Committee will choose new member

The Township Committee in Freehold Township has been presented with the names of three residents from which to choose a replacement for Raymond Kershaw. A decision is expected on July 7.

Kershaw, who served on the committee since 1991, died June 9.

Members of the Freehold Township Republican Executive Committee met to select the names of three people to forward to the Township Committee.

The person selected by the Township Committee will serve the remainder of Kershaw's term through 2009.

According to Republican Party Chairman Thomas Apostle, the names presented to the township officials are Robert Mc- Girr, Stephen Walsh and Michael Toto.

McGirr, a lifelong resident of Monmouth County, has owned and operated the Clayton and McGirr Funeral Home in Freehold Township since 1979.

He is currently chairman of the Freehold Township Planning Board, chairman of the CentraState Healthcare System Foundation board of trustees and a member and past president of the Sunrise Optimist Club of Freehold.

McGirr is a former member of the YMCA of Western Monmouth County board of directors and a former member of the Freehold Township Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Walsh is a strategic adviser and client executive at the Exeter Group, a Massachusetts based management consulting firm, which he joined in 2006, taking the position of managing director. The firm specializes in strategic planning and information technology services within the higher education sector.

He currently serves as a trustee for the board of directors of the CentraState Healthcare System and in this capacity is also the chairman of the Quality Patient Care Committee and vice chairman of the Audit Committee and the Legislative Affairs Committee.

Walsh served on the Freehold Township Zoning Board of Adjustment from 2003- 06. He currently serves as a commissioner for the Freehold Township Board of Parks and Recreation.

Toto works as an assistant planner, Modern Sportswear, at Lord & Taylor in New York City. He graduated from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 2006.

Apostle said the candidates for the open seat are all impressive individuals and said all three men "in general, have various levels of expertise and will work toward providing good government for the residents of Freehold Township.

"We will not have Ray Kershaw. His knowledge and expertise were second to none," Apostle said. "But the candidates all bring a lot of the same knowledge and the residents will still be provided with good government."

Apostle said the Republican Executive Committee is made up of one Republican woman and one Republican man from each of the 26 voting districts in Freehold Township.

The three names selected by the Republican Executive Committee were submitted to the Township Committee by Apostle on June 24. He said the three men will each go through a screening process and an interview with members of the governing body.

The Township Committee is expected to name a new member during a special meeting that has been scheduled for July 7 at 6:30 p.m.