A new mayor took the gavel at the Mt. Laurel council reorganization meeting last night as David D’Antonio was chosen to serve as mayor by his fellow council members in 2014.
Following his appointment, D’Antonio swapped seats with councilwoman and 2013 mayor Linda Bobo. D’Antonio served as deputy mayor during Bobo’s tenure as mayor.
“I am thankful for the past three years in serving the people of Mt. Laurel,” D’Antonio said. “I have gained valuable insight about our community and township that has provided me with a universal prospective.”
D’Antonio went on to talk about how the township has worked to better beautify its parks and open space. This includes the development of three new baseball fields at Laurel Acres Park, two new softball fields at Spencer Park and the current development of a new park at the corner of Elbo Lane and Hainesport-Mt. Laurel Road.
D’Antonio made a point to also say that the township’s is in good health financially, despite the township feeling the effects of the economy in recent years.
“We continue to feel the effects of the great recession on our tax collections, but our manager and staff have worked hard to contain certain costs and manage our expenses,” he said.
D’Antonio talked about he wanted to serve his community in some way a few years back. That got him involved in the township and a seat on the council. However, he never could imagine that he would be the mayor just a few years later.
“I chose to live in this town because of where it is and because of the community,” D’Antonio said. “To be the leader of this town is just a great feeling.”
With D’Antonio moving up to the mayor’s seat, council chose Irwin Edelson as the township’s new deputy mayor.
In Other News:
• As part of its reorganization, the township made a series of professional appointments to the township for 2014. Township Manager Maureen Mitchell also received verbal approval from council for her own appointments for township engineer, treasurer, clean communities coordinator, recycling coordinator, affirmative action officer and public agency compliance officer.
• Mt. Laurel is making a small change to its meetings for 2014. The township will not hold separate work session meetings. D’Antonio said work sessions will be incorporated into the regular meetings, which are held twice a month.
• The next Mt. Laurel council meeting is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. at the Mt. Laurel Municipal Center.
