HOPEWELL VALLEY: Sandom will leave office in December

Hopewell Township will have races in November. Hopewell Borough and Pennington will not.

By John Tredrea, Staff Writer
   After 10 years on the Hopewell Township Committee, five of them as mayor, Democrat Vanessa Sandom has decided not to seek re-election.
   Ms. Sandom did not file to run in the June 7 primary. The filing deadline was 4 p.m. Monday.
   ”There were so many candidates who wanted to run this year, I decided to step aside and give a turn to a person who’s very well qualified, and that person is Allen Cannon,” Ms. Sandom said Wednesday.
   How does she feel about leaving the committee after 10 years — a much longer than average-length-tenure on that body? “It’s really been a big part of my life for a long time. I’ll still be around. I’m deeply committed to the town, and I’ll be active in the Democratic party,” Ms. Sandom, who will leave the Township Committee Dec. 31, said.
   Ms. Sandom originally was appointed to a seat on the Township Committee on Oct. 18, 2001.
   She replaced Kathy Bird, a Democrat, who had resigned.
   ”Vanessa’s decision to not serve another term on the Hopewell Township Committee is a tremendous loss to our community and a significant personal loss for me. I met Vanessa in the early 2000s when I was serving on the Planning Board and was honored when she asked me to be her running mate in 2005. Since then we have served together on the committee over the last five plus years,” fellow Committeeman John Murply said in an e-mail message Wednesday.
   ”During that time, she went from being a valued colleague and mentor to a cherished friend. I, more than anyone, can attest to how tirelessly Vanessa has fought for our community, because she is personally affected when our residents are in distress or need. Her persistence to ensure that all options are explored in resolving any problem will be sorely missed and something I hope to carry on in her honor. She has been a champion for the people of Hopewell Township,” Mr. Murphy concluded.
   Mr. Murphy and Ms. Sandom are the two Democrats on the five-member committee.
   MEANWHILE, races for two seats on the Hopewell Township Committee are on the horizon for November’s general election now that candidates have filed to run in the primary.
   Two three-year terms are at stake.
   Incumbent Democrat Murphy, of 9 New Road, did file, as did Mr. Cannon, of 7 Brookside Drive.
   Republicans who filed for the two open Township Committee seats are Werner Graf, of 140 Reservoir Road, and Todd Brant, of 8 Overlook Road.
   Filings in Pennington Borough and Hopewell Borough indicate that all candidates in November for mayor and council seats will be running unopposed.
   — In Pennington, incumbent Mayor Anthony Persichilli (Democrat), of 22 Baldwin St., was the only one who filed for the mayor’s post. That job has a four-year term.
   For two open Borough Council seats (three-year terms), the only ones to file were incumbent Democrats Edwin “Weed” Tucker, of 92 Woolsey Court, and Glen Griffiths, of 33 Baldwin St.
   — In Hopewell Borough, incumbent Mayor Paul Anzano (Democrat) was the only candidate to file for mayor (four-year term).
   The only candidates to file for two open Borough Council seats (three-year terms) were incumbent Republicans Charles Schuyler Morehouse, of 1 Prospect St., and Robert Lewis, of 114 Broad St.