Kevin Ryan Takes Council Seat

It was smiles all around as Kevin Ryan, victorious candidate for the two-year seat on the Verona Council, was sworn in to take his place on the dais with a new nameplate at the ready. He joined re-elected incumbent, Deputy Mayor Frank Sapienza, Council Members Jay Sniatkowski, Bob Manley, Mayor Teena Schwartz, and Township Manager, Joseph Martin. Ryan, accompanied by his wife, Valerie, and son Matthew by his side, was sworn in by Township Clerk, Jean McEnroe.

Ryan will fill the unexpired term of former Council Member Ken McKenna, who resigned last fall. Also attending the meeting was Michael Nochimson, the winner of the other available four-year seat on the Council, along with Sapienza. Both four-year term, winning candidates, will be sworn in on June 30^th.

 In his comments, Ryan said, “I want to thank all of the people of Verona who voted for me and I would also like to thank the other candidates. One thing I learned from the two forums is that there a lot of people out there with good ideas and I’m hoping that the people who ran will stay involved with the community and give us the benefit of their participation and their knowledge. I also want to thank my wife and my son who put up with a lot in the last couple of weeks.“

Mayor Teena Schwartz remarked, “We welcome you, Councilman Ryan, how does that sound?” “It sounds a little strange but I’ll try to get used to it,” replied Ryan. Schwartz continued, “I’d also like to congratulate Deputy Mayor Sapienza and Michael Nochimson.” The Mayor also offered a special thanks to the other candidates who ran, saying, “Please stay involved, you’re all great people and I’d like to see you around a lot.”

The top candidates for the one, two-year vacancy and one of the four-year seats won by slim margins. According to the Essex County Clerk results, it was reported that Kevin Ryan, won his seat on the Council after defeating Bruce Williams by only six votes. In the race for the four-year vacancies, incumbent Sapienza won re-election by almost two hundred votes. However, Michael Nochimson defeated the next highest vote getter, Robert Caruso, by only eight votes. This outcome prompted Council Member Jay Sniatkowski to point out, “This, as a lesson for high school civics, shows that every vote really does count.”