H.P. council appoints Nolan as mayor

Stephen Nolan was sworn in as Highland Park's interim mayor on January 21, receiving a round of standing applause from more than a hundred onlookers in Borough Hall. He replaced three-term mayor Meryl Frank who resigned her third mayoral term on January 5th for a presidential appointment to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

The interim appointment will expire with the November general election in 2010, when borough voters must elect a mayor to complete Frank's third term, through the beginning of 2012.

Mayor Nolan was the only candidate nominated by borough Democrats, and was unanimously approved by the Borough Council. However, the normal process is for the borough Democratic Committee to name three candidates to choose from. The council's action was delayed until January 20th in an attempt to find more mayoral candidates.

A life-long borough resident, Nolan graduated from Highland Park High School and Cook College at Rutgers, before attending law school in Virginia.

He served as a borough councilmember from 2003 to 2005, and more recently chaired the borough's Redevelopment Agency, working closley with Mayor Frank to pass the Downtown Redevelopment Plan. He resigned his position as councilman in 2005 to serve as an executive in the state Division of Consumer Affairs. Currently in private practice, he represents The Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in contracting affairs.

In his acceptance speech, Nolan said that he would continue Frank's 'Highland Park 2020' vision, with revitalizing a sustainable downtown a top priority in his administration. "If we continue to develop our downtown into a place where more people choose to live, that is safe and attractive for pedestrians, that incorporates trees and vegetation - a place where people want to come - our downtown will live up to its true potential." Nolan also pledged to "eliminate redundancies and cut waste."

Mayor Frank then praised Nolan, whom she met ten years ago while campaigning to be Highland Park's first female mayor. Frank presented Nolan with the keys to the borough, saying "I know you’re going to bring a breath of fresh air and a new vision to the borough, but to begin that vision, you need the keys to this municipality."