By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Township Committeeman Glenn R. Johnson will become the next mayor of Cranbury in 2018 succeeding fellow Democrat David Cook.
Johnson broke the news himself Tuesday during the Cranbury school board meeting that he was attending as the governing body’s liaison to the board of education.
“I’ve got the support to be the mayor,” he told school officials.
The appointment will take place at the Township Committee reorganization meeting, scheduled for Jan. 2 at 6 p.m. School board member Evelyn Spann, speaking at the school board meeting, predicted that Johnson will “make a very fine mayor.”
This will be the second time Johnson has been mayor; he served in the role in 2013.
“I think he’ll be great as the mayor again,” Cook said by phone Wednesday. “I’ve worked with Glenn almost seven years now in Township Committee and we share a lot of the common themes that we both feel are important for Cranbury.”
Johnson will lead a governing body that will welcome freshman member Matthew Scott, a Democrat replacing Deputy Mayor Susan Goetz, who declined to run for re-election this year.
“When Glenn asked for my support as mayor, I did not hesitate,” Scott said Wednesday.
Scott, who is due to take office in Jan. 2, said “the first item I will raise with him will be seeing that we get funding for our new library ASAP.”
With a township committee form of government, the mayor is chosen from among the five members of the governing body, as opposed to being directly elected by the public. As a practice, the position rotates so that each member holds the job for a year before he passes it on to another member.
Rounding out the leadership, Township Committeeman James Taylor, a Democrat, is due to become deputy mayor. The composition of the governing body will see Democrats continue to hold a 4-1 majority.
