Manchester Council Petitions Available, Lakehurst Primary Tuesday

Petitions for candidates who want to run for three available nonpartisan council seats in 2012 are now available.

The seats of council members Frederick Trutkoff, Sam Fusaro and Warren Reiter expire at the end of the year. Petitions to run for the three openings will be available at the clerk's office Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to Clerk Sabina Skibo. 

Though residents from many municipalities throughout the state — including Lakehurst— will head to the polls on Tuesday to vote in primary elections, 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. 

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.

Reiter, who lives in Whiting, was elected to the council in 2008 and is a member of the finance committee.

Residing in the Renaissance Community, Trutkoff first was elected to the council in 2004 and serves as the governing body's planning board representative. 

Fusaro, who lives in Holly Oaks, returned to the council in December of 2011 as an appointed member, replacing Kenneth Vanderziel. He previously served from 1990 to 2006.

In , a borough with a partisan form of government, the terms of Republican Borough Council members James Davis and Gary Lowe will expire in 2012. 

Borough Clerk Bernadette Dugan said that both incumbents have filed petitions to run in the primary. No Republican challengers or Democratic candidates filed petitions, Dugan said. 

, filling the seat left vacant when former councilman Harry Robbins became mayor. 

Independents have up until June 5 to file with the Ocean County Clerk, Dugan said.

Tuesday is also the deadline for board of education candidates to file their nominating petitions. The seats of Manchester Board of Education President Donald Webster and member James Griffin will be up for vote. Board Secretary Craig Lorentzen said that both plan to file petitions. 

In Lakehurst, the seat of board Vice President Kevin Oliver and member Joseph Leo will be available.