Diem up for challenge as council prez for '08
BY VINCENT TODARO Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK - After five years on the Township Council, Catherine Diem is excited to take her first turn as its president.

The Democratic councilwoman was elected president for 2008 during Monday's Township Council meeting. She previously served for two years as council vice president. Councilwoman Nancy Pinkin served as president for the past two years.

In East Brunswick, the council president has the job of deciding what items will be on meeting agendas, and also chairs the council meetings, which can sometimes be raucous, particularly in elections years such as this one. Mayor William Neary's seat will be up for grabs this November, along with the council seats of Pinkin and Donald Klemp.

Diem told the Sentinel she is looking forward to serving in the leadership role.

"I like to think in terms of moving the town forward," she said.

Diem will continue the format recently instituted whereby the council holds combined agenda/action meetings. In addition, she said she will continue listing items for "discussion" on meeting agendas. That process was started last year while Pinkin was council president, and allows the council a chance to discuss issues before any action needs to be taken. The council held a number of discussions last year, sometimes on controversial items.

Diem was nominated by Pinkin and was elected by the council in a 5-0 vote. Klemp, the outgoing vice president, nominated Edward Luster for that seat, and the council again voted 5-0 in favor.

Diem said she is not sure if there will be any obstacles for her as council president this year, though she did say being a first-time president is a challenge. She did chair a handful of meetings as vice president when the president was not in attendance.

"Sometimes it is a bit of a challenge running a meeting with people who are pretty passionate about an issue," Diem said.

Neary congratulated Diem and Luster on being elected, and thanked Pinkin and Klemp for their time in the leadership roles.

Neary said he is sure Diem and Luster will do a great job in their new roles. In East Brunswick, the president and vice president usually serve two consecutive years, though there have been exceptions.