The East Windsor Township Council nominated and appointed Councilwoman Janice S. Mironov to serve another term as mayor at the council’s annual reorganization meeting.
In nominating Mironov to the ceremonial post of mayor at the meeting on Jan. 10, Township Councilman Alan Rosenberg said it was an honor and a pleasure to nominate her.
“It is inconceivable that it would be anybody else,” Rosenberg said.
Township Councilman John Zoller offered a second to the motion. He said that Mironov’s management of East Windsor Township government and her promotion of the township’s programs for business development and residential support “are without equal.”
“I look forward to another year with Janice’s leadership,” he said.
The Council voted unanimously to appoint Mironov as mayor, who begins her 28th consecutive term as mayor.
“I wasn’t sure what would happen, so I came prepared,” Mironov said with a smile as she turned around her nameplate on the table-turned-dais. It simply states “mayor.”
Mercer County Sheriff Jack Kemler administered the oath of office to Mironov, who placed her hand on a Bible held by Township Councilman Peter Yeager.
The election of deputy mayor was postponed until the next Township Council meeting because of the absence of Township Councilman Marc Lippmann.
The Township Council then focused on routine administrative matters – from making appointments to advisory boards, committees and commissions to adopting a meeting schedule for 2023.
Each Council member offered some remarks and comments on the past year and on what may lie ahead for the township in 2023.
Zoller listed several accomplishments that ranged from returning to in-person meetings to the re-opening of the expanded and renovated East Windsor Township Senior Citizens Center.
He also commented on what was left behind. Hopefully, the COVID-19 pandemic, but also the deaths of Ed Kelley, long-time Planning Board chairman, and Dick Cunningham, who was a volunteer firefighter and videographer for the township, he said.
Rosenberg said, “We are living in interesting times. It means ‘disaster.’ (The expression) is a metaphor for ‘what just hit us.’”
He said the township weathered the pandemic and the proof is in the “in-person reorganization meeting.”
In her remarks, Township Councilwoman Denise Daniels said she would echo Zoller and Rosenberg. She said she is looking forward to 2023.
Daniels thanked the volunteers who serve on the advisory boards, committees and commissions. She also thanked the police officers, volunteer firefighters and volunteer emergency medical technicians. The Department of Public Works also deserves credit for keeping the streets clear of snow and leaves, she said.
Township Councilman David Russell acknowledged that he had a “learning curve” to master in his first year on the Council in 2022. He joined Daniels in thanking the first responders and the Department of Public Works.
Yeager said Council members “get along well. We like each other.” Using sports as an analogy, he said the Council is a team that plays well together.
“I’m just proud of the way we do business here,” he said.
Mironov agreed that “we do like each other. It’s more fun and productive. We work together as a team and we want to get things done.”
Reflecting on 2022, Mironov reeled off a list of accomplishments that included the 10th consecutive year of a zero increase in the municipal property tax rate, and the completion of the renovation and expansion of the East Windsor Township Senior Citizens Center.
Progress is being made on the Union Transportation Trail, which is a 3.5-mile-long pedestrian path. Township officials are finishing the details on the project and hope to go out to bid soon, she said.
Mironov said many new businesses opened their doors in 2022, and more businesses are in the process of doing so in 2023. Some of the township’s other players in the corporate and pharmaceutical sectors have expanded their physical footprint, she said.
“We are proactive (in attracting ratables). We are the epicenter for pharmaceutical and high-tech industries,” she said.
Turning to the Council, Mironov thanked her colleagues for the confidence they have shown in her by choosing her to be mayor. She said she is looking forward to engaging with the Council “in all ways” to make the town a better place to live.