Hallman, Harrington elected to Borough Council
By: Jake Uitti
ROCKY HILL In a battle between two competing slates in the borough, voters elected the slate comprising Ed Zimmerman for mayor and Dan Harrington and William Hallman for Borough Council.
The slate represented by Brad Merritt for mayor and Eileen Uhrik and Mary Regan-Seither for council was unsuccessful in its bid for election. Mr. Merritt, however, will remain on the Borough Council, having been elected to the council a year ago.
In the mayoral race, Mr. Zimmerman, a registered Republican running as an independent, received 181 votes and Mr. Merritt, an independent, received 163. Mr. Zimmerman will replace outgoing Mayor George Morren.
In the Borough Council race, Mr. Hallman, a Democrat, received 193 votes, Mr. Harrington, a Republican, received 175, Ms. Uhrik, a Republican who has one year of council experience, received 155 votes and Ms. Regan-Seither, a Republican, received 150 votes.
The sweep for the Zimmerman slate signifies the advent of a new order in the borough for many. Over the past few years, many overt disputes, often of a personal nature, have divided elected officials.
Mr. Zimmerman said that in order to move on with the business of the borough there needs to be civil discussion on both sides of the political line.
"We need to reach out to the other side. We do need to get along. As long as everybody is respectful, we can get along," Mr. Zimmerman said. "It’s going to be hard, but I think we can work through it."
Mr. Harrington also acknowledged the need to work together.
"We need to figure out who is best for what areas of responsibilities amongst the council members," he said. "Once we have that solidified we need to immediately roll out our action plan. We can start to work on the issues with personalities before we are sworn in, in January."
Mr. Harrington said his main goals on council would be working on safety plans for the borough as well as maintaining open government.
"I would love to work out a deal with Patriot Media," the cable TV service, to film the meetings, he said.
Mr. Hallman said the election was close and as a result both sides need to be represented in the issues in the borough.
"I think we need to be respectful, we need to reach out to people," Mr. Hallman said. "This is about community. It is not about which of us won. … It’s really about who can work together best to help solve some of the problems of the community."
Mr. Hallman said he wants to work with the technology committee on creating an e-mail listserv in the borough so that residents can stay up to date on the issues that matter to them.
He also said he hopes that council members can disagree without being disagreeable even if it is between him and one of his newly elected slate members.
"Ed and I already don’t agree on certain things. That didn’t stop me from running with him," Mr. Hallman said.
Mr. Zimmerman said he intends to bring back the Mayor’s Advisory Committee meetings, which he said will be open to the public.
"I want to meet once a quarter or so with all of the former mayors in town so they can give me advice since they have all the experience," he said.
Neither Mr. Merritt, Ms. Uhrik or Ms. Regan-Seither could be reached for comment.
Rocky Hill voters on Tuesday approved an open space tax by a vote of 199 to 99, which Mayor Morren said will impose no additional cost on borough taxpayers. The tax will impose an annual levy of 2 cents per $100 of assessed value to be deposited in an open space, recreation, farmland and historic preservation trust fund.
Voters also supported Democrat Robert Menendez over Republican Thomas Kean Jr. for the U.S. Senate race by a vote of 177 to 141.
In addition, voters supported Democrat challenger Linda Stender over Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Ferguson for the 7th District seat by a vote of 181 to 136. Ms. Stender lost in the districtwide contest.

