MANCHESTER – Surrounded by his family members in the audience and his grandchildren at his side, Councilman Joseph Hankins was sworn in by Township Clerk Teri Giercyk as the newest mayor of Manchester during the latest Township Council meeting.
He replaced Robert Arace who resigned to serve on the Board of Ocean County Commissioners earlier this month. Arace was present to watch him take the oath of office.
Hankins was nominated by Council Vice President James Vaccaro and the motion was seconded by Council President Roxy Conniff. He was unanimously voted in by those present. Councilwoman Michele Zolezi who voted yes, attended via conference call due to illness. Councilman Craig Wallis was absent.
Hankins’ appointment is to fill the unexpired term until the general election in November. Hankins will have to run in November to fill the unexpired one-year term expiring December 31, 2026.
The new mayor noted his father was sitting in the front row in the audience. “I want to thank everyone who supported me, the council, the staff and also the department heads. We are going to move forward. I want to thank my wife and also my dad for kicking me in the butt when he had to keep me on the straight and narrow.”
“Congratulations Joe, I know you are going to do great work for us. This is a one-year unexpired term so we will have a special election in November for mayor because in Manchester we just can’t get enough of special elections,” Conniff joked. She noted that the council would be taking resumes for Hankins’s vacant seat until January 21.
Those interested in filling the un-expired term that ends on December 31, 2026, should note that the person appointed would remain until December 31, 2025 and will be required to run in the November 4, 2025 general election to fulfill the remainder of the unexpired term.
Interested residents should send their resume to Giercyk, 1 Colonial Drive, Manchester, NJ 08759 or email her at clerk@manchestertwp.com, by 4 p.m. on January 21. Candidates can also call 732-657-8121 ext. 3200 if they have any questions.
Mayoral Movements
This will be Manchester’s fourth mayor in five years.
Mayor Kenneth Palmer stepped down in 2021 to become a judge. The council at the time unanimously voted for Councilman Robert Hudak to become mayor. Since he was appointed, Hudak had to run to keep that spot later in the year against challenger Arace. Hudak beat Arace in 2021 but not when they rematched in 2022.
There are no party primaries held in the township due to Manchester’s form of government. Three slates sought to win a mayor’s seat and two council seats for full terms in 2022, Hudak and Arace headed the two Republican slates and there was also a Democrat slate. The tally was too close, so there had to be a runoff election. The runoff election was between Hudak and Arace plus their respective council candidate teams. It required a 51 + % majority. Arace won this contest.
Arace was backed by Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore who also supported him for the position of commissioner with his running mate Jennifer Bacchione of Berkeley Township.
The two candidates replaced Commissioners Gary Quinn and Barbara Jo Crea on the primary ballot leading to their general election victory against Democrats.
With the mayor’s chair once again vacant, a decision by the all-GOP council was needed and the majority vote went to Hankins, a long-time firefighter and former police officer to fill Arace’s spot. Hankins had run on Arace’s slate along with Roxy Conniff.
JCP&L Lawsuit
Council President Conniff noted a letter from the 9th Legislative District and Frank Sadeghi of the Ocean County Board of Commissioners “has suggested a county lawsuit against JCP&L and I would encourage Manchester Township to join that lawsuit if it does come to fruition.” The lawsuit is due to last month’s power outage in the Whiting section of the township as well as areas of Toms River Township.
“I think they (JCP&L) have been egregious in the way they have treated our township and residents including the enormous bills that our seniors receive from them,” she added.
In other news, Councilman Vaccaro repeated his hope that a medical campus would come to the township that would draw in medical services that would make life more convenient for the township’s senior population and once again urged that residents shop locally and support community businesses. He reminded residents of the motto “Manchester: The gemstone of the Jersey Shore.”
An ordinance was introduced for the land sale of 1223 Englemere Boulevard to Julian Wilchanski at a price tag of $60,000.
The council voted to extend professional services contract to Angelo J Genova, managing partner of Genova Burns LLC for legal services pertaining to review and evaluation of Heritage Minerals Inc. and Homeland Corporation for off-tract water facilities.
