JACKSON – Looking back, the year 2023 definitely had its ups and downs, including tension between members of the governing body and some financial headaches for the members of the School District.
Starting at the beginning of the year, tension was already present at the Township Council’s reorganization meeting in January where new councilmembers Scott Sargent and Jennifer Kuhn were sworn in, replacing two incumbent Republicans following a contentious election in the fall of 2022.
Throughout 2023, disagreements occurred between council members concerning the selection of council president, council vice president and certain citizen-based boards and committees. Procedures and protocols were questioned as to how residents applied to those panels and how they were chosen.
During the summer, Council President Martin Flemming resigned as council president, announcing that he’s moving to his new residence in North Hanover Township in Burlington County. He resigned from the council itself in October after serving the community in various roles for close to 50 years. Flemming ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2022 opposing fellow Republican Mayor Michael Reina.
Jackson GOP President and Planning Board member Mordechai Burnstein filled that vacancy in a two-to-two vote of the council. The tie was broken by Mayor Reina.
Mother Nature showed her fury in the spring with four tornadoes on the evening of April 1 that was confirmed by the National Weather Service to have touched down in several communities including Jackson.
Jennifer Kuhn, Michael Reina and Scott Sargent
“Through it all, we are lucky in so many ways to have such a powerful storm and not have a single injury or fatality. That is a blessing by itself and I am very grateful for that,” Mayor Reina said.
He added that there were not “enough words to praise the efforts of the following during and after an EF 2 Tornado touched down here in Jackson.”
Mayor Reina told The Jackson Times, the work of the township police, fire companies, first aid, Office of Emergency Management, Department of Public Works, Chaverim and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department were exemplary. “I’m not leaving out the many residents who came out to assist their neighbors and friends after the storm had left the area.”
Reina said that during his “15 years as mayor to watch, work with and applaud the efforts, professionalism and dedication of all these men and women who come out on top again and again regardless of the conditions, be it a superstorm or a blizzard, flooding to fires.”
School Board officials faced a fiscal shortfall as they prepared this year’s budget due to the continued state aid cuts that they have experienced for several years.
Those cuts led to a special question put on the ballot that would raise $4 million and would cover new hires, most of which would address mental health concerns of students. That ballot question failed to pass in November.
Trees, buildings, and vehicles were damaged as the tornado plowed through Jackson. (Photo by Laura Michelle)
The founders of two township schools were noted during the year. The Carl W. Goetz School celebrated its 50th anniversary with a special event that included the first appearance of the school’s new mascot – a cougar – who will get a name in the new year. Superintendent Nicole Pormilli cut the ribbon during a ceremony that symbolized its next 50 years of serving students of the township. The school was named after Goetz who was born in 1912 and was a student in the one-room Cassville Schoolhouse. He was also a Board of Education member for nearly three decades and a pioneer for education in Jackson.
Pormilli also informed the public regarding the legacy of the Switlik School, that opened in 1948 on a plot of land donated by Stanley Switlik.
The 160-acre plot was so large that eventually the district was able to open a junior senior high school (Jackson Memorial High School) plus the Switlik School.
“We were notified that Mr. Switlik’s legacy of generosity to Jackson lives on and through the estate of his daughter Michelle Alter we would receive trust funds in the amount of $1.2 million. During these fiscal budget times we are in, it has been an incredible difficult time for the district and it means so much to us here,” Pormilli said.
A Jackson family, officials of Ocean County, Jackson Township officials and members of the law enforcement community of Lakewood and Jackson townships remembered Lakewood Police Officer Nicklas Shimonovich, 23, in early December during a special gathering at the intersection of Thompson Bridge Road and West Veterans Highway at the site where he tragically died in a motorcycle accident in 2020.
Switlik Elementary School (Photo by Micromedia)
Mayor Reina, Ocean County Commissioner Gary Quinn, Police Chief Matthew Kunz, Shimonovich’s parents Robert and Jeannette Shimonovich, and his brother Leonardo Shimonovich (all of whom are members of the Lakewood police department) spoke about Niklas at a dedication where the road was named after him.
The township also moved to settle several lawsuits with an agreement that saw the community penalized by the Department of Justice that required two ordinances concerning land development.
Those ordinances were voted on and approved during a five-hour council meeting on December 12 that was held at Jackson Liberty High School auditorium.
The ordinances will open up development for houses of worship, private religious schools and dormitories. A record number of residents came out in opposition to the two ordinances fearing they will lead to overdevelopment in Jackson. The ordinances were passed in a 3-2 vote and a 3-1-1 vote (one being an abstention).
Despite everything else, public events including the Memorial Day Parade, Food and Fireworks event, Jackson Day, the annual PBA Pig Roast, Christmas Tree Lighting, Menorah Lighting, and Toyland proved as popular and well attended as ever.
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