Scharfenberger elected to 2nd term as mayor Middletown will pursue interlocal agreements to hold down taxes BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer Asort of passing of the torch occurred during the Middletown Township reorganization meeting on Jan. 6 at town hall. Instead of a torch, outgoing Committeeman Thomas Hall passed on the township's code book to incoming Committeeman Sean Byrnes, who now takes Hall's seat. "My job every year is to update that code book for the township," Hall said. "I am proud to say that I am giving it to Mr. Byrnes fully updated, and that it's now his responsibility." The comment drew laughs throughout the packed Town Hall, where many people were forced to stand in the hallway due to the large crowd in attendance. Byrnes was sworn in to the committee seat with the oath of office administered by Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula (D-17). After being sworn in for his three-year term, Byrnes thanked the voters for their support, as well the current Township Committee for reaching out to him upon being elected. "I just want to let you all know after I was elected, each of them called me, offered their assistance and their help," Byrnes said. "So sometimes it may appear [to have been] contentious here in the past when events take place, and part of that is part of our system. You can rest assured that each of these people reached out, offered to help, and I think that is a very positive sign going forward." Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger was next to be sworn in for his second, three-year term on the committee, with the oath of office administered by Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-13). Scharfenberger, who read his speech as outgoing mayor earlier, stepped in front of the people in attendance for the second time that day to speak. "I want to start out by saying that serving as the mayor of Middletown has certainly been one of the most difficult and challenging things I have ever done," Scharfenberger said. "But it has also been one of the most rewarding things, and for that I will be eternally grateful for having been given this opportunity." The next order of business at the meeting was to elect a mayor, as Scharfenberger was selected to serve a second term. Scharfenberger received three yes votes cast by himself, Deputy Mayor Pamela Brightbill and Committeeman Thomas Wilkens. Byrnes and Committeeman Patrick Short voted no, and Short nominated Wilkens for the position. Byrnes agreed with Short, saying he felt that electing Wilkens would bring a fresh face to the mayor's position. "I saw a lot of contentiousness in the meetings," Byrnes said. "I thought it's important to nominate someone who doesn't have that history of contentiousness." Once reelected, Scharfenberger thought it amusing that he was to speak for a third time during the first hour of the. "Welcome to my world," Scharfenberger said. "I know the Giants game is coming closer to starting, so I will get on with it, without further ado." In Scharfenberger's remarks as incoming mayor, he spoke of how he approaches issues with two concepts: reality and common sense. "For instance, the reality of life in New Jersey in the year 2008 is that property taxes are suffocating the life out of the residents, and the majority in state government appears to be clueless as to how to reverse the situation," Scharfenberger said. "To make [matters] worse, the state is burdening local government with unfunded mandates, expensive COAH obligations and immense pension contribution requirements. While we strive to keep taxes down, the state takes it upon itself to raise taxes at the municipal level." He said that only viable, workable ideas and realistic solutions will end spiraling property taxes. "To help cut costs, we will aggressively pursue the expansion or addition of new interlocal agreements between Middletown and other municipalities to help maintain the same level of services while sharing the cost of labor," Scharfenberger said. "Our newest committee member, Sean Byrnes, has agreed to seek out new sources of revenue to pay for essential services and state mandates to help avoid a state-sanctioned tax increase." Deputy Mayor Brightbill was unanimously re-elected to her position. In her speech, she too took the time to congratulate all of the people in the room who were selected to positions in Middletown. "We are fortunate that many of the people here give their time and energy to Middletown," Brightbill said. "I know I've met and spoken to many of you and I look forward to meeting many of you as well."