By Matthew Sockol
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – The newest member of the Township Committee will serve as Freehold Township’s mayor during 2017.
The committee held its annual reorganization meeting on Jan. 6.
Republican Committeewoman Barbara McMorrow, the winning candidate in the Nov. 8 election, was sworn in by state Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth) to begin serving a new three-year term on the governing body. McMorrow joined the committee in 2010.
After McMorrow was sworn in, the committee members held elections for the positions of mayor and deputy mayor.
Lester Preston, who served as deputy mayor in 2016, was selected by his fellow committee members to serve as mayor for the first time. Preston joined the governing body in January 2015 and is the newest member of the committee.
Preston was sworn in as mayor after being elected to the position by McMorrow, Committeeman David Salkin, Committeeman Anthony Ammiano and Committeeman Thomas Cook. Preston also cast a vote for himself.
Sworn in as deputy mayor was Salkin, who was unanimously elected to the position by his colleagues. Salkin joined the governing body in 1994 and is the longest serving member of the committee.
McMorrow, who served as mayor in 2016, spoke about the past year and the future for Freehold Township.
“Being the mayor of Freehold Township for the past year has been an honor and a privilege,” McMorrow said. “From cutting ribbons for the opening of new businesses showing that our local economy is continuing to grow and expand, to presenting proclamations to many of our residents in recognition of their personal and professional milestones, each day was a gift that I looked forward to opening as it was wrapped in the special fabric that makes our municipality a wonderful town.
“2016 was another great year for Freehold Township. Our AA+ bond rating was once again reaffirmed and our budget remains stable and strong heading into 2017. We continued to make strong investments in our infrastructure and moved closer to some major improvement projects for our municipal service facilities.
“As we continue to improve our services and expand our activities for our residents, we continue to be afforded the opportunities to work with the various organizations that contribute so much to the quality of our daily life,” McMorrow said. “Our employees and our volunteers’ dedication to Freehold Township always inspires me to do even more and work even harder for the residents, business owners and visitors.
“My re-election to the Township Committee was certainly a highlight of 2016 for me and I am thankful for the opportunity to continue to serve. Although I will be handing the gavel to the incoming mayor, my commitment to providing a stable and service-oriented local government remains unchanged, and I look forward to serving with my colleagues on the Township Committee as we move together through the new year,” McMorrow said.
After he was sworn in as mayor, Preston spoke about the community.
“As I thought about the honor that has been bestowed upon me tonight, a common theme ran through my mind- family – both mine and our collective family here in Freehold Township.
“As I was working through this, I found a quote that says, ‘When everything goes to hell, the people stand by you without flinching. They are your family.’ And it reminded me a lot of my grandfather, his never-ending pride in our successes and his support when we failed. Like my grandfather, I have seen firsthand our community’s collective pride in our successes, as well as how we come together in our time of need.
“We are fortunate that our successes far outweigh our misfortune,” Preston said. “Unfortunately, like all families, we did experience our share of sorrow this past year and we recognize the passing of two longtime pillars of our community, (former township administrator) Tom Antus and (firefighter and fire chief) Gordon Prochnow. Communities like ours do not happen by accident. There is hard work that requires the collective effort of all of our citizens.”
