Politics & Government
Hightstown Candidates Come Forward
One of them has switched parties for the June primary.
Two Democrats and two Republicans have signed up to run for the June primaries to determine candidates for the November election, where two borough council seats will be available. If no one else files to run before the April 11 deadline, the four candidates will run unopposed in the primary races.
The candidates are: Democrat Susan Bluth, the president of the Wyckoff's Mill Condominium Association; former borough fire chief and Republican John Archer; GOP incumbent Skye Gilmartin; and Democrat Rob Thibault, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor last year as a Republican.
Democrat and Council President Isabel McGinty is not running for reelection. She said the commitments of being on council “take up a very, very large chunk of my time” and cited a campaign promise to not run for another term. “I had said from the very beginning I would only be a councilperson for one term,” she said.
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Archer, 62, has lived in the borough all his life and still serves on the , where he was once chief. He now works as director of Robbinsville Township’s Division of Fire.
While he kept out of local politics as Hightstown fire chief, Archer said he got involved with the Voices of Hightstown group, which formed to push back against moves to consolidate the borough police force with that of East Windsor.
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“It was just to the point where I looked at things and I figured that I could be a good help,” she said. “I have good common sense skills, I have a vast knowledge of the structure of Hightstown due to my employment with Hightstown, and I figured I would be a good fit.”
If elected, he said he would focus on code enforcement issues by looking for ways to help or supplement the borough’s current staff, and on general “quality of life” matters in town. The borough, he said, needs to focus more on positive matters in town like the effort to raise money for a new pedestrian bridge over Peddie Lake.
Bluth, 58, has lived in the borough for six years, and for five of them she has been on the Wyckoff’s Mill association's board.
“When I came on the board, we were at a deficit, and we weren't properly funding our reserves,” she said. “Now we're on track, we’ve made up the deficit and are fully funding our reserves.”
Professionally, she has been a paralegal for 20 years. Back when she lived in Marlboro, Bluth served for years on the board of Marlboro Little League, which serves 1,200 children. By the time she left, she was vice president. “I've always been a goer and a doer,” she said.
A frequent face at Borough Council meetings, she said she wants to get more involved in local politics.
“I just know that I have an open mind, I’m a logical thinker and a team player and I think that's very important,” she said. “You can’t have the council going cutthroat against each other. I have an eye to the future, I’m willing to get involved, I’m more than capable of making tough decisions and I think I’d be an asset for the council.”
Gilmartin, 37, has been on the council for about six months, after being selected to replace outgoing Republican Mike Theokas. She is running for reelection, and echoed her running mate's call for a positive outlook.
She is the municipal Republican chairperson and former club president, and ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the council in the 2009 race. She has lived in the borough for six years, and as a councilwoman is liaison to the Environmental Commission and the Hightstown Housing Authority.
“I just got started, and I’m thrilled that we’re coming in with a flat tax for the first time in 14 years. I think if we can do that now in the midst of all this I think we can do better,” she said, adding the potential is there to lower taxes in the future if the council can work cohesively.
“Maybe we need to change the players a little bit so we have a team that can work together,” she added. “Not because we’re D’s [Democrats] or R’s [Republicans] but because we love Hightstown and we just want the best for it.”
Her other experience has been on the Board of Health, and as a current member of the and the NJ Medical Rescue Corps. Professionally, she is a cardiovascular technician and wellness counselor.
Thibault, 53, has lived in the borough 13 years, before that in East Brunswick and then West Orange. A corporate communications professional, he unsuccessfully ran for mayor last year as a Republican, and said his experiences in that race helped him decide to switch parties.
“My positions haven't changed from my mayoral candidacy: accountability, transparency, moving toward shared services,” and eventually consolidating with East Windsor, he said. “Hightstown is not economically viable as a standalone entity—the tax base is too small, infrastructure costs to maintain borough government are too high. We can't afford it.”
“I got a tremendous amount of pushback on that from the old-line Republicans in town,” he continued. “My position is much more in line with the Democrats.”
Thibault now serves on the Board of Health and is involved with the Animal Welfare Committee. He is involved in the local civic groups Community Unity and Downtown Hightstown. He said he has been attending Borough Council meetings regularly for 10 years, originally attending “to find out where my money’s going.”
If elected, he said he would focus on keeping taxes down and his four major issues: accountability, transparency, shared services and consolidation.
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