Scharfenberger To Be Named Middletown's 2013 Mayor
The Township Committee Reorganization meeting will be held today at noon.
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Committeeman Gerald Scharfenberger will be Middletown's next mayor, Mayor Tony Fiore and Scharfenger have confirmed.
The 5-member Middletown Township Committee will make it official at Sunday's reorganization meeting of the governing body, when Committeeman Steve Masell will be sworn in for a three year term on the Committee following his win over challenger Linda Baum in the November election.
Scharfenberger will succeed Mayor Tony Fiore, who represented Middletown's government in 2011 and 2012 through, Fiore recalled, "a massive blizzard, Hurricane Irene, a major water main break, the Sandy Superstorm, and $9 million in budget cuts to bring in a budget under cap."
The mayor said he was pleased to endorse Scharfenberger.
"I'm actually throwing my support to Dr. Scharfenberger," said Fiore. "He's been very involved in disaster relief and all the organizations involved in the Sandy recovery relief effort. He's been a great mentor, and a great mayor before I came."
Committeeman Gerard P. Scharfenberger has been serving on the Township Committee since 2005, and served as Mayor from 2007 through 2009, according to his bio on the township website.
Scharfenber is employed as Director of the Office For Planning Advocacy for the State of New Jersey and holds a Ph.D in historical archeology and cultural landscape studies from from the CUNY Graduate Center.
He is also planning to share his passion for Middletown's history by contributing articles about the township's rich history on Middletown-NJ Patch, to help promote the township's 350-year anniversary this year.
Also at the meeting, two police officers will also accept their promotions, and volunteers will be appointed to more than a dozen township boards, committees and commissions by the Township Committee.
John Pittner
8:44 am on Sunday, January 6, 2013
Congratulations Mayor Scharfenberger
bd
8:54 am on Sunday, January 6, 2013
Another reason why Middletown is an oasis in this cesspool of a Blue state..........
Mary Ellen DeVries
2:43 pm on Sunday, January 6, 2013
It's like being in a vortex of insanity. Nothing changes-same old faces same old politics. It's a disgrace that the town gov't is under seige like this. We need some fresh faces and fresh ideas instead of the same old hacks.
Gary Junstrom
8:51 pm on Sunday, January 6, 2013
Under siege? How so? The last I checked, the people on the council won election quite handily over their Democrat opponents, including beating the one who replaced the Democrat candidate who was arrested for crack possession twice. Frankly, I think they do a darn good job and the way they handled the storm was excellent. Glad we have people like them willing to do a job most people wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.
Belford Bob
10:58 pm on Sunday, January 6, 2013
Congratulations Mayor Scharfenberger. Sounds to me like Mary Ellen should run for office if she has all the answers.
ASimon
10:58 pm on Sunday, January 6, 2013
Well at least the public is being told about the latest reshuffling of the worn out dog-eared cards. We were expected to do our own googling to discover Scharfenberger's appointment to his state patronage position. I suppose this passes for progress.
Maureen
7:01 am on Monday, January 7, 2013
Our town is under siege? I had no idea, our crime rate is down, our taxes stayed well within the 2% cap, we had one of the lowest tax rate increases in the state and our lowest tax increase in over a decade, and without eliminating any services. If this is being under siege, perhaps you would like to she some light.
Bagodoughnuts
5:14 pm on Monday, January 7, 2013
Man, Gary and Belford bob would praise Raymond o'grady if he came out retirement . I mean jail. As far as service cuts? I guess Maureen doesn't use the library , or use the recycling center at Kane's lane. We need new faces in this town with new ideas. And not just soft news makers, start tackling some real problems in middletown ! Release the building permits so people can go back home!
ASimon
5:54 pm on Monday, January 7, 2013
Middletown seems to be embracing "single stream recycling" for more than just garbage collection.
Maureen
7:03 am on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
@ Bagodounuts-you are wrong. I DO use the library-weekly, at least. My children have been through their programs since they were babies, one of my children is doing the library's tech team program no. I have a dozen or so books in my classroom that I was loaned through the books in classrooms program. My understanding from the Patch article regarding building permits being issued was that FEMA was changing regulation and that the township did not want to approve what would later be changed and have the homeowners stuck with having to make changes.