SAYREVILLE – Councilwoman Michele Maher has been elected by her fellow members of the governing body to serve as president of the Sayreville Borough Council for 2022.
The borough’s annual reorganization meeting on Jan. 3 was held in a virtual manner due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
As the meeting began, new Republican council members Eunice Dwumfour and Christian Onuoha, who were the winners in the November 2021 election, were sworn in to begin serving their first three-year terms on the council.
Prior to the 2021 election, Democrats held a 5-1 majority on the Borough Council. The council is now split 3-3 among party lines. Democrat Victoria Kilpatrick holds the mayor’s office.
Maher, Vincent Conti and Mary Novak are the Democratic members of the governing body. Dwumfour and Onuoha joined Donna Roberts as the Republican members.
After all of the council members were seated, nominations were held for who would serve as council president.
The first nominee for council president was Onuoha, who was nominated by Dwumfour and seconded by himself. The nomination was defeated in a 2-4 vote, with Dwumfour and Onuoha voting “yes”. Maher, Conti, Novak and Roberts voted “no”.
Novak nominated Maher as council president, which was seconded by Conti. Maher, Conti, Novak and Roberts voted “yes” on the nomination; Dwumfour and Onuoha voted “no”.
Maher has been a member of the Borough Council since 2020.
“I worked very hard over the past two years for our town and I was hoping for this opportunity,” Maher said after being elected council president. “Even though we had the coronavirus, we had great success with our grant writer, we had great success upgrading Kennedy Park with a new playground, basketball court, bridges and benches.
“I’m excited for another year,” she continued. “I have my wish list that I will continue to follow up on each and every week with [Business Administrator Dan] Frankel and our director. I look forward to working with everyone and I wish everyone a happy and healthy new year.”
