EATONTOWN — Anthony Talerico Jr. has begun serving his second four-year term as mayor, and Meir Araman and Virginia M. East have begun serving three-year terms as members of the Eatontown Borough Council.
Talerico, Araman and East were the winners in the November 2022 general election.
The borough’s 2023 reorganization meeting was held on Jan. 1 at the municipal building. Joining Araman and East on the Borough Council this year are Mark Regan Jr., Danielle M. Jones, David Gindi and Everett D. Lucas.
As the first order of business, Talerico was sworn in to office by retired New Jersey Superior Court Judge Ira Kreizman. Araman and East were sworn in to office by Borough Clerk Julie Martin.
Andrew Bayer was appointed as borough attorney and Police Chief William P. Lucia III will continue to serve as the borough’s interim administrator.
Nominations were then opened for the position of council president and Gindi and East were nominated.
When a roll call vote was taken for Gindi, he was supported by Lucas, Regan, himself and, initially, Jones.
When a roll call vote was taken for East, she was supported by Araman, herself and Jones, who said she wanted to support East because she supported both nominees.
After some discussion among the council members and the borough attorney, Jones withdrew her vote for Gindi and voted for East, creating a 3-3 tie in the vote for council president.
Talerico, who does not regularly vote on council business, was called on to break the tie and voted for East, who won the council president’s position in a 4-3 vote. The mayor complemented Gindi on the job he did as council president in 2022.
Talerico is beginning his fifth year as mayor. A lifelong resident of Eatontown, he previously worked as a certified public accountant and owned a consulting business. Talerico is currently a registered nurse and works on an oncology floor of a nearby hospital.
In his mayor’s address, Talerico welcomed Araman and East, both of whom are former council members, back to the governing body. The mayor said he hopes the borough can return to its pre-COVID traditions of publicly recognizing new hires and retirements.
Talerico touched on a number of accomplishments the borough has seen in the past year, including new and updated ordinances aimed at improving Eatontown; the receipt of grants for various uses in the community; infrastructure improvements that are being planned to address concerns that include what the mayor called “decrepit bridges;” and he suggested creating the position of a liaison from the council to the Eatontown Public Schools Board of Education.
Talerico said, “We have a redevelopment plan for the Monmouth Mall that we are hoping to finalize early this year. We declared our downtown to be an area in need of redevelopment and are hoping we can come up with a redevelopment plan.”
The mayor called the borough’s downtown area “a hurting downtown” and concluded his address by saying, “We must invest in our town. We are not governing for today. We are governing for tomorrow.”
In regular business, Edward Herrman of T&M Associates was appointed as the borough engineer; Jennifer Beahm of Leon S. Avakian Inc. and ARH Associates was appointed as the borough planner; and Eugene Melody was appointed as municipal court judge for a three-year term.
Municipal officials appointed six individuals as special law enforcement officers with the Eatontown Police Department: James Rolly and Michael Johnson were appointed as Class I officers; Daniel Gilligan and Brandon Davis were appointed as Class II officers; and David Hicks and Anthony Guido were appointed as Class III officers. Special law enforcement officers perform tasks as assigned by the police chief.
The following individuals were appointed to the Planning Board: Talerico (four-year term); East (one-year term); Barry Roth (one-year term); Kathy Silva (final year of a four-year term); William Diedrichsen (third year of a four-year term); Mark Regan Sr. (second year of a four-year term); Mark Woloshin (four-year term); and David Alcott (four-year term). One seat on the board is awaiting an appointment.
The following individuals were appointed to the Zoning Board of Adjustment as regular members: Kenneth East (final year of a four-year term); Seth Mednick (third year of a four-year term); Richard Lizanckie (third year of a four-year term); Robert Gilmore (second year of a four-year term); Salvatore Granata (first year of a four-year term); Ralph Anderson (first year of a four-year term); and Candace Faust (first year of a four-year term). Pamela Faccone was appointed to a two-year term as an alternate member.