Taylor Drops Out Of Township Committee Race, Throws Support To Independents

by Patricia A. Miller

Democratic Township Committeewoman Elaine Taylor has withdrawn from the Barnegat Township Committee race and thrown her support behind Independent candidates William Cox and Denise Pilovsky.

“I know the type of people they are,” she said. ”I trust them totally.”

Taylor’s husband found a job in Virginia earlier this year after several years of unemployment and the family must move to Virginia as soon as their house is sold, she said.

Taylor informed the Ocean County Clerk’s Office on Sept. 8 that she had to withdraw. That leaves Carrie Diona, 57 Old Main Shore Road, as the lone Democrat competing for one of the two-three year terms available.

Taylor ran on the Democratic ticket in a previous election with Mayor Susan McCabe. McCabe, 24 Carriage Way, has since switched to the Republican party and is running with Republican Frank Caputo, 20 Hidden Lake Circle.

But Taylor says she has decided to support Independents Cox, Herkimer Court, and Pilovsky, 26 Aphrodite Drive.

“We need a change in government in this town,” she said. ”I think that Susan (McCabe) is an opportunist. We are a small town. We shouldn’t have to play politics in a small town.”

McCabe’s party switch, coupled with her accepting a job as an adjunct professor at Ocean County College and voting for area attorney Jerry Dasti for several positions in Barnegat are an example of opportunism, Taylor said. Dasti is an Ocean County College Board of Trustees member.

Until her house is sold, or her term expires, Taylor will continue to serve on the Township Committee.

Photo credit: Barnegat Township.