The mayor, seen below in his biking gear, was a no-show Monday night and his nameplate sat on a shelf behind the council dais. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
He’s yet to resign, but the Asbury Park Press says Fair Haven’s Mayor Mike Halfacre now has been formally named to a post in the Christie Administration that will require him to step down from his elected post.
Halfacre, who apparently jumped the gun last week by announcing his new job as head of the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control on Facebook before his appointment was made official by the governor’s office, did not appear at Monday night’s meeting of the borough council.
Borough officials who appeared not to know of the latest Press report told redbankgreen on the condition of anonymity that Trenton had asked Halfacre to “lie low and not do anything mayoral” while his appointment was being finalized.
According to the Press, Christie announced Halfacre’s nomination to succeed Jerry Fisher as head of the ABC on Monday evening and transmitted the nomination to the state Senate.
The ABC, a unit of the Attorney General’s office, regulates liquor licenses.
Halfacre, who would also have to put his private law practice on hold and step down from appointed posts as municipal prosecutor in Rumson and Little Silver to take the job, did not return a call seeking comment Monday night.
A lifelong borough resident, Halfacre was elected mayor in 2006 and re-elected in 2010. He came up short of the Republican nomination in a bid for a Congressional seat in 2010.
Upon his resignation, which town officials said had not been submitted Monday night, the local Republican Club is expected to forward three names for consideration to serve as mayor until the next general election in November.
