SAYREVILLE – After more than a decade of service to the borough, a longtime Sayreville councilman will depart from the governing body at the end of the year.
Daniel Buchanan, who is serving as council president in 2019, will not seek re-election in this year’s Borough Council race. His term will end in December.
Buchanan has served on the governing body for four non-consecutive terms. He was a member of the council from 2005-07 and rejoined in 2011, making 2019 his 12th year of service on the council. He has the longest current term of all council members and is the second longest-serving overall behind Councilwoman Mary Novak, who first served from 1995 to 2000 and rejoined in 2012 for 14 years of service.
“I would like to thank the voters of Sayreville for electing me to four terms on the Borough Council,” Buchanan said. “I would also like to thank my colleagues for selecting me four times to be their council president.
“When I first got involved, I wanted to make changes and make Sayreville a better place than when I started,” he continued. “I believe I have done that. We have continuously improved our parks and playgrounds. We began placing turf on fields to reduce costs and improve our recreational programs. We increased the amount we spend on road repairs. We have over 660 roads and when I started, we had just over $1 million in the budget for repairs. This year, we have over $3 million. This will get more roads done; some haven’t seen their roads repaved in 40-50 years, maybe more. I fought for fairness for our borough employees.”
In not seeking re-election, the council president stated he was stepping down from the governing body to spend more time with his family.
“I want to thank my wife Michelle for allowing me to run and for me not being around all the time due to the time commitments with being in elected office. I also want to thank my daughter Kayla. When I was first sworn in, she was 10 days old and as I leave in December, she will be 15 years old and 9 days. I want to thank all of my family and friends for dealing with me missing parties or seeing negative things said about me. They don’t ask for it, but they feel the brunt of campaigns.”
He also revealed that the combined years of service of he and his sister, former Councilwoman Lisa Eicher, have matched their grandfather’s and great-grandfather’s years of service.
“I have had some great experiences,” Buchanan said. “My sister and I served together for a total of 18 years; my grandfather Ken and great-grandfather Charles each served 18 years. So now seems like as good as time as any to take a step back and enjoy the family.
“As I am in my last year in office, I want to thank you for all of your continued support.”
