Howell Council Fails To Fill Vacancy, Choice Passes To GOP

HOWELL, NJ — The Howell Township Council failed to appoint a nominee to fill the vacancy left by former deputy mayor Thomas Russo during a meeting on Tuesday.

Council members had the option to choose between three names from a list provided by the Republican Committee: Suzanne Brennan, Daniel Cardellichio and John Leggio.

Brennan ran for mayor last year against incumbent Theresa Berger, who also defeated Cardellichio in the 2016 election. Leggio currently serves on the Howell Planning Board.

Council members voted along party lines, with Mayor Theresa Berger and Councilman John Bonevich opposing Brennan and Councilwomen Pamela Richmond and Evelyn O'Donnell opposing Leggio.

There was no vote on Cardellichio.

According to protocol, the choice will now be left to the Republican Committee, who will nominate a candidate that will promptly be sworn in.

"If anyone thinks that anything is being done underhandedly, that is not the case. This is how the process works," Richmond said. "It's a Republican seat and that's what happens. The Republican party, the Republican County Committee, they have the right to fill the seat."

Bonevich said he would have liked to see some "new blood" in council, referring to Leggio.

"I agree, I would love some new blood here so that we could have something that would truly be bipartisan because I've seen Mr. Leggio. I've seen the things that he has done. He has voted on both sides of the aisle," Berger said.

The meeting started off tense. At one point, the council couldn't even agree on a vote to go into executive session, to discuss a settlement in a lawsuit against Orthodox Jewish group Congregation Kollel. Berger and Bonevich voted no in order to keep the meeting going, with the latter asking for the public to be allowed to speak before and not after the executive session.

"I'm not quite sure what we're gonna do with the next 45 minutes because the motion's failed and we have some important business that we're supposed to attend to," said township attorney Joseph Clark said.

After hearing from the public, the council reconsidered the motion to go into executive session, which was followed by a special meeting on cannabis at 6 p.m. and a regular meeting at 7 p.m.

"I was outraged when they were going to go into executive session without hearing the public," one resident said.

Another resident questioned whether council members had the intention to block the council from approving a name.

"The residents do not want to see any of you intentionally vote against a nominee simply to frustrate the process and allow the municipal committee to appoint their preferred nominee," that resident said. "This is an opportunity for you to seek compromise and appoint the nominee that will work with both parties to put the town first."

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