Raeanne Raccagno
Copy Editor
Two Ewing Council members will be stationed at Dunkin Donuts locations to share coffee and conversations with Ewing residents during New Jersey’s Local Government Week.
New Jersey’s Local Government Week is from April 6-12. According to the New Jersey State League of Municipalities’ website, the week is “a time for municipalities to encourage civic education, community collaboration, volunteerism, and local pride.”
One of the events the Ewing council is hosting this week is “Coffee with Ewing Council,” from April 9-11. Council President Jennifer Keyes-Maloney and Councilwoman Kathleen Wollert hosted the first coffee get-together on April 9 from 8-10 a.m. at the Dunkin Donuts on Grand Ave.
“I think it gives a chance for our residents to meet us on a very personal level and talk to us as individuals in an informal setting,” Wollert said. “I think sometimes conversations are easier and more productive than in a formal business meeting setting.”
Wollert also said that she and other Council members engaged and had community discussions in their everyday life activities, like her yoga classes or grocery shopping.
“Sometimes people don't realize that our Council meetings, yes, they are public meetings, but they are business meetings,” Wollert said. “It's more specific to what's being considered at that meeting, and then they're not confined either to this period of time, where you have five minutes to talk.”
This was the first time the Council hosted a coffee conversation event during Local Government Week, and both councilwomen said they see the Council continuing to hold events like this in the future outside of the week.
“It’s nice to have a one-on-one, I think this is wonderful,” Christine Kamph, a Ewing resident for 25 years, said. “It’s nice to put faces to the names.”
Kamph was excited to comment on how much she loves the new signage and website design for Ewing.
“People don't always know what local government does,” Keyes-Maloney said. “So there are things that oftentimes we have folks come into our Council meetings thinking that we control them, and we don't. Or we do, and then we can do something about it.”
Keyes-Maloney mentioned how they’re moving through the budget right now and when community members see their taxes go up, they will go to the Council. The Council will then explain the different tax components and how and why they may go up.
The president has been serving on the board for 13 years and has lived in Ewing since around 1976, and the councilwoman has been living in Ewing since she was 11 years old and has been serving on the board for almost 30 years.
Wollert said she’s seen the community change in multiple ways throughout her life with things like the population, appearance and the different needs of people who have lived and worked in the township.
“We are a community and I see them do pretty awesome things…people show up and they help each other. Remember we had the explosion all those years ago. The outpouring for their neighbors is incredible,” Keyes-Maloney said. “We kind of undersell ourselves; there are other towns that oversell themselves.”
