MANVILLE: Six will seek two council seats

Lynn, Petzinger file to run as independents

By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
     Spurned by the GOP organization in March, Sherri Lynn and Lou Petzinger are making the race for two Manville Borough Council into a six-way affair.
   The pair filed Tuesday to get on the November ballot as independents seeking the two three-year terms.
   They’ll face nominees Susan Asher and Richard Onderko for the Republicans, and Alan Harwick and Frank Jurewicz for the Democrats. Those four captured party nominations Tuesday in the primary election. All four were unopposed.
   Ms. Lynn and Mr. Petzinger were passed over by the municipal Republican screening committee in March, in favor of Councilwoman Asher and Mr. Onderko, who was defeated in a council re-election bid last November.
      ”Manville has more of a voice than just 12 people,” said Ms. Lynn on Tuesday, referring to the GOP screening committee.
   Mr. Onderko said he would have welcomed a primary challenge.
   ”That would have been best for the Republican party in Manville,” he said. “I am pretty confident the voters would have agreed with the municipal committee’s selection process, a 13-1 votein our favor.”
   In a press release, Ms. Lynn and Mr. Petzinger said they “have proven they can reach across the aisle to get things done that are in the best interest of all residents.”
   Mr. Petzinger cited his first term in which he initiated an Economic Development Roundtable that became the Economic Development Committee.
   Ms. Lynn said residents have strongly suggested to her that they want her back on council.
   ”Many were disappointed last year when I chose not to run,” she said.
   She and Mr. Petzinger talked about running as a team prior to the screening, she said.
   ”For us, it’s about the people of Manville, not about politics. It’s never about politics,” she said.
   Mr. Petzinger said he “was sure people will be able to pick the person they feel could do the job them no matter what column they are in (on the ballot.)”
   Ms. Lynn said some in the GOP weren’t happy with her votes to merge the borough library into the county system, or to join the county police dispatch system.
   She said the library vote wasn’t a choice; it was either merge or lose the local library, she said. As for dispatching, she said the county was already handling 9-1-1 calls for police, fire and rescue. The only difference will be is that the county will handle calls made to the 10-digit police businesses line.
   Mr. Petzinger said the decision on dispatchers got two more officers back on the beat, he said.
   Ms. Lynn served on council from through 2012 and didn’t run for re-election last year. She said that, although she had taken a leave from council, she didn’t take time off from public service.
   She’s still a member of seven boards or commissions, she said, including bodies dealing with health, recreation, flood, animal services, economic development and library programs.
   She retired in April from a job with Somerset County information systems engineer.
   In a release, the two said the favored exploring atypical solutions to future development of the former Rustic Mall site off South Main Street. They suggested satellite sites for specialized medical treatments, physical therapy or disease-specific medical doctors.
   Democrat Jurewicz has been chairman of the Raritan-Millstone Rivers Flood Control Commission since 2012 and is a former councilman. Mr. Harwick is the party municipal chairman.
   Mr. Onderko works in corporate finance. Ms. Asher is a teacher first elected to council in 2001. She defeated Mayor Lillian Zusa in the GOP primary for mayor in 2011 and was defeated by Mayor Angelo Corradino in that election.