Team effort
The mayor delivered her 2019 State of the Township address at the Stone Terrace banquet hall before a business friendly audience following a catered lunch. The Hamilton Township Economic Development Advisory Commission organized the event with assistance from the Hamilton Partnership, Shop Hamilton, the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Capital Region Minority Chamber of Commerce.
Yes, the MIDJersey Chamber of Commerce had nothing to do with the event, because that organization has apparently disbanded and is effectively defunct as of September 2018, according to Lori Danko, chairwoman of the township’s Economic Development Advisory Commission.
Yaede said she will donate proceeds from Wednesday’s event to the Recovery Advocates of America, TOPAC (The Overdose Prevention Agency Corporation) and City of Angels, all of which are local organizations committed to combatting the opioid addiction and substance abuse crisis.
The chief operating officer for City of Angels is John Bencivengo, better known as the former Hamilton Township mayor who resigned from office in November 2012 after getting convicted on federal corruption charges.
Bencivengo attended Yaede’s address on Wednesday, saying he was grateful to have the current mayor’s support in the fight against opioid abuse. “I wanted to thank Kelly for thinking of us,” said Bencivengo, a certified addiction recovery coach. “You have to respect the office of mayor. You have to respect the mayor who is there now.”
In terms of Henderson launching a primary challenge against the incumbent Yaede, “He has a right to run for office,” Bencivengo said of the outspoken mayoral candidate.
Bencivengo said he supports Capodanno as a Hamilton Council candidate, saying the former councilman “stood up for me every single day” when he was pleading innocence in his bribery and money laundering case. But Bencivengo would not endorse anyone for the office of mayor: “The people of Hamilton Township,” he said, “will decide that.”
Former Hamilton Mayor Jack Rafferty, a Republican, also attended Yaede’s speech. Rafferty is publicly endorsing Yaede’s 2019 re-election campaign.