UPDATED: Contested council races in Vernon, Sparta

Four candidates have filed to run for three seats on the Vernon Township Council in the Nov. 4 election.

The filing deadline for municipalities operating with a Faulkner Act type of government was Thursday, Aug. 21.

The candidates are Patrick Rizzuto and Natalie Buccieri, council president and vice president, respectively; former Councilwoman Sandra Ooms; and Carl Contino, a member of the Vernon school board.

Jessica DeBenedetto’s council term also expires in January. She did not file to run for re-election.

Both Rizzuto and Buccieri were elected to four-year terms on the council in 2021. In 2023, DeBenedetto won a council seat with a two-year term.

Ooms served on the council from 2016 to 2020. She did not seek re-election.

Contino won a three-year term on the school board in November 2023 after being appointed to the board that February. At 24, he was the second-youngest person to serve on that board.

Only two candidates filed to run for three seats on the Vernon school board in November by the July 28 deadline. They are board president Jennifer Pellet and Alice Nickalls.

Nickalls also ran for a board seat last year.

Sparta

In Sparta, Molly Whilesmith and Michael Sylvester filed to run for one seat on the Township Council.

The seat became available after Dan Chiariello resigned in April.

Whilesmith is a former mayor and councilwoman. She was elected to the council in 2010 and served through 2022, when she did not seek re-election.

Sylvester is a former member of the planning and zoning boards.

Council members plan to appoint someone to fill the seat through the end of the year. They have interviewed 11 applicants for the seat but have not decided on the replacement.

Byram

In Byram, Alex Rubenstein filed to run for re-election as mayor and Harvey Roseff filed to run for re-election to the Township Council.

Both are unopposed in the Nov. 4 election.