In light of the recent passing of former Roselle Mayor Anthony Amalfe, Councilwoman Cynthia Dobbins Johnson made time to honor the four living former mayors at a recent council meeting.
Johnson presented a plaque of gratitude to former Mayor Garrett Smith, former Mayor Joe Picaro and former Mayor Jamel Holley.
Former Mayor Christine Dansereau was also honored, but she was absent due to dental surgery.
Smith, who served as Roselle’s mayor from 2003 through 2011, was succeeded by Holley. Dansereau became the mayor in 2015 after Holley resigned to take his seat in the State Assembly.
Joe Picaro, the last principal of St. Patrick High School in Elizabeth, and the first headmaster of the Partick School there, was also honored among the city’s former chief executives.
Apart from the council meeting, Holley, Smith, and Dansereau announced their support for city council candidates Brandis A. Puryear and Travis Amaker, the column C candidates running under the slogan, “Democrats for change.”
Puryear, a detective sergeant in the Irvington Police Department with 17 years of law enforcement experience, is running for the Democratic nomination for Roselle Borough Council for an at-large position while in the Fourth Ward, Amaker hopes to utilize his 15 years in government service, which includes training security personnel for the Hudson County Sheriff’s Department.
The incumbent council members acknowledged that support for their primary opponents by offering a cold—some said rude—reception to the elder statesmen.
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