Neptune makes history with newest Township Committee member
NEPTUNE - The Township Committee appointed zoning board member Derel Stroud to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation of Nicholas Williams, and for the first time in Neptune history, the majority of the committee is African American.
Mayor Tassie York, Deputy Mayor Robert Lane, Keith Cafferty, and Kevin McMillan chose Stroud out of three candidates at the Feb. 12 meeting. York and McMillan are Black, while Lane and Cafferty are white.
"Hold me accountable," Stroud said. "My integrity is there, I am available, accessible and approachable. Reach out to me about anything and don't ever feel like you are not heard. Nobody tells me what to do and I make decisions for myself. With that said, you can't get anywhere without working together."
As of the 2020 Census, about 31.4% of Neptune's population identified as Black, with an additional 7.1% identifying with two or more races. A total of 16.4% identified as Latino or Hispanic, 2.3% as Asian, and a majority of 54.3% identified as white (48.2% identified as white alone, not Latino or Hispanic)
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"I ran for this position to work on behalf of the residents. When I found myself in the top three with two other great candidates I said to myself it is in God's hands. I will let my work speak for itself," Stroud said. "I am just honored to be in this position."
Williams, who said he resigned for health reasons, would have been up for re-election this year. Because he is a Democrat, representatives of the local Democratic Party selected three candidates for the Township Committee to pick from to succeed him, they included Stroud, Ava Johnson, and Jason Jones, all three of whom are Black.
All the sitting members of Township Committee are Democrats as well.
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York said she is very proud of Stroud but said "it was a very hard decision because we had some excellent candidates."
"The unfortunate thing about (politics) is that sometimes people don't know when to stop, they don't know when we have family members and they say things that they shouldn't say, but I am grateful to know each and every one of those candidates on a personal level and I am so grateful Derel is here with us," York said.
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This is the second time in two months the township committee had to fill a vacancy. The first came when Committeeman Michael Brantley's seat was declared vacant in November after an illness kept him away from township meetings since June. Brantley died on Jan. 6 at age 79.
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Charles Daye is the metro reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. @CharlesDayeAPP Contact him: CDaye@gannettnj.com
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Newest Neptune Township Committee member is historic choice
