2023 Bringing Wave Of New Faces To Manchester Government

MANCHESTER, NJ — The new year will bring a significant amount of change to Manchester Township.

While there will be a new mayor and two new council members at the Jan. 3 reorganization meeting, there also will be a new municipal clerk come February, and another councilmember anticipates departing sometime in the early part of the year.

The reorganization meeting, set for 1 p.m. on Jan. 3 in the courtroom at Manchester Township's town hall, will feature the swearing-in of Robert Arace as township mayor, along with Roxanne Conniff and Joseph T. Hankins as council members.

All three were victorious in the special runoff election on Dec. 13, with Arace receiving 5,315 votes to 4,957 for Robert Hudak, the incumbent. Conniff received 5,204 votes and Hankins received 5,194, defeating incumbent Joan Brush, who received 4,925, and Timothy Poss, who received 4,759, in the race for the two council seats. Those results were certified as official on Wednesday morning.

At the Dec. 19 Township Council meeting, Hudak offered positive words for Arace and the new council members, saying, "I wish the new administration the best. Their success is the town's success."

"I don't know what the future is going to hold but it's going to be bright," Hudak said.

Brush, who first joined the council in 2017 after Brendan Weiner resigned, said she was grateful for the friendships she had made on the council and for the opportunities she had to help and support residents, including the town's veterans.

"We can never thank them enough," Brush, who worked for the Manchester schools for years, including as the school bus driver trainer. "I'm ready to move on."

Councilman Craig Wallis did not seek re-election and is stepping down after 16-1/2 years of service on the council.

"I've been lucky enough to work with some great people," Wallis said, adding that he believes the township is in good hands. "We have some great departments and some great department heads."

Also departing from the council will be Samuel Fusaro, at a date to be determined. Fusaro announced his impending departure at the Dec. 19 meeting, saying the date is dependent on when he and his wife are able to move into their new home that is being built in another town.

Fusaro began serving on the council in 1990, after Manchester approved a change of government to the current mayor-council set-up, and while the township was just reeling from the multimillion-dollar theft of town funds by former business administrator Joseph Portash and several other township officials.

Fusaro said the council members he served with during his two stints — he stepped away from the council from 2006-2011 due to his work responsibilities — "all served with one goal: to make Manchester better."

He also praised Sabina Martin, the township clerk, who started her work in Manchester at the same time Fusaro was elected to the council.

"Sam was one of the people helping to find out" how far-reaching the Portash corruption went, Fusaro said.

Martin is retiring as of Jan. 31. Teri Giercyk, who has been serving as her deputy, was appointed to take over the post effective Feb. 1. Giercyk was appointed to a three-year term with a salary of $85,000.

"We've said we're going to go out together, we came in together," Fusaro said to Martin.

"It's bittersweet to leave because it's my home," Martin said. But she said with the appointment of Giercyk to become the next municipal clerk, there should be no change in how things operate in the clerk's office

"The office is in very good hands. We have a very good staff, and we work for the residents," Martin said, noting it is a responsibility the staff members take seriously.

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