Peters begins a new full-time job Two decade run on Middletown committee comes to a close BY DAN NEWMAN Staff Writer New County Surrogate Rosemarie Peters (r) is sworn in by Judge Lawrence M. Lawson (l) with her husband, Tom, looking on. After serving Middletown for 18 years as a mayor, deputy mayor and committeewoman, Rosemarie Peters was sworn in as the new Monmouth County surrogate Thursday. Peters, 64, actually assumed her new office Jan. 2. According to the Monmouth County Directory, the county surrogate serves as the custodian of records for estates, wills, guardianships and adoptions. The surrogate's office also hears cases involving disputed estates or incompetency proceedings. "Everything that this office handles has to do with personal family situations," Peters said. "We're a very service-oriented office." Peters, whose term as surrogate runs five years, won the vacant seat in November. She said the biggest difference between township and county government will be the time aspect. "In Middletown when I was on the committee, there were so many night meetings and it's not like that in Freehold now. Plus, township government is not structured like this is. As a county official, this is now my full-time job. I'm expected to be here each day ready to go," Peters said. "I was so busy with being on the Township Committee and doing things associated with that, Inever really had a chance to put my education to use. … In the end, I felt like 18 years was long enough" - Rosemarie Peters "Still, I will miss Middletown greatly. It's where I live," Peters said. "When I started 18 years ago on the committee, there were people there then that are still around now. I will certainly miss the people I worked with in the township. If at all possible, I will try to be involved any way that I can." After her nearly two-decade run in municipal office, Peters decided to try and take a step up by running for a county position. Peters obtained her degree at Rutgers School of Law, Newark, in her 50s, and will now be able to put it to good use. "I was so busy with being on the Township Committee and doing things associated with that, I never really had a chance to put my education to use. I wanted to handle the priorities concerning that first. In the end, I felt like 18 years was enough," Peters said. "I knew that [former County Surrogate] Marie Muhler was leaving and so I thought now was the time. It was still an opportunity for me to hold public office," Peters said. Peters said she is proud of what she accomplished while serving on the Middletown Township Committee, such as the open space plan ("I set up the structure and I'm proud of that") and fulfilling the township's affordable housing obligation ("It's a very onerous burden on all municipalities"). She is also regretful for work that could not be finished on her watch, such as the opening of the township's Cultural Arts Center. "I really wish the center had opened while I was still on the committee. It's so close to being ready I can taste it," Peters said. "When the doors do open, the people will see that it really was all worth the wait." Since last week, Peters has taken the time to get acclimated to her new surroundings and her new position. "I'm now running an office of 19 people each day and that takes some getting used to," Peters said. "At this point I'm just trying to take things one step at a time."