Democrats used to feel pretty lonely in Morris Township. On Thursday, they found plenty to celebrate.
Mayor Jeff Grayzel threw a fundraising party to mark year one of Democratic control of the Township committee, a governing body that once was a GOP bastion.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-11th Dist.) sent video congratulations from Washington.
Hours earlier, William “Bud” Ravitz filed a legal challenge which, if successful in reversing his 15-vote election defeat, would give Democrats all five Township committee seats for the first time.
Voter registration numbers, meanwhile, show Democrats outnumbering their Republican neighbors by several hundred voters in the affluent community of 22,500.
Grayzel, a veteran of nine elections, three recounts and one court-ordered special election (he won), was so happy with this turn of events that he even took a turn onstage with the band Not Enough Jeffs— after announcing another first to the crowd at Morristown’s Laundromat bar.
On Jan. 7, 2020, he will trade places with Deputy Mayor Cathy Wilson — who will become the first Democratic woman to serve as Township mayor.
In the Township’s form of government, the committee chooses one of its members as mayor. The mayor runs municipal meetings and represents the Township at official functions.
“We’ve divided and we’ve conquered,” Grayzel said. “You won’t believe what we’re going to get done in 2020.”
Wilson is determined to give residents all she’s got. But there’s one thing she promises they won’t get.
She has no intention of continuing the tradition of musical mayors that includes Grayzel (keyboard) and former GOP mayors Dan Caffrey (guitar) and Kathleen Ginty Hyland, the Township’s first female mayor (and a pretty fair trumpet player).
“I played field hockey, not an instrument. That’s not helpful at parties,” joked Wilson, a former social studies teacher.
Wilson and fellow Democrat John Arvanites paved the way for the Democrats’ resurgence with their 2017 election, cracking GOP dominance of the Township committee.
A year later, Grayzel was elected to his third non-consecutive term, along with Democratic newcomer Mark Gyorfy. For the first time in memory, the committee had a blue majority.
The lone Republican, Peter Mancuso, a former mayor, now awaits the outcome of Ravitz’ court challenge over “Gluegate”– rejected unsealed ballots that Ravitz blames on faulty envelopes provided by Morris County.
Wilson ran three times before winning a committee seat on her fourth try, advocating for more transparency in local government.
When the all-Republican committee declined to broadcast municipal meetings, she recruited volunteers to shoot videos and launched the Friends of Televised Access in Morris Township channel on YouTube to share them.
Wilson is a member of several local organizations, including the League of Women Voters, the Morris Township Seniors Club, the Washington Association of New Jersey, and the Morris County Historical Society.
She also graduated from the EMERGE New Jersey program, which trains women in how to run for office.
The Township committee plans a corporate-style year-end report at its Dec. 18 meeting, and will present its 2020 agenda when Wilson is sworn in as mayor on Jan. 7.
“We have really worked hard this year and we’ve worked smart, too,” said Wilson. “We’re all really proud of what we’ve accomplished, it’s been a true team effort. We look forward to another great year in 2020.”
