Gloucester City Finally Has A Mayor
Thursday, June 24, 2021
William E. Cleary Sr. | CNBNews
GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (June 24, 2021)--It is official, Gloucester City's new mayor is Patrick Keating, longtime Gloucester City Democrat councilman, and a former Gloucester City Administrator. His term as councilman-at-large ends December 31, 2022.
As a councilman, he was the chairman of the Finance and Administration Committee, member of the Public Works and Housing Committees, School Board Liaison, and Zero Tolerance Board member.
Brian Morrell, city administrator, and the city police chief said Keating was sworn in at last week's caucus meeting.
He replaces Dan Spencer who resigned unexpectedly on April 26 via an announcement on his Facebook page. He officially stepped down on June 1. He said he was resigning because of family health reasons but didn't elaborate.
The rumor of who was going to be mayor started almost immediately after Spencer announced he was resigning. First, it was Councilman Bowie Johnson and a few days later the talk on the street was Keating. We have been asking Morrell for weeks if there was any word about who would take over the position. Today, just for the heck of it, we asked again and were surprised to learn that the mayor's position was finally filled; yet, there had been no public announcement. The mayor's primary duty, under the city's charter, is to oversee the police and fire departments. The city was without a mayor for approximately two weeks. And, Spencer was a "Lame Duck" since April 26.
There were approximately two years left on Spencer's four-year term as mayor. It is not clear if Keating will run in the November election for the remaining time of that term. And, it is not clear if someone will be appointed now to fill Keating's council seat, or, will they leave it empty until November's election.
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