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CANDIDATES FOR TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE 2009
TDC Democratic Candidates
The Tewksbury Democratic Committee voted on Sunday April
5th to endorse Kelly Harris Jerkovich and Joseph Weber
in their bid to become the first Democrats on the
Tewksbury Township Committee in years. Jerkovich and
Weber filed their petitions with the Township Clerk on
Monday, April 6.
Kelly is a corporate lawyer for Daiichi Sankyo, a global
Japanese pharmaceutical company. Prior to joining
Daiichi Sankyo, she was in private practice,
specializing in white-collar criminal defense and
healthcare law. In five years of marriage, Kelly and her
husband, Matt, a bond broker with the inter-dealer
broker, ICAP, have lived in Manhattan and Hoboken before
starting their family and settling in Tewksbury Township
approximately 18 months ago. However, they are not
really new to the Tewksbury. “Matt grew up on Hell
Mountain and attended Tewksbury public schools. His
parents built their home on Pruner Farm Road in 1978 and
lived there for over 20 years. When we decided to start
a family, Matt did not think twice about moving back. We
love the beautiful rural setting, the wonderful people
and the quality of life that is unsurpassed by any place
we have ever lived.” They have a one-year-old daughter,
Kate.
Kelly grew up in New Jersey in a warm, hard working
family. She attended Rutgers University and later Seton
Hall Law School. She paid for school and living expenses
herself by holding as many as three jobs during the
academic year and summer break. As a result, she is very
wary of debt and committed to fiscal discipline. “I am
running for a seat on the Tewksbury Township Committee
because I have the commitment and ability to work with
people to help do the right thing by our Town and our
citizen neighbors and friends. I think we have to look
at new and creative ways to share the cost of local
services with other municipalities if we are going to
keep our local taxes under control.”
Joe Weber and his wife, Janan, moved to Tewksbury two
and a half years ago from Morris County. He has three
children and three grandchildren, living in Brooklyn,
N.Y., Pittsburgh, PA, and Missoula, MT. Joe graduated
with engineering degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute and George Washington University. He served
for three years as a commissioned office in the US Navy.
Most of his career was spent as an engineer and
executive at Bell Labs and AT&T. After leaving AT&T, he
spent a number of years as a partner at Strategic Policy
Research, a consulting firm specializing in
telecommunications policy and regulation.
Joe was a member of the Holmdel Township Board of
Education and, more recently, he was a member of and
chairman of the Morris Township Planning Board for 15
years. He is currently a member of the Hunterdon County
Democratic Committee. He is also a volunteer at Channel
Thirteen, conducting tours of the facility, and a member
of the Leadership Council for the Association of Public
Television Stations. His wife Janan, was until recently
a member of the board of the Visual Arts Center of New
Jersey, and is currently a board member of the Community
Theater at the Mayo Center for the Performing Arts in
Morristown, where she is curator for the theatre’s Art
Upstairs Gallery, a venue for regional artists. Joe is a
member of the Finance Committee for the Community
Theatre.
Joe brings a great deal of land use experience to the
ticket. “When I was chairman of the Planning Board we
tackled many of the issues, such as COAH and land
conservation, that Tewksbury faces. Indeed, Morris
Township is much more heavily developed than Tewksbury,
and the development pressures have been more intense,
but we managed to maintain the character of the town
over a period of many years. I am confident I can help
do the same thing here in Tewksbury. Land use matters,
some of which need to be addressed in the context of
confusing and ever-changing state regulations, can have
a huge impact on the character of the Town as well as
its financial health. It is critical that public
officials understand these complex issues.”
Dominick DePinto, the chairman of the Tewksbury
Democratic Committee, stated after the Committee's vote,
"I am delighted that the Committee has endorsed two
excellent candidates. I think they will bring a fresh
perspective to the issues facing the Township. This is
the third year in a row that there will be Democratic
candidates on the ballot and I'm hoping that we can
build on the progress that we have made in the last two
elections.
The Tewksbury Democratic Committee was formed in 2006 in
part to challenge one-party rule in the Township by
encouraging and supporting local candidates as well as
other Democrats running for office in New Jersey. The
group, which welcomes new members, meets on the third
Thursday of every month. Interested individuals can
contact Dominick DePinto at 908-832-0290 or visit the
website at www.TewksburyDems.org for more information.
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