ESSEX COUNTY — Voters in South Orange elected three new village trustees in today's non-partisan municipal elections while voters in Cedar Grove and Verona largely supported their incumbent council members.
The three suburban towns in Essex County were among 16 New Jersey municipalities that held elections today. Eighteen candidates ran for nine open seats — all four-year terms — in Essex.
South Orange voters elected Walter Clarke, Sheena Collum and Stephen Schnall by a comfortable margin. The three newcomers comprised the South Orange 2013 team, which was endorsed by Village President Alex Torpey and several trustees on the seven-member board. Incumbent trustees Janine Bauer, Michael Goldberg and Nancy Gould did not seek re-election.
South Orange 2013 prevailed over the Village First team of Geraldine Mehu, Joseph Kika and Kelly Mattheiss Sullivan and independent candidate Robert Sandow, according to unofficial results from the village clerk's office.
As a village trustee, Collum said her top priorities will be lowering the tax burden on homeowners by increasing both development and shared municipal services.
"We are very excited and humbled," she said tonight, shortly after her slate gave their victory speeches. "We ran a very practical campaign versus a populist campaign."
In Cedar Grove, two council members, Joseph Chiusolo and John Zunic, cruised to victory while incumbent E. Romeo Longo edged out challenger Stacy Kilkenny by 11 votes, unofficial results from the Essex County Clerk's office show.
Also, 82 percent of voters said yes to the public question of whether to use $500,000 left in the town's Open Space Trust Fund to offset future tax increases.
Last December, the township council decided to let the trust fund tax expire, leaving a fund balance of approximately $500,000. The Open Space Trust Fund is used to acquire property for recreation and conservation.
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"That money will probably be used over several budgets" to avoid a sudden tax spike the next year, Chiusolo said.
In a tight race in Verona, seven candidates jockeyed for three council seats. The three incumbents — Bob Manley, Jay Sniatkowski and Kevin Ryan — beat challengers Al De Old, Alex Roman, Teena Schwartz and Rich Williamson. Manley received 1,009 votes to Williamson's 1,008 votes, according to the county clerk. It was not immediately clear whether any candidate called for a recount tonight.
Roughly 17 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the three towns, the county clerk reported.