Steve Cook, community activist and CEO of The Arc of Mercer, has put his name into the ring for Hamilton Mayor Kelly Yaede's seat on council.

Cook, who also served as chief of staff to former state Sen. Peter Inverso, has been working in the township with the Citizens Campaign to encourage good government initiatives such as public bid processes for professional contracts. He made the announcement through a press release emailed to reporters.

“I run something, I’ve done something about reform, I helped to saved a million in taxes and I have a plan to do more,” Cook said in the release. “Hopefully the selection committee and Council will entertain these qualities when selecting the next member of the Council.”

Yaede replaced Meara as mayor after a contentious council meeting Friday. Meara stepped in as mayor from his position as council president following former Mayor John Bencivengo’s resignation two weeks ago.

A jury convicted Bencivengo of taking $12,400 in bribes from the government’s cooperating witness, Marliese Ljuba, in exchange for his influence with the Hamilton Board of Education, so that she could keep her lucrative health insurance brokerage for her employer, Allen Associates.

Now, the municipal GOP committee will chose a list of three names to council. The municipal party will be accepting names until Friday, and pick the three names to send to council in a convention Monday night. Council President Kevin Meara scheduled the selection of Yaede's replacement for Dec. 20.

David Maher, former county freeholder candidate and Notthingham fire commissioner, has already said he would submit his name for council when he was up for mayor.