Bencivengo vows to remember Hamilton's working class

Sen. Peter Inverso, left, and U.S. Rep. Chris Smith

Strengthened by what he described as a "shared vision with my people, a cause to be accomplished and a dream come true," John Bencivengo officially became mayor of Hamilton today as he was sworn in by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith in the ballroom of the Nottingham Firehouse in front of a crowd of 350 people.

"I wish that I could have given a more cheerful address today," said Bencivengo in a nod to the town’s $10 million budget deficit. "But even if our fiscal circumstances had been better, even if we had ample surplus, I’d be saying the same things. It should be our goal, no matter the circumstances, to do more with less."

The former Republican Party municipal chairman and fired government worker ran and won on a platform of restoring common sense and accountability to government. Today Bencivengo swore always to remember that working families fund the town, and promised to present the 2009 budget on time in July.

He made the second of these vows in defiance of the record of his predecessor, Glen Gilmore, who sat on the document last year until a judge ruled he had to release it to the Township Council prior to the November election. The release of the 2008 budget, which initially showed a $5 million shortfall, helped propel the Republican Bencivengo to victory over Gilmore by fewer than 500 votes.

"Fiscal integrity," said the newly sworn in mayor. "I’ve spent my life in private business and I’ve never heard anyone but professional politicians use that term. Most of them are men who have never spent a single moment worrying how to keep their businesses alive, or their checkbooks balanced, or their mortgages paid."

Bencivengo said the full, independently assessed audit means that Hamilton in fact faces a $10 million budget deficit, or the worst fiscal crisis in the town’s history, the new mayor said.

He said his new administration would submit the Gilmore administration’s unfinished budget within the next 30 days, and regarding his own approach to the 2009 budget document, "If we have a problem, the people will know it because I will tell them," he said.

In a dig at Gilmore, Bencivengo added, "The council won’t have to sue me to get information to which they’re rightfully entitled."

Gilmore, who served two terms as mayor, didn’t attend Tuesday’s reorganization meeting. One of the Republicans running on the ticket that bumped off Gilmore’s Democratic allies in the last municipal election, Councilman Tom Goodwin rounded out Bencivengo’s grim portrait when he described public works equipment that is outdated and in dire need of replacement.

U.S. Rep. Smith also swore in new council people Kelly Yaede and Kevin Meara, and the latter likewise presented an almost insurmountable situation in which the public wants "less construction but more commercial ratables, better services and lower taxes."

Meara lauded former Hamilton Mayor Jack Rafferty and didn’t totally pan Gilmore, whom he said did "some good things."

Celebrated on stage for his 15 years in the state Senate, retiring Sen. Peter Inverso acknowledged several standing ovations from a crowd that included his successor, Sen.-elect Bill Baroni, Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes, and Assemblyman-elect Wayne DeAngelo.

"We can do this," said Bencivengo. "We can get through this... We are better prepared than many communities to weather the crisis because of who we are. Hamilton Township is a middle class community. We roll up our sleeves and we work hard here. Our people... expect us to make the same hard decisions that they have to make everyday."