township Democratic Municipal Committee.
Township Council members Jim Kownacki, David Maffei and Michael Powers voted for Mr. Dember, who is an attorney and a lifelong Lawrence resident who also sits on the Planning Board. Mayor Cathleen Lewis abstained.
Mr. Dember was immediately sworn into office Tuesday night, and took his seat on the dais. Given the timing of the vacancy, he will serve on Township Council on an interim basis. Mr. Brame’s four-year term would have expired Dec. 31, 2017, but because Mr. Brame died before Sept. 1, the appointee — Mr. Dember — will not serve out the rest of Mr. Brame’s term.
Next week, the Lawrence Township members of the Mercer County Democratic Committee will nominate a candidate whose name will appear on the Nov. 3 general election ballot for Township Council. Under state law, the winner in the general election will fill out the remainder of Mr. Brame’s unexpired term, and will be sworn immediately after the election results are certified.
This is Mr. Dember’s second attempt to serve on Township Council. He was one of three nominees — including the late Mr. Brame — who sought to fill a vacancy on the council in 2013 created by the resignation of Township Councilman Greg Puliti. The council chose Mr. Brame, who filled out the remainder of Mr. Puliti’s term and then won election to his own four-year term in November 2014.
Mr. Dember grew up in Lawrence Township, and works at the law firm of Dember Law LLC. He had been associated with the law firm of Nerwinski Dember & Fox LLC, but left to form his own law firm this month. He is a past president of the Lawrence Township Democratic Club.
Mr. Dember is a graduate of Salisbury University in Salisbury, Maryland, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business management in 2005. He received a law degree in 2011 from Elon University School of Law in Greensboro, N.C., and began practicing law at Nerwinski Dember & Fox LLC in Lawrence.
Tuesday night, the candidates were offered three minutes each to state their case to be selected to serve as an interim Township Council member. They also fielded questions from Township Council, ranging from what they would bring to the council and what they would hope to gain from serving on it, to what they see as lacking in Lawrence Township.
Mr. Dember said he would bring his legal skills to Township Council, and also pointed to his experience in government procurement. As for what he would hope to gain from the experience, he replied that “an individual who is out for (himself) gets nothing.” He said he wants to make Lawrence a better place for everyone.
Mr. Blakely said he would bring a host of skills to the table, including collaboration and the ability to get to the heart of the issue. “To be quite frank,” he said, he sees his service on the council as a learning experience that would be helpful if he pursued elected office.
Mr. Bobbitt said he is an optimist, and he would be the voice of the community. He said he would like to maintain what is good about Lawrence Township.
As to what is lacking in Lawrence Township, Mr. Dember and Mr. Blakely pointed to municipal finances. Mr. Dember said he would advocate seeking more in shared services as a cost-savings measure, and going after “use it or lose it” money from Mercer County, while Mr. Blakely called for bringing in more ratables to generate revenue.
Mr. Bobbitt said communication could be improved. The township does a “great job” now, but it could be better. He noted that property owners look at their property tax bills and assume all of the money goes to Lawrence Township, when only about one-third of it goes to the township. Most property owners do not know that the township does not keep all of the money, but distributes it to the school district and Mercer County.
