In Tinton Falls: Tobin Elected Council President
By ELAINE VAN DEVELDE
You can call him Brendan. You can call him Mr. Tobin. And now you can call Tinton Falls Councilman Brendan Tobin Mr. President.
Thats because Tobin was unanimously voted in as the boroughs new council president at Tuesdays meeting.
Council President Therese Cahill that she would be stepping down from the presidents post.
It just made the most sense, said Mayor Peter Maclearie after the meeting. Besides Therese, Brendan has the most experience. All the other council members are in their first year Mike Skudera, Kim Barrett and Paul Ford. Brendan is in his fourth.
And, according to Tobin, it will be his last. He said that, while he is honored to take the spot and will diligently serve the citizens of the borough, next year, when his four-year term ends, he will not seek re-election.
Brendan Tobin
Tobin was nominated for the presidents post by Councilman Paul Ford, who ran for election last year on a ticket with Mayor Maclearie and Councilwoman Kim Barrett. Tobin also worked on the Maclearie teams election campaign. Barrett, in turn, nominated Ford for the spot of deputy council president, which Tobin held until Tuesday.
Both votes, for president and deputy, were a unanimous 4-0. Cahill was absent from the meeting. When she announced that she would be stepping down as president, she also said she would be on vacation when the vote for the new president was slated to take place (at Tuesdays meeting). The fact that she would not be available to cast a vote, she had said, should not hinder council from proceeding. And council did proceed.
Council presidents are chosen by council vote on an annual basis. Its just a normal procedure, said Maclearie. There was nothing out of the ordinary about Therese stepping down from the post. It was just that the year was up and it was time to vote in someone new. She just wanted to let people know that she would be stepping down and that it would be fine for council to vote in a new president without her vote because she was scheduled to be on vacation.
Tinton Falls is run under a non-partisan Faulkner style of governing. In such a form of local government, the council president presides over the meetings and directs council. Elections are held in May and reorganizations take place in July. The mayor can, but is not required to, attend council meetings. He does, however, have veto power over ordinances and resolutions and is top administrator. Generally, the mayor does not participate in meetings, unless he is present and comments or questions are addressed to him. The council president handles all meeting matters.
Tobin, 43, of Chestnut Court, is a member of the Fort Monmouth Reuse Committee, a multi-government group formed to oversee the future redevelopment of Fort Monmouth. The owner/operator of his home-based business, The Tobin Group, which specializes in personal and professional development, is also a volunteer fireman with Tinton Falls Fire Company No. 1.
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