Carl Wright Picked As Township Deputy Mayor At Annual Reorg
Fourth Ward Councilman Carl Wright, a 7-year veteran of the governing body, was chosen Jan. 3 to be the township’s Deputy Mayor for 2017.
The council also voted on a number of other positions, including township attorney, municipal court judge, and township prosecutors and public defender at its annual reorganization meeting.
Wright’s nomination was made by former Deputy Mayor Ted Chase, and was unanimously approved. This will be Wright’s first term as deputy mayor.
Wright thanked the council for their votes.
“I’d like to thank my fellow council members for this beautiful honor,” he said. “I appreciate the honor that you’ve given me.”
“We might squabble, we might throw darts at each other but we’re all good people,” he said. “At the end of the day, I get to hug and kiss everybody up there.”
Wright told his constituents in the 4th Ward that he “will not let anything slip by. I promise you.”
Wright also thanked his family for their support.
Among the other council appointments were Louis Rainone as township attorney, Hector Rodriguez as municipal court judge, Bernice Jalloh as associate township prosecutor and Dennis Auciello as township public defender.
Several council members outlined their priorities for the coming year.
Councilman Rajiv Prasad, (D-At Large) said one of his broad goals is to establish job-training satellite programs with the Somerset County Vocational and Technical High School and with Raritan Valley Community College.
Turning to Somerset County Freeholder Brian Levine, who was in the audience, Prasad said he “look(s) forward to working with the freeholder on that.”
Prasad said the council continues to make progress on a planned youth center and that he is looking to establish a free medical clinic in conjunction with local medical students.
Councilwoman Kimberly Francois, (D-At Large), said she will be focusing most of her efforts in 2017 on the youth center.
“We’re about to go out for a request for proposals for the design of the building and the programs we should put in the building, how we should use that center” she said. “We want to focus on the design and vision of that center.”