Ben Young to be Appointed Mayor Tonight

A longtime committeeman will be sworn in as mayor and a newcomer will be installed as Cinnaminson Township Committee reorganizes Monday evening.

William “Ben” Young, now in his eighth year of office, will be the township’s new mayor. Anthony Minniti will again serve as the township’s deputy mayor.

John McCarthy—a newcomer who ran unopposed along with Don Brauckmann in November’s election—will be the newest member of township committee. A seat was vacated when John Rooney did not seek re-election.

Historically, the deputy mayor from the year before, Minniti, would have succeeded to mayor. With Minniti wanting to focus on redevelopment, township committee decided they would appoint Young.

“It means I’m going to be busier,” laughed Young. “As mayor, you have the responsibility of signing off on contract agreements, doing public speaking and public events. You also have the ability to help set the agenda.”

He can also perform weddings at town hall.

Cinnaminson is a committee form of government with a weak mayor, which means the mayor is a voting member just like others on the dais. The voting public each November elects township committee members. Those members appoint a mayor each year.

This will be Young’s second time as mayor. The other time was in 2008.

Young will keep his post as director of public works. A major project Young plans to continue to tackle in 2013 is flooding issues around town—namely in the East Riverton section.

“We’re trying to improve conditions there and minimize flooding conditions with sluice gates,” Young said.

Stay tuned for a more in-depth story on that next week.

Minniti, who will remain the director of economic development, said he has “very ambitious redevelopment initiatives.”

They include special improvement districts around town, possibly making two other parts of Route 130 a redevelopment zone, and finally, start the process of naming Cinnaminson’s industrial area as a redevelopment district.

By naming areas as redevelopment districts, “it gives us access to all sorts of incentives and tools that can make developing these areas more attractive to developers,” Minniti said.

Stay turned for a more in-depth story on redevelopment next week.

Brauckmann will again be the director of parks and recreation. This year, health and senior services are added to those duties. His efforts will be focused on continuing to update the town’s parks and also, developing more activities and input from senior citizens, Brauckmann said.

McCarthy will assume Rooney’s former role as director of public safety, and work with the Cinnaminson Police Department.

Kathy Fitzpatrick will again be the director of administration. That role should prove to be a bigger one this year since the township now has the positions of chief financial officer and administrator nailed down. Plus, the department of community development is in place.

Richard Strobel will swear in both Brauckmann and McCarthy. Brad Smith will swear in Young as mayor. Burlington County Freeholder Joseph Donnelly will swear in Minniti.

Cinnaminson’s 153rd reorganization meeting is open to the public and will be held at 6:30 p.m., Monday, Jan. 7, at the township municipal building.