2015 Pohatcong Election Results (Updated)

Mayor:

Kern...............381


Council :


Gray...............190
Babinsky........245
McBride...........96






 

Pohatcong Election 2015 > Affirmation Time?

Pohatcong Mayor James Kern with Town Council hopeful, Ingrid Gray.

 

After last years somewhat of a dud election some drama has returned to the election

process this year as three candidates vie for the town council seat that is being vacated by

outgoing councilman, Frank Becker. 

 

Throwing her hat into the ring this year is first time candidate, Ingrid Gray, a life-long Pohatcong
resident recently retired from the teaching profession at DVRHS where as recently as 2012 she
snagged "Teacher of the Year" honors.  According to her bio, Gray also spent a couple of decades
working the land as a farmer and currently serves as music director and organist at her church. With the
added endorsement of Pohatcong's popular, young mayor, things must certainly be feeling upbeat
over at Gray campaign head quarters.

In contrast, the other two candidates each come into the ring with poor outcomes in recent elections.
Former Mayor Steve Babinsky was soundly trashed in his prior attempt at council in 2011 when he
was beaten by Mary Van Lieu in landslide fashion. It seems like voters then were not ready to forgive
and forget the ugly, imperious behavior that was visited upon them during his reign (of terror?) as mayor.

Likewise, former Pohatcong Police Lieutenant, Dean McBride, finished next to last in the competitive
eight person race for school board in 2013.  Hanging over his head have been repercussions from
le affaire Pagano - which still seems to linger in the minds of many voters.

While the race for mayor is uncontested it is not without some points of interest.  When elected four years
ago, James Kern was at the age of 22, the youngest serving mayor in New Jersey.  Would it turn out
well for Pohatcong or not seemed to be the question at that time.  Well that question seems to have an answer
now that he is running for re-election  without opposition -which is of course, a measure of strength.  Unlike the
neighboring townships of Greenwich and Lopatcong, where mortal combat between office holders seems to
be the order of the day, things seem fairly harmonious here in Pohatcong.  And for that reason,
for young James Kern, Tuesday will be more an affirmation day than an election day.

Barring any technical snafus, we will be posting election results here, as we have in the past, on election night -
Tueday, Nov. 3, looking as always, to beat the local commercial media to the punch.

































 

 

Beat The Winter Blues: Do Lunch !

Writer Charles Hugh Smith, in one of his posts on his Of Two Minds blog, talks about how he deals
with discouragement by fixing himself a good meal. Great idea!  Certainly in this new era of polar vortex winters with brutal day and night time temperatures, feelings of discouragement can arise fairly rapidly leading to one Kim Kardashian butt-sized case of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

Doing lunch out on a regular basis this winter seemed as good a coping mechanism as any and what
follows is a (somewhat annotated) diary of my effort to beat back on those winter blues.

Note: These are not reviews. I am not a food critic.  Just some pics with a few comments thrown in here and there.  All these meals cost less than a ten spot.

Day One:  Acasia (Thai) Phillipsburg

Pad Thai Chicken Lunch Special.  I really like this place.  Clean and stylish interior. Food is
always good and fresh and feels healthy.  A nice diversion from the tedium of all the fast foods joints on Route 22.

Day Two: Applebee's (Greenwich)

Three Cheese Chicke Penne / French Onion Soup Combo.  Culinary snobs probably hate places like Applebee's but I'm okay with it. Different strokes. Clever lunch combo menu-mix and match healthy
stuff with comfort foods.  Note to Pohatcongers: Do not annoy fellow diners by taking their picture without permission. Bad karma may ensue.

Day Three: Panera Bread  (Lopat-Pohat)

Southwestern Chicken Flatbread Sandwich, Soup, Chips.  Should have bought Panera stock
years ago. This place is always packed for lunch.  Oh well.

Day Four: Teppanyaki Grill (Pohatcong)

Chinese Buffet (and more)  Some people rag on this place for it's average quality food. Fair enough,
but can't they find anything here they can like for 7.50 and free hot tea. I can and I'll be back.

Day Five: Giacomo's Deli (Easton):

Cheesesteak Hoagie. With some time to kill one day, why not head over to Giacomo's to see if their cheese steak is truly the best in the Lehigh Valley- as it has been touted to be.  Sorry, but the bar must be set pretty low. Disappointing all-around.  Will stick with Joe's in Phillipsburg whenever the urge strikes next.

2013 Pohatcong Election Results > Updated

                                                     

 

 

 

                                                         It's Slack and Van Lieu !

                                  Winners:

                                  Dave Slack             489

                                  Mary Van Lieu       410

                                 

                                  Losers:

                                  Marc Metzger         393   

                                  Curt Weihz             299       

 

                                                

 

                                                      Pohatcong School Board Results:  

 

                                   Expired 3 Yr. Term:

        

                                             IN:

                                  

                                  Scott Weeks                     403

                                  Jamie Hudak                   371

                                  Cindy Semonche               350

                                  

                                          OUT:

 

                                  Beverly Weihz                 337                   

                                  Dean McBride                 304

                                  Regina Blair                    294

 

 

                                1 Year Expired Term:

 

 

                                Joseph Delesky                365        

                                Bill Oertel                         340

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 







Pohatcong Elections 2013 : A Mixed Bag This Year

Will it be SHOW time this year?

 

With an expected blow-out win by the current Governor, it is expected that turn-out this year will be lighter than in past gubernatorial elections but there is nonetheless both some drama and boredom that has developed on the local political front.

This year's Council election has both incumbents, Mary Van Lieu and Dave Slack, seeking new terms against a couple of lackluster, ho-hum, challengers.  Both Slack and Van Lieu can share credit along with the Mayor and other Council members with doing the hard and seemingly, thankless, work of trimming the municipal budget and keeping taxes flat for the last two years - in spite of some black holes opening up on the revenue side. Having met this challenge, it is doubtful that voters will turn away and head towards uncharted waters-especially since even more challenging times lie ahead.  Their opponents, Curt Weihz and Marc Metzger, have thus far run uninspiring campaigns and each comes with their own particular set of well, lets say, personal issues and personality flaws. Meanwhile, it never hurts to have the endorsement of Pohatcong's popular young Mayor, Jim Kern, who has signed off on the Slack / Van Lieu tandem.  Come Election Day, voters are likely to concur.

Well if the Council race has seemed like a big yawn so far, then the same cannot be said for the Pohatcong School Board election which is being fully contested for the first time that anyone can remember.  Victimized by their own ineptness and increasingly out of touch with the tax-paying public, four of the current school board members will be hard pressed to hang onto their seats this year as they face a determined and well organized challenge from the SHOW coalition (Cindy Semonche, Jamie Hudak, Bill Oertel, and Scott Weeks).  Perhaps weighing most heavily on the minds of voters will be the inability of the current board to stop the never-ending budget increases along with the ongoing poor academic results.  Adding to the woes of the current board is the controversial solar panel field project which most of the town residents seem now to oppose. Having been targeted to be finished this past summer, yet new hurdles have cropped up delaying it's start.  An ominous sign perhaps for the current  incumbents and the word on the street says that some big time and overdue changes are a coming at the ballot box on November 5th. Sounds about right.

As in past years, Pohatcong Blog will be attempting to scoop, yet again, some of our local commercial media by posting Pohatcong election results as soon as we have them in hand (and beating those other guys to the punch).  Don't forget to check back here on election night for your local results.

 

Random Notes: 9-20-13

1. The all-new next generation Pohatcong Township Website will be making it's debut
    at the end of this month.  If all goes well with final testing and tweaking, launch day is
    scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 25th. 

2. With all the discontent generated by the current Pohatcong Township School Board,
    it comes as no surprise then that four new candidates will be seeking board seats in
    this fall's election.  Throwing their hats into the ring are Cindy Semonche, 
   Jamie Hudak, Bill Oertel, and Scott Weeks.  Election Day is Tuesday, Nov.5th.

3. Local java junkies are paying close attention to rumors swirling about town that
    Starbucks is scouting locations for a new franchise here in Pohatcong.  The 
    now-defunct Sonic site is being considered as one strong possibility.