OCTOBER 2022
Hamilton Post COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG
ELECTION 2022
Best in show
10 in race for 3 seats on Board of Education Redistricting means Hamilton will have a new representative in Congress By JOe EMANsKi
Hamilton voters will have plenty of choices this fall as they elect three school board members from a pool of 10 candidates. Incumbents Dina Thornton and Jason McSheene are running for re-election, while board member Pamela A. Kelly is not on the ballot. Also running are Dallas Barr, Stacy Byrne, Chris Drudy, Monica Quaste, Alicia Ramos, Rocco Riccio, Frank Summers and Steph Williams. Only two of this year’s school board candidates are running together — Byrne and Quaste, who are running on the Traditional Education Advocates slate. The slate originally had a third member, Nicholas Ferrara, who dropped out of the race after antisemitic posts made from his Gab social media account were brought to light by Politico reporter Matt Friedman. The Hamilton Post continues its tradition of covering the school board race this year. All 10 candidates have responded to our annual questionnaire. Their responses begin on page 8, and
we believe that they are worth a read for anyone who cares about the education of Hamilton Township schoolchildren. Mail-in ballots started going out in late September to voters who went for that option. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8, for those who prefer to vote in person. Voters who are not registered still have until Oct. 18 to make themselves eligible to vote this year. There are no municipal elections this year in Hamilton, but there are other races on the ballot. All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are in play, and Hamilton will have a new congress member come 2023. Longtime Rep. Chris Smith’s 4th Congressional District will no longer include the township. From 2023, Hamilton will be in the 3rd Congressional District, currently represented by Democrat Andy Kim. Running against Kim are Republican Bob Healey, Libertarian Christopher Russomanno, and Gregory M. Sobocinski of the God Save America party. Also in play are two seats on the Mercer County Board of County Commissioners. Democrats Nina Melker (incumbent) and Cathleen Lewis are running against Republicans Michael Chianese and Andrew Kotula, both of Hamilton. Melker is also a Hamilton resident.
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Hamilton photographer Beth Ellen Jarvie shows off her best-in-show award for her photography at the annual Mercer County 4-H Fair, held at Howell LIving History Farm in the summer. For more about Jarvie and her photographer, turn to Thomas Kelly’s “Fight in the Museum” column on page 30.
Author-coach wants to raise your IQ By JOe EMANsKi
Dan Blank never set out to become a soccer coach, but once he started coaching, it quickly became apparent that the role suited him. He never really set out to become a bestselling author, either. But after spending the better part of two decades coaching
at the collegiate level, he felt that he had some wisdom he could share with his fellow coaches that might help make their jobs easier. So in 2012, he wrote his first book, Soccer IQ: Things that Smart Players Do, Vol. 1. Ten years later, that self-published book still sits at No. 1 on Amazon’s list of bestselling soccer coaching books. And Blank has added 10 more
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books to his oeuvre since then, all aimed at helping soccer coaches get the most out of their players, or helping soccer players get the most out of their ability—well, all except the one that’s a children’s story. None of it might have come to pass except for a bit of serendipity back in 1991, the summer after he See IQ, Page 20 Better Health Program
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