Kafton, Giblin re-elected
to 3-year committee seats
BY JOYCE BLAY
Staff Writer
JACKSON — Voters have re-elected Democratic incumbents Michael Kafton and Sean Giblin to three-year terms on the Township Committee. The terms will run from Jan. 1, 2004 through Dec. 31, 2006.
Both candidates were running for their second full term on the governing body.
At stake in the election was control of the committee. Last year, Republican Josh Reilly defeated incumbent Democrat Marvin Krakower. Had both available seats on the committee been won by this year’s Republican challengers, William Allmann and Mel Schubert, control would have shifted to the GOP.
Kafton said he never believed that was likely to occur. The Democrats will retain a 4-1 majority.
"I was not surprised to be re-elected since Sean and I worked very hard the past three years to preserve open spaces in town and to slow down residential growth," Kafton said. "We’re not against development; we want responsible development where the burden doesn’t fall on the backs of taxpayers."
Out of 25,933 registered voters in Jackson, 9,112 voted in the election. The majority of votes cast, 4,978, were for Kafton, who is serving as mayor in 2003. The second highest number, 4,900, were cast for Giblin.Giblin was pleased to be given another term in office.
"You can never understand the will of the voter, but I think they recognized the positive impact that the last three years have made on our community," said Giblin, who is serving as deputy mayor in 2003. "I just want to thank the community for their support, their confidence and faith in the direction the committee has so far taken the town. I think it’s important that the people expressed their belief in me and the job that I’ve been doing the past three years."
Allmann, a former committeeman, received 3,906 votes, while Schubert, who was running for office for the second time, received 3,770 votes.
"Going door to door, talking to the residents, they [said they] weren’t happy with the way things were being done," said Allmann. "Even though a lot of people said they would support us, they apparently didn’t turn out."
Allmann reiterated his earlier denial of any complicity with Schubert to defame Kafton in a flier that some people in town received in the weeks before the election.
"We didn’t distribute any flier," said Allmann. "[And] there’s nothing illegal about Mel downloading the information" that appeared in the flier.
Kafton and his wife, Barbara, have filed a civil lawsuit against the GOP candidates that claims the flier defamed them.
Schubert had little to say about the Election Day results other than to express his best wishes to the winners.
"The people of Jackson have spoken," said Schubert. "I wish the mayor and the deputy mayor luck."