EAST BRUNSWICK – Kevin McEvoy, who served as East Brunswick’s mayor for almost one year, was honored with his own portrait in the municipal building.
“I want to pay our respects to Mayor McEvoy for the time he spent as mayor. I don’t take that job lightly, because it is a lot of work and if you want to do it right, as I am finding out myself, there is no excuse, you just have to put the time in,” current Mayor Brad Cohen said during the unveiling on March 8.
McEvoy completed the term of former Mayor David Stahl, who was appointed as a municipal court judge in Woodbridge in January 2016; McEvoy was sworn in as mayor in February 2016. Cohen was then voted in during the general election in 2016 and inaugurated in January 2017.
Residents, police officers, Township Council members, firefighters, and former Mayors Ira Oskowsky and William Neary were on hand when McEvoy’s portrait was revealed. His portrait will join the collection of other former mayors.
“I come before you humbled, appreciative and extremely modest. Never in some of my wildest dreams did I think that I would find myself stitched into the community’s rich fabric by joining this elite group of distinguished leaders. It is an honor and a treasure, especially for my family, as we gather tonight,” McEvoy said.
McEvoy’s portrait was created by Lifetyme Photo and Video owner and operator Jay Grosholz and studio photographer Craig Fullman.
“I know [McEvoy] took office after [Stahl] left, so it was something he did not campaign for, it just fell on his shoulders, which sometimes makes things a bit more difficult,” Cohen said. “In the year he was mayor he accomplished a lot and I would like to highlight some of those things because I think they are important.”
With officials currently working to redevelop the Route 18 commercial corridor, Cohen said a lot of the excitement and momentum to redevelop portions of the highway began when McEvoy was serving as mayor.
“[McEvoy] spent a lot of time making sure we did the grunt work, the things the rest of you aren’t really going to see,” Cohen said. “Meaning you meet with consultants, you sit and learn about the types of projects that would work best, the type of development that would work best. … [It] doesn’t receive a lot of news … but it is the work that needs to be done that sets the groundwork so the changes we are about to see in the next couple of years can materialize.”
Cohen said McEvoy also changed the morale of East Brunswick’s workforce.
“There is nothing else I could say about Mayor McEvoy’s term in office except that he turned around the attitude and the morale and made the type of place we have here in the township something special and makes it more like a family,” Cohen said. “That is the reason why every single new hire that comes into our team … meets in the mayor’s office, because that person is no more important than I am or anyone else in town.”
McEvoy said he has always believed that teamwork and collaboration are requisites for success.
“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision, the mayor directing individual accomplishments or organizational objectives,” McEvoy said.
McEvoy said that early in his professional career as a Social Studies teacher and track and field coach at East Brunswick High School for 35 years, “I realized you cannot develop all of the competencies you need fast enough on your own. Furthermore, if you do not collaborate, your ideas will be limited to your own abilities. As a result, you will not be able to achieve the anticipated impact. That is my primary rationale for collaboration and cooperation with all municipal employees. I needed to be aware about what others were doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes and encourage them in their pursues. When we all help one another, everybody wins. That is the reason my portrait hangs in this room.”
McEvoy also served on the East Brunswick Board of Education from 2013-16.
Following his remarks, McEvoy, his wife, Donna, and son, Blaine, watched as Cohen unveiled his portrait.
McEvoy said for the portrait, he wore a Rutgers University “R” pin in honor of his father-in-law and wife, who both received their undergraduate and graduate degrees from Rutgers. McEvoy said he chose to wear his Rutgers University tie because during his term his administration worked closely with Rutgers officials to bring them into the PNC Towers.
“I wanted that as the memory. I have my father-in-law there and then I have the work that we did as a group together and that is why that tie and that pin stand there,” McEvoy said.
Contact Vashti Harris at [email protected].