COLTS NECK — Residents of Colts Neck rejected a nonbinding referendum which proposed diverting up to 15 percent of the township’s annual open space, farmland and historic preservation tax assessment to be used for the purposes of development and maintenance of properties that have been acquired for recreation and conservation purposes.
The question was on the Nov. 8 general election ballot. The proposal received 1,510 “no” votes and 856 “yes” votes.
Republican Deputy Mayor Jarrett Engel, who won re-election to another three-year term on Nov. 8, said residents expressed their sentiments about using the open space funds to develop and maintain certain properties.
Engel said he does not see the results of the referendum as a victory or a loss for one side or another since placing the question on the ballot provided voters with the ability to express their opinion about how the Township Committee governs and it allowed people to realize a problem does exist in regard to the maintenance of Colts Neck’s fields and parks.
Engel said some people told him that while they voted no on the referendum, their vote was not against the necessary maintenance of certain facilities, but was against the use of open space funds for that purpose. He said officials will have to work on a way to repair and maintain Colts Neck’s parks.
Also on the Nov. 8 ballot, Colts Neck voters had a chance to elect two individuals to the Township Committee.
Engel was re-elected with 1,641 votes and his fellow Republican candidate Thomas Orgo received 1,905 votes to win a seat on the committee. Democrat Patrick E. Ambrosia Jr. received 773 votes in his bid for office. Republicans will maintain their 5-0 control of the committee.
Engel thanked voters who supported himself and Orgo. He said running for the committee for the first time is based on an individual’s resume, while a person’s second bid for public office is based on his record.
Having received the support of residents again, Engel said he takes that as a sign people like what the committee has accomplished.
Orgo said he and Engel — both of whom are lifelong residents of Colts Neck — plan on enlisting volunteers to provide their insight and ideas for the benefit of the municipality.
Listening to what residents want is important, Orgo said, pointing to the public’s vote on the Nov. 8 referendum. He, too, believes it is important to come up with new ideas about how to maintain the town’s athletic fields.
Orgo said anyone who has ideas to share or questions to ask can feel free to speak to him.
In other races on Election Day, voters in Colts Neck helped Republican state Sen. Jennifer Beck and state Assembly members Mary PatAngelini and Caroline Casagrande win re-election to the state Legislature.
In Colts Neck, which is now part of New Jersey’s 11th legislative district, Beck received 1,944 votes and Democrat Raymond Santiago received 476 votes in the race for the four-year Senate seat.
Angelini received 1,739 votes and Casagrande received 1,853 votes in their successful bids for two-year terms in Trenton. Democrats Vin Gopal and Kathleen Horgan received 600 and 490 votes, respectively, in Colts Neck.
Residents also supported Republicans in the race for two three-year terms on the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders. GOP candidates Gary Rich, 1,609 votes, and Lillian G. Burry, who lives in Colts Neck, 1,596 votes, carried the township.
Burry is a current member of the freeholder board.
Democrats Amy Mallet and William Shea received 685 and 610 votes, respectively, in their bids for freeholder.
When all the votes in the county were tallied, Rich and Burry had won the seats on the freeholder board. Mallet’s term on the board will end on Dec. 31.