MANVILLE: GOP picks mayoral, council candidates

By Mary Ellen Zangara, Special Writer
   The Manville Republican Club chose its candidates for mayor and council last week, selecting incumbent Mayor Lillian Zuza and Susan Horensky Star and Kathryn Quick for the two Borough Council seats available in the November election.
   Incumbent Councilman Steve Szabo was not nominated to represent his party. Robert Kaminski, too, was not nominated and was upset with the process.
   ”By people bringing in friends and relatives and attending only one committee meeting for the entire season and then coming here to vote, the deck was stacked. I am a virgin but now that I have been rode, I know how to play the game,” he said.
   Republican chairman Rudy Nowak said, “It was done fair and square and I think that I have stated it is the obligation of every committee member to support the people who won the selection process tonight. As the chairman, I am obligated to support the winner of the primary. It was a fair and square process and I congratulate the winners.”
   Mayor Zuza thanked everyone for the nominations and said, “I have worked very hard for these past three years and I intend to work this year and another four years.”
   Ms. Horensky-Star is a lifelong resident who attended the Manville schools. She worked in Foodtown, and taught basic skills in Manville School District’s elementary grades. Ms. Horensky-Star was the secretary for Manville Recreation, coached softball, and has worked at the parks in the summer doing the arts and crafts. She was appointed to the Borough Council in 1998 to fill a vacancy and is currently serving as the president of the Board of Health. Ms. Horensky-Star presented the budget for 2011 cutting $40,000 from past budgets, organized the rabies clinic in January and secured the veterinarian to vaccinate 190 animals pro bono.
   She also served as the Weston School PTA president, is a volunteer for the Somerset Medical Reserve Corps and is strongly committed to the residents of Manville. Ms. Horensky-Star is married to Ray Starr and has two daughters, Kaitlyn and Lauren Darabant. She has a bachelor’s degree in management science with a concentration in marketing and has a second career as a nurse, working at Bonnie-Brae Residential treatment facility for boys.
   ”I would like to thank everyone that supported me and I am going to do my best for this town with my heart. I am not a person who will vote the way everybody else is. I am going to vote the way that I think this town needs,” said Ms. Horensky-Star.
   Ms. Quick is married to Donald and has three grown children. She has been a resident of Manville for 32 years and is a graduate of Rutgers University. Ms. Quick has been in county government for 21 years, including 15 as deputy clerk of the Board of Chosen Freeholders, former legislative aide for Assemblyman Peter Biondi and Sen. Kip Bateman and is currently legislative consultant for Assemblywoman Denise Coyle.
   Ms. Quick has published 13 fiction books and one nonfiction book “History of Manville,” she is a certified public manager, a former councilwoman on various committees, current member of the Zoning Board of Adjustment and is currently a trustee on the Manville Public Library Board.
   Also, she has experience in Leadership Somerset Alumni, Harvard Management Alumni, planning courses, Zoning Board of Adjustments courses and municipal clerk courses. Ms. Quick had also received various awards in government and writing.
   ”I was very surprised that I was put back on the ballot. I didn’t think it was going to happen, I really didn’t. I am looking forward to getting back on council and this time, I hope the Republicans stop fighting and support everybody like they are supposed to,” said Ms. Quick.