By JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer
SOUTH BRUNSWICK – Longtime Councilman Christopher Killmurray was appointed as the mayor of South Brunswick last week.
Killmurray was sworn in by the council on April 11 after the passing of Frank Gambatese on March 25 after a brief illness. Gambatese, 81, had been the longest serving mayor of the township, having been in office since 2003.
Killmurray ran uncontested for a council seat in the November 2014 election, beginning his fourth term on the council on Jan. 6, 2015. His term extends through 2018. He was reappointed as deputy mayor during the council’s reorganization meeting this past January.
“We’re all still saddened by the loss of Mayor Gambatese,” said township Spokesman Ron Schmalz, who worked with Gambatese for 17 years. “But [Killmurray] will definitely step up and do a good job.”
Schmalz said Killmurray is a 54-year-old attorney for Hoagland Logan Moran Dunst and Doukas who lives in the Dayton section of South Brunswick. He is a member of the South Brunswick Library Board of Trustees, VFW Post 9111 in Kendall Park, St. Cecilia’s Knights of Columbus Council 7046, the Ancient Order of the Hiberians and the American Irish Association of Woodbridge. He is also involved with the Boy Scouts, and attends almost every Court of Honor for Eagle Scout candidates.
Killmurray could not be reached by press time.
Schmalz said that the Township Council had 15 days from Gambatese’s passing to appoint a new mayor, and now has another 15 days from Killmurray’s appointment to find a council replacement. He said the Middlesex County Democratic Organization will screen candidates and make three recommendations to the local board, since the vacated seat was Democratic.
Contact Jennifer Amato at [email protected].