Councilman Jon Peters was elected president of the Fair Haven Council yesterday after Mayor Mike Halfacre tossed a coin to break a 2-2 tie, today’s Asbury Park Press reports:
The vote was split between veteran Councilman Jerome Koch, who was re-elected in November, and Peters.
Councilman John Lehnert seconded Koch’s nomination, but then abstained from the final vote.
Halfacre said he flipped the coin to avoid alienating anyone.
Under Fair Haven’s form of government, Halfacre votes only to break a tie.
“I can’t pick one over the other. We have to work together,” Halfacre said. “I left it to fate.”
Peters replaced Councilman Thomas Gilmour as council president. Gilmour resigned effective Wednesday.
Peters is an an assistant professor of finance at the College of Staten Island who has published articles and lectured on historic preservation, corporate finance and regional planning issues.