LAKE COMO — After decades of service to the community, Council President Douglas Witte has decided “it is time to move on,” announcing that he will not be running for reelection to the borough council this year.
“There comes a time in life where it is time to move on, after 33 years as councilman and 55 years of community service to the residents of South Belmar/Lake Como,” Councilman Witte announced during his report at the council’s March 4 meeting. “The town that I grew up in, the town that I raised my family in, and more importantly the town that I love – I have decided that I will not be running for reelection but I will stay on until the end of my 33rd year.”
Rather than step down from the dais, Councilman Witte will see out the rest of his term, which is set to expire at the end of the year, after his 2022 election win, and will not be running for reelection to his seat in the November general election. His last council meeting will be on Dec. 16.
Mayor Kevin Higgins said, “Since I took over as mayor in 2018, there has been nobody – even though you sit on the left side – there is nobody that has been more at my right side on this council or in this town than you.”
“Through summers, through parades, through water projects, through COVID,” the mayor said, “I get a call from Doug just about every week saying, ‘Is there anything you need, is there anything I can do?’”
“I could not have done this without you and I know a lot of people that had come before me could not have done this without you,” he said. “So it is bittersweet to say congratulations, it is bittersweet to say goodbye – even though you’re not going anywhere for a little while – but on behalf of the council, on behalf of the citizens of Lake Como and South Belmar, thank you is the least we can say at this point.”
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