Manchester Council Set For Post-Election Meeting

MANCHESTER, NJ — The Manchester Township Council is scheduled to meet Monday evening for its final business meeting of 2022.

The meeting, set for 6 p.m. at the township municipal building, will be the last for Mayor Robert Hudak and Council President Joan Brush, who were defeated in the special run-off election on Dec. 13.

Unofficial results have Robert Arace with 5,205 votes to 4,843 for Hudak, who has served as mayor since August 2021, when he was appointed to replace Ken Palmer, who resigned to become a Superior Court judge. Hudak defeated Arace in 2021 for the right to finish the final year of Palmer's term.

Brush, who has served since 2017, was seeking re-election to a second full term. She finished third in the race for two seats on the council, receiving 4,808 votes. Roxanne Conniff received 5,092 votes and Joseph T. Hankins received 5,089 votes, with Timothy Poss receiving 4,653 votes.

The vote totals do not include any vote-by-mail ballots that have come in since Dec. 13. Vote-by-mail ballots had to be postmarked by 8 p.m. on Dec. 13 and had six days to be received through the U.S. Postal Service by the Ocean County Board of Elections. That six days ends Monday. It is not known how many Manchester voters choose to vote-by-mail; on election night for the run-off, there were 2,915 vote-by-mail ballots posted in the results after the polls closed in the initial returns, with Hudak receiving 1,800 of those votes and Arace receiving 1,115.

Hudak has not issued a public statement since the run-off election. The Manchester Republicans supporting Arace claimed victory following the run-off, and his campaign page posted a simple statement late that night: "THANK YOU to everyone who supported us! We are so overwhelmed and humbled to earn your support and can’t wait to get to work for YOU!"

Monday night's agenda includes the appointment of Teri Giercyk as municipal clerk, effective Feb. 1, to replace longtime clerk Sabina T. Martin, who is retiring. The appointment is for three years. Giercyk currently serves as deputy municipal clerk.

Note: This article has been updated to correct the last name of Timothy Poss. Patch regrets the error.

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