Beck, Lare Take Office in Lower Township

VILLAS — Lower Township Mayor Michael E. Beck and Councilman-at-Large Kevin Lare received their oaths of office Monday before a jam-packed Township Hall audience.
Along with his wife Brenda and other family members, Beck invited his students from Star of the Sea School to go forward for the swearing-in ceremony.
“I want my other family up here, too,” he said.
“The more the merrier, the rest of the town can come up, too,” Beck joked.
Lare thanked volunteers that worked for the Beck-Lare campaign. He also thanked his wife Annette and his children Lindsey and Luke.
“I treasure and cherish the tremendous responsibility that the people have placed in me and the confidence and support to perform this task,” said Lare. “I take it very seriously and I am humbled by the opportunity to sit in this seat.”
Beck thanked his wife Brenda for her help and patience.
“It was never about myself or Kevin but rather about an idea that government derives its power from the people and as such, is to be there for them to make their lives a little easier and not there for any other purpose.”
He said it was an old fashioned idea but one he and Lare would use as their road marker over the next four years.
“Before we ask our residents to pay one more penny in taxes, we need to get our economic house in order,” said Beck.
Regionalization and shared services are legitimate options, he said.
Beck said tough economic times may be ahead but it offers a chance for real change and “to set the ship in right direction.”
He said he wanted the public to know it was their government. Beck said talented residents were waiting to see if the new administration was “something new and something different or the same old, same.”
“This is the time for people to step forward and help us,” he said.
Beck said Lower Township was more than a community, it was an extended family.
“As members of this family we need to see that helping and caring for each other is an obligation, not a option,” he said.
Citizen involvement and open government are changes desperately needed and will make a fundamental difference in how the township’s government operates, said Beck.
Council approved new appointments including Tony Monzo as township solicitor, Hatch Mott McDonald as engineers, Mary Bittner as municipal prosecutor and Christopher Gibson as public defender.