Governor Murphy Calls Fanwood Mayor His 'Hero,' 'Rock Star'

FANWOOD, NJ — Governor Phil Murphy and Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (District 12) swore in Mayor Colleen Mahr and council members during the reorganization meeting on Sunday.

"These are two of my heroes, two rock stars," Murphy said of Mahr and Coleman.

Murphy went on to praise Fanwood and Mahr's efforts as mayor.

"In so many respects Fanwood is the quintessential New Jersey community," Murphy said. "You can probably say that about Union County as a county and certainly Fanwood as a community. You don't get re-elected time and time again unless you are one heck of a leader and Colleen is that."

Mahr was sworn into her fifth term as mayor of Fanwood following an uncontested November election.

"This year is the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote and here in Fanwood the equality is realized," Mahr said. "If you look to my right and left you see a majority of women up here in 2020... Today we celebrate the strong women not only of this council but of Fanwood."

Additionally Democrats Katherine Mitchell and Francine Glaser were sworn into office by Coleman. Both Mitchell and Glaser beat out Republicans Brian Walter and Jay Morris for the two open three-year council seats. (See Related: Fanwood Council: Democrats Take The Win)

During the meeting, Erin McElroy-Barker was also elected as Council President and Fanwood fire and EMS officials were sworn in.

Mahr noted some of her priorities that she plans to tackle during her new term including: continuing the downtown enhancement on South Avenue, making sure NJ transit works with Fanwood more to make improvements to the train station and Martine Avenue overpass, look for more grants for downtown, address the vaping epidemic in schools, and more.

The meeting was also attended by several mayors from nearby towns including Westfield Mayor Shelley Brindle, Cranford Mayor Patrick Giblin, Roselle Mayor Christine Dansereau, Scotch Plains Mayor Al Smith, Garwood Mayor Sara Todisco, Linden Mayor Derek Armstead, and Hillside Mayor Dahlia Vertreese.

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