By Jennifer Ortiz
Staff Writer
HOWELL — Four Howell residents have filed nominating petitions to run for the position of mayor and Township Council member in 2016. Both positions carry a four-year term.
Mayor Bill Gotto and Councilman Ed Guz are not seeking re-election.
The candidates are Democrats John McCabe for mayor and Joseph Montella for council and Republicans Daniel J. Cardellichio for mayor and Evelyn M. O’Donnell for council.
McCabe was unsuccessful in his bid for a council seat in 2014. He said he is running for mayor because he wants to be a fresh voice for residents. McCabe said it is time for a new face on the council.
“Our council (members are) interested in what helps them. They are not interested in listening to the people of Howell. Take West Farms Road; 1,500 people signed a petition (about an issue of interest) and it was tossed aside. I want to be someone who listens to the people and does not speak down to them. Just because a person is a politician does not mean he knows everything. You have to listen to your citizens,” McCabe said.
McCabe, an AIG complex claims director, said he does not come from a political background and has no agenda. He said he is for the people of Howell.
Montella, a union electrician, said it is time for a change in town.
“The same kind of people have been in office, going on for 10-plus years now, and me, being a Howell resident for 27 years, going on 28 years, I know what this town is capable of,” Montella said.
The candidate said he wants to bring back some of the Howell in which he grew up.
“I have a son who goes to school here (and) I want him to have those same experiences I had growing up in Howell because I remember it a different way than it is now,” Montella said. “I believe the community feels they do not have a voice currently and I would like to be more receptive to what the community’s needs are. I think it is time to switch some things up. It is time to make a change and change for the better. Hopefully, I’m the change the people are interested in.”
Cardellichio and O’Donnell are both currently serving as appointed members of the Howell Zoning Board of Adjustment.
O’Donnell said she is running for council because she believes in public service.
“For at least 25 years, I have served this town under different committees,” O’Donnell said, noting that she has served on the Planning Board, zoning board and environmental commission. She has also been a PTA president.
O’Donnell is a lifelong resident of Howell who is retired. She said she will be able to focus her full attention on the council and the community.
Cardellichio, a chiropractor, said he is running for mayor because it is all about Howell and public service. He said he moved to Howell in 2000 and fell in love with the town.
“I want to make sure Howell is a great town to live, work and play in and to keep it going the way it is going, we want it to go down a good path,” Cardellichio said.
He said his family has been involved in politics since he was young and he said he has been around politics and public service. Cardellichio said he has served on the Monmouth County Planning Board and on the Howell Green Team, which promotes environmental programs and initiatives.
Under Howell’s form of government the mayor is directly elected by voters, but serves as a member of the Township Council.