In 1996, Democratic Councilman William Neary was elected Mayor along with Democrats Donald Klemp and Edwin Brautman. Democrat Meryle Asaro was appointed to fill the Council seat vacated by Mayor Neary for the coming year and was re-elected the following year to complete his term.

The East Brunswick voters had sent a strong message that they had enough of the Republicans who controlled the Mayor and Council. The people were unhappy with the Republican-created problems such as the Rain Forest night club, the 1995 budget crisis, the obtrusive PNC Bank sign, lack of road maintenance, escalating property taxes, etc., as well as a general lack of vision.

The Democrats promised change and a simple 4 point platform of

• Open Space to control residential development
• Improved Roads
• Open Government
• Fiscal Responsibility

The Democrats promised AND DELIVERED!

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• Reduced municipal tax rate by 1¢ in first year in office (1997)
• Overall municipal tax rate increase of only 13¢ over 8 years (1997-2004) (vs. 20¢ increase over 6 years during Republican control). This was accomplished, in part, by
  • Reducing several high paying positions
  • Combining departments (e.g. Parks and Public Works) for more cost efficient operation
  • Imposing hiring freeze for the past several years
  • Limiting travel and other expenses
  • Utilizing inter-local agreements with the County, Board of Education and other Municipalities to reduce costs
  • Utilizing fund balances from various accounts rather than hold on to taxpayer dollars

• Because of the Democrats Open Space purchases, Farmland preservation, 6 acre zoning and other efforts, the number of residential building approvals was dramatically reduced. Compare the Democratic record to the prior Republican administration
  • Democrats 1997 to 2004 : 377 approvals
  • Republicans 1990 to 1996 : 1260 approvals

• Successfully proposed an Open Space referendum in 1998 which was overwhelmingly approved by voters. Along with that 2¢ dedicated tax, the Democrats successfully leveraged funding from the State and County to enable us to purchase hundreds of acres of land to preserve as Open Space. This includes,
  • Kelemen Farm (27 acres)
  • Lapinski Farm (45 acres)
  • Elks property (10 acres near Farrington Lake)
  • Halka property (6 acres near Dunhams Corner Road)
  • Heavenly Farms (147 acres)
  • Giamarese (42 acres in Farmland Preservation)
  • Commercial property near High School used for snow sledding
  • Fairground property that connects Heavenly Farms to Dideriksen Park
• The Democrats were able to leverage $5 million to acquire over $35 million in Open Space property
• Rezoned nearly 25% of the Township (the rural preservation area on the western part of town) from 1 acre density to a much lower  6 acre (1 house per 6 acres) density. Not only does this reduce potential development, but preserves an environmentally sensitive area.

• Improvements to several Township parks,
  • Lenape Park
  • Welsh Park
  • Sadowski Park
  • Country Lane Park
  • Dideriksen Park
  • Pine Ridge Park
• Built Skate Park
• Built bike path from Municipal center to Brunswick Square Mall
• Provided funding assistance to several PTA sponsored school playground improvements
  • Lawrencebrook (S.P.A.C.E.)
  • Central School
  • Bowne-Munro School
  • Chittick School
• Built Butterfly Park
• Purchase of Heavenly Farms as center of recreation
  • Multi-use Athletic Fields
  • Dog Park
  • Multi-purpose Center (Theater, meeting rooms, etc.)

• Appropriated at least one million dollars each years since 1997 for road improvements
  (FYI - $1,000,000 fixes about 6 miles of road)
• Successfully fought for replacement of RT18 bridge
• Several intersection improvements
  • Ryders Lane/Dunhams Corner Road
  • Ryders Lane/Summerhill Road
  • Ryders Lane/Milltown Road (in progress)
  • RT18/Tices Lane
  • Summerhill Road/Old Stage (in engineering stage)
• Installed countdown display timers at certain intersections to assist pedestrian crossing

• Live telecast of Council meetings
• Township website
• Meetings with neighborhood groups and homeowners associations to address their concerns
• Encouraged developers to have open forums to discuss their proposals with residents before they begin their Planning Board application process
• Homeowner home improvement seminars
• Quarterly Township newsletter

• Sidewalk Improvement and Repair program
• Senior medical transportation service
• Defibrillators
• 2 new buses for Senior Center transportation
• Full time cook for Senior Center
• Modernized kitchen in Senior Center
• Visual Arts fair
• Timer displays at busy intersections
• 9/11 Memorial honoring the East Brunswick World Trade Center victims (funded without taxpayer dollars by obtaining corporate contributions)
• Bike Path