BOONTON — Republican Mark Wrobel was sworn in Monday, August 17, to fill the Boonton Town Council seat left vacant by the death of former Mayor Cy Wekilsky, giving him nearly three months of incumbency ahead of the November general election.
Wrobel is the Republican nominee for a full term representing the town’s First Ward. He faces Democrat Melissa DiSalvo, who came within one vote of defeating Wekilsky two years ago.
Wekilsky, an enduring and well-liked figure in Boonton politics, died last month following an illness. He was 89.
Democrats hold a 5-2 majority on the council, while Mayor James Lynch is a Republican. After Wekilsky’s death, the local Republican county committee submitted three candidates to fill the vacancy, leaving Democrats to decide whether to appoint Wrobel and provide him with an advantage in November.
Wrobel has lived in Boonton for more than 46 years and graduated from the town’s public schools. He has served on the combined Planning Board and Board of Adjustment since 2018 and has nearly three decades of experience in corporate and commercial real estate finance and business management. He has operated a small business in Boonton since 2021.
Wekilsky won his final election in 2024 after a recount gave him a 645-644 victory over DiSalvo. The initial count had the race tied.
A former school board member, Wekilsky first won election to the Board of Aldermen in 1988 and served as mayor from 2006 until 2015. He returned to the governing body in 2016 and remained there after Boonton changed the name of its municipal legislature from the Board of Aldermen to the Town Council in 2021.
Wekilsky was not seeking another term this year. Wrobel will serve the remainder of the year while campaigning to keep the seat.
