Freeholder Candidate: Iorwuese "Wes" Ifan

With the Nov. 8 election fast approaching, Patch takes a look at the candidates for two Somerset County Freeholder seats, incumbent Republicans Peter Palmer (Bernardsville) and Robert Zaborowski (Franklin) and Democratic challengers Iorwuese "Wes" Ifan (Manville) and Christian Mastondrea (Hillsborough).

Patch asked each candidate to fill out the questionnaire below. Here are Ifan's responses. As of publication, Patch had not received responses to requests for information from Palmer, Zaborowski and Mastondrea.

Iorwuese "Wes" Ifan (D-Manville)

Age: 30

Occupation: Branch manager for Chase bank

Previous elected or appointed positions: None

Other community associations: Church affiliations: Member of the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset; active member of the Young Democrats of Somerset County; a part of the non-profit Tied to Greatness.

What town do you live in, and how long have you lived there?: I am a Manville resident and have been for six years.

What do you see as the most pressing issues in a coming term, and what would you do about them? I see the pressing issues as transparency and openness in county government, ethics reform and providing more inclusiveness of our county government with the tax paying citizens. Some of the things that I am proposing to address those concerns are modifying and making adjustments to our websites, televising freeholder board meetings, which other counties have done with much success.

Also, building upon some of the ethics reform suggestions that our governor has proposed and bringing those to Somerset County and expanding them, specifically around pay-to-play politics, making open bidding processes even more open and also holding accountable those who are in appointed positions, whether it be the parks commission or public works, and making sure that those individuals are not gaming the system.

What's one fact about you that most voters probably don't know?I was on the super chief marching band, a first chair trumpet player–I probably learned my discipline and teamwork from high school marching band.