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On New Years Day of this year, I was honored to become the
President of the New Jersey Conference of Mayors. As
President of the leading Mayor’s organization, it is a
great honor for our family. What a great way to end 16
years as mayor of Cape May Point. I will be retiring
this May, and there is nothing like going out on top!
Cape May Point is the most southern, and one of the
smallest communities with 271 residents, expanding to
3500 in the summer. Most people don’t realize that in
latitude, distance from the equator, Cape May Point
lies only 2.5 miles north of the
Washington
Monument.
We
are most proud of the rebuilding of the entire
infrastructure of our community during my tenure. In a
small community, this mayor meets with the public
works employees at
8am, then goes to Town Hall and works until
5pm.
I don’t have the luxury of having a secretary or
administrative assistant to share with the daily
governing. We are proud of having fine tuned shared
services with our neighbors who provide police,
EMS,
and 33 other essential services. As our 45th
Anniversary Conference theme states; “The buck
stops and starts in the mayor’s office”, and
that is truly the case in Cape May Point.
As
your president, I had the pleasure last month in
joining many mayors at the United States Conference of
Mayors winter meting in Washington DC. This mayor from
one of the smallest communities was rubbing shoulders
with mayors and world leaders as an equal. This was
such an awesome experience. A mayor is a mayor, and
size doesn’t matter.
On behalf of our Officers and Directors, we thank Mayor
Angelo Corradino for his leadership as President over
the last year. Angelo served Manville Borough with
distinct honor for 15 years. We wish him and Ida well,
and hope that he stays active in NJCM.
During 16 years as a mayor, I worked closely with
Executive Director Donald Fauerbach, having served as
a board member, representing Cape May County. We are
currently in a transition period at NJCM as Don has
decided to move on to a new position as the General
Manager of the
New Jersey
Motorsports
Park
in Millville.
Don
came to us under the presidency of Mike Voll in 1992.
Mike and Don made many positive changes that have
brought the New Jersey Conference Mayors to where it
is today. During Donald’s tenure, he implemented many
innovative programs, one of which is a first class
Executive Summit, held for 15 years at his residence,
and now at beautiful
Viking
Village on Long Beach Island, and the Mayors’ annual 3
day conference at Trump Taj Mahal in
Atlantic City.
In addition, he secured new offices directly across
from the Sate House to accommodate mayoral needs in
Trenton.
Under Don’s leadership, the New Jersey Conference of
Mayors is recognized by USCM as the most productive
Mayors organization in the Nation. Tom Cochran, USCM
Executive Director, says “if we had a Don Fauerbach in
the other 49 states, we could set the nation’s agenda
as mayors”. We are going to miss Don, however there is
nothing like fulfilling one’s dreams and he is doing
that as the New Jersey Motorsports Park, a development
that has been supported by this organization for 16
years.
In
closing, I thank the officers, directors, and staff
for their support during my 4 month presidency. We
welcome Mayor Colleen Mahr of Fanwood Borough who will
be sworn in as NJCM President during our 45th
Anniversary Conference. Colleen, we wish you well as
you become the leader of the finest mayors’
organization in this nation.
Most
sincerely,
Malcolm Fraser, President, NJCM |
