Residents Form Voters Group To Keep An Eye On Local Politicians

WATCHUNG, NJ — With much talk about ongoing politics in the country, a few friends living in the Watchung Hills area decided to take action. They created VOW - Voters of Watchunghills which seeks responsible and ethical government from local representatives.

Wendy Robinson, a republican and the organization's chair, and Stuart Homer, the organization's co-chair and a physician, have been long-time friends. One Friday evening at the end of January they started talking about the healthcare system.

Their concerns over the issue grew into a desire to start a group. It started with a group of 15 people meeting at their home and has since grown to about 80 members.

“I am Republican and Stewart is a Democrat, we are a very bipartisan group,” Robinson told Patch. “We try to make sure we preserve democracy and listen to people’s concern about the current environment and people’s rights regarding healthcare. We want to make sure we are being listened to by our representatives.”

VOW meets once a week and is open to all who wish to join within Leonard Lance’s congressional district.

“We spend a good deal of our efforts focused on maintaining contact with him,” Robinson said. “We have members from Watchung, Warren, Westfield, Berkeley Heights, Chatham and Long Hill.”

“Our approach has been to be moderate,” Homer said. “We do not shut people down or have any screaming or yelling. We are a moderate group. We consider ourselves to have politics of reason.”

In the past the group has attended rallies to show support for other groups, such as Lance’s Town Hall meetings, asked members to call senators to take action and support the group’s positions and have attended seminars on New Jersey politics.

The group also gives credit when it is due.

“We call to thank Lance or other politicians when they take positions that we support,” Robinson said. “We are not all about fight, fight, fight.”

For more information or to joinVOW, contact votersofwatchunghills@gmail.com.

Find the group's Facebook page at Voters of WatchungHills - VOW.

(Image via Voters of WatchungHills - VOW)

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