Пеннингтон (Нью-Джерси)

Borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, US

Pennington is a borough in Mercer County, in the U. S. state of New Jersey. The borough is located at the cross roads between the Delaware Valley region to the southwest and the Raritan Valley region to the northeast. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 2,802,

According to an 1883 history, "the first name of the village was Queenstown, which was given it in honor of Queen Anne. Later it was by some, in derision of its comparative insignificance, Pennytown, and as early as 1747 it began to be called Pennington." The name "Penington" was already known in the area, as Edward Penington (1667–1701), son of the British Quaker leader Isaac Penington, was appointed by his kinsman William Penn as Surveyor General of Pennsylvania. His father in law was a longtime leader, including as governor, of the province of West Jersey, where Edward married. Henry Gannett attributes the borough's name to colonial governors from the Pennington family. Pennington was established as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on January 31, 1890, from portions of Hopewell Township, based on the results of a referendum held on January 21, 1890. It is a dry borough, where alcohol cannot be sold.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 0.96 square miles (2.50 km2), including 0.96 square miles (2.49 km2) of land and <0.01 square miles (0.01 km2) of water (0.31%). making it part one of 21 pairs of "doughnut towns" in the state, where one municipality entirely surrounds another.

The 2010 United States census counted 2,585 people, 1,031 households, and 712 families in the borough. The population density was 2,703.9 per square mile (1,044.0/km2). There were 1,083 housing units at an average density of 1,132.8 per square mile (437.4/km2). The racial makeup was 95.24% (2,462) White, 1.82% (47) Black or African American, 0.00% (0) Native American, 1.78% (46) Asian, 0.08% (2) Pacific Islander, 0.08% (2) from other races, and 1.01% (26) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.43% (37) of the population.

Pennington is governed under the borough form of New Jersey municipal government, which is used in 218 municipalities (of the 564) statewide, making it the most common form of government in New Jersey. The governing body is composed of a mayor and a borough council, with all positions elected at large on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. A mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four year term of office. The borough council is composed of six members, who are elected to serve three year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year in a three year cycle. The borough form of government used by Pennington is a "weak mayor / strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can veto ordinances subject to an override by a two thirds majority vote of the council. The mayor makes committee and liaison assignments for council members, and most appointments are made by the mayor with the advice and consent of the council. The borough council has the option to designate an administrator or assign executive responsibilities to the administrator. The council may also adopt an administrative code which describes how the Council performs its duties. as of 2023, the mayor of Pennington is Democrat James Davy, who was elected to serve an unexpired term of office ending December 31, 2023. Members of the Borough Council are Council President Catherine M. "Kit" Chandler (D, 2023), Katrina Angarone (D, 2025), Deborah L. Gnatt (D, 2024), Charles "Chico" Marciante (D, 2025), Nadine Stern (D, 2024) and John Valenza (D, 2023; appointed to serve an unexpired term). In February 2023, the council selected John Valenza to fill the seat that had been held by Ken Gross expiring in December 2023 that became vacant when he resigned. Katrina Angarone was selected in February 2022 from a list of three names submitted by the Democratic municipal committee to fill the seat expiring in December 2022 that had been held by Beverly Mills until her resignation from office the previous month. In June 2021, the borough council appointed former councilmember James Davy to fill the mayoral seat expiring in December 2023 that became vacant following the resignation of Joseph Lawver earlier that month. Davy served on an interim basis until the November 2021 general election, when he was elected to serve the remainder of the term of office. Former mayor Persichilli was first elected on November 7, 2006, to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of James Loper. Returned to office at that same election were Democratic council members Joseph Lawver and Eileen Heinzel. James Loper, the previous elected mayor, had resigned from office effective February 1, 2006. The Pennington Republican Committee nominated three candidates to take his place and the council selected James Benton from the three candidates to fill the vacancy. That same procedure was repeated in December 2006, when the borough council selected Diane Zompa to fill the unexpired term left by Persichilli.

Pennington is located in the 12th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 15th state legislative district.