4 Will Seek 3 Open Township Council Seats

The petitions are in — four candidates will compete for the three available Manchester Township Council seats this November. 

Completed petitions were due to the the clerk's office by Sept. 4 and a determination of candidacy was to be completed by Sept. 8. Clerk Sabina Skibo said Wednesday that the three "Continued Good Government" candidates, plus one more resident successfully submitted their petitions to appear on the Nov. 6 ballot. 

The candidates are: William N. Peck of Hannibal Street in the township's Pine Lake Park section; James A. Vaccaro, Sr., who lives on Gabriella Circle in the Renaissance Community; Samuel F. Fusaro, Jr. a Holly Oaks resident living on Brandon Road; and Charles L. Frattini, Sr., who resides on Chatham Lane in Leisure Village West.

The latter three candidates are running under the "Continued Good Government" banner and . Manchester Patch will provide more information on all candidates in the coming weeks. 

Fusaro, who previously served on the council from 1990 to 2006, is finishing the term of retired council member Kenneth Vanderziel. Current council members Warren Reiter, who has served since 2008, and Frederick Trutkoff, a member since 2004, . 

Though residents from many municipalities throughout the state — including Lakehurst— voted in primary elections earlier in June, that process is unnecessary in Manchester since the government has operated without political affiliations since 1990 following a corruption scandal.

Manchester residents voted last November . With that change, the New Jersey Division of Elections states that Sept. 4 is the deadline for nonpartisan candidates to file to be voted on in the November general election. The terms of Manchester's elected officials set to expire in July 2012 were extended six months, through December, to accommodate the election date change.

Clerk Sabina Skibo said that she will verify the signatures submitted by each prospective candidate and will have the determination of candidacy completed by Saturday, Sept. 8.