Padraic Millet, new Borough Council member

We have a new borough council member in Highland Park: Padraic Millet. Padraic says he is stepping up to do his civic duty. Best wishes to you in this endeavor.

Story from Home News Tribune:

By TOM CAIAZZA
STAFF WRITER

HIGHLAND PARK — The Borough Council appointed a new member to replace departing council member Fern Goodhart on the same night Mayor Meryl Frank was sworn in for an unprecedented third term.

Padraic Millet, a committee member for borough Democrats who is a facilities administrator for Rutgers University, was sworn in as councilman during Monday’s council reorganization meeting. Millet, 49, was chosen over two other candidates selected by the Democratic Committee as possible replacements for Goodhart.

Millet, a borough resident for 14 years, has several years’ experience serving on the Zoning Board and the Democratic Committee. He said civic duty was his reason for standing as a candidate.

“Now I’m stepping up to do my part,” he said.

Millet, who will use his construction background to head up the borough’s Code Enforcement Committee, said his desire to be a councilman is simple.

“I live on a quiet, dead-end street on the south side of town,” he said.

“It’s worth working to keep.”

As she begins her third term as mayor, Frank views her November election as a confirmation that the public approves of the groundwork set over the last eight years.

“I think the message was loud and clear,” Frank said, “that the people like the way the community is going, and they want to continue it.”

She said the third term may not consist of the sweeping policies that have defined her first two terms in office but will involve efforts to ensure that work continues.

“This third term is a confirmation that we are on the right track,” she said.

Millet replaced Goodhart, the winner of an uncontested re-election bid in November. She resigned to take a year-long fellowship in Washington, D.C., with the American Health Association. Goodhart plans to move to the Washington, D.C., area for the year and will be unable to conduct her duties as councilwoman.