EDITORIAL
By Ruth Luse
On behalf of the citizens of Hopewell Township, we want to thank Republican Arlene Kemp for her three years of official service to the people of her community.
Ms. Kemp, who was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in November, served her town as mayor during 2005. She will give up her seat on the Hopewell Township Committee on Dec. 31.
In addition to the jobs she performed as mayor this year, Ms. Kemp, according to a township official, spent many hours working on projects relating to the township’s Affordable Housing Committee, the needs of her neighbors in the southern tier (where Beazer Homes has plans to build) and with her neighbors and state officials on the goal of making Route 31 between Pennington Circle and I-95 a safer place to drive and live.
Ms. Kemp joined the Township Committee during a difficult period for township government. She was high vote-getter in the November 2002 election. Elected with her was Democrat Vanessa Sandom, who had been appointed to the Township Committee in fall 2001 to replace Kathleen Bird, who had resigned.
Ms. Kemp’s victory meant that for the first time since Committeeman John Hart left office on Dec. 31, 2000, the GOP would have a Republican on the five-member committee when the governing body reorganized in January 2003. Her election also marked the beginning of a change.
The 2002 election was an unusual one. Voters, disgusted with the confusion they’d seen at the Township Committee level, reacted positively to a grass-roots effort mounted by a group, Coalition for Good Government, that endorsed a Republican, Ms. Kemp, and a Democrat, Ms. Sandom (who was re-elected in November 2005). The result was that an incumbent Democrat, who also was deputy mayor at the time, was soundly defeated in his bid for re-election.
Obvious friction among members of the committee continued for a time, but appears to have lessened considerably. We hope that trend will continue for the well-being of the community.
We welcome Democrat John Murphy to the Township Committee and believe he knows enough about local government to do his new job well, because he already has experience on the Planning Board. We see no good reason why the Township Committee which also will include Democrat David Sandahl and Republicans Mark Iorio and Judy Abbott Niederer that will take office Jan. 3 shouldn’t continue, in a spirit of cooperation, to do a good job for its citizens. We look forward to a productive year ahead!