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eLeCtion 2024
Q&A: Candidates for borough councils, township committee By Joe emansKi
Mike Muscente in pre-season action for Hopewell Valley against Hunterdon Central, Aug. 29, 2024. (Photo by Mike Schwartz/mikeschartz.photo.)
Senior striker Muscente a key far wouldsoccer this season forhow HoVal you go if they
There are municipal elections in all three Hopewell Valley communities this November, although only one of the three races is contested. Hopewell Borough Council Democratic candidates Anthony Fuller and Debra Stuhler are both running unopposed for their seats. In Pennington Borough, Democrats Daniel Rubinstein and Nadine Stern are also unopposed in the council race. In Hopewell Township, Democratic incumbent Uma Purandare is running against Republican challenger Bob Zansitis for one available seat on the township committee. The Hopewell Express sent questionnaires to candidates of all three communities. Their biographies and responses to our questions follow below. Some have been edited as lightly as possible for length and clarity.
to take shape this year,” coach to be a key to success this sea“Uncle” Ed Gola said. “We’ve son, but his value took on more The Hopewell Valley Central moved guys around. In soccer importance after the personnel High boys soccer team suffered when you’re in any sort of rut losses. more than just the usual gradua- everything gets magnified and “Very important,” assured tion losses this year. everything gets harder.” Gola. One center-midfielder tore The main constant from last Muscente’s worth was proven his ACL, another center-mid year is senior striker Michael in the Bulldogs first five games. Hopewell Township Uma Purandare, 57, is a went to play in Spain and a third Muscente, who led the 2023 After being held scoreless in the player broke his wrist. The Bulldogs with 16 goals and was initial three losses, he scored resident of Brandon Farms. Welcome to Capital result was an 0-3 start. tiedHealth. for third with five assists. twice in a 3-1 win over Hight- She has lived in Hopewell See MUSCENTE, Page 20 Township for 26 years, after “It’s taken us a little longer Muscente was always going When someone you care about is sick, you’ll do whatever it takes to make sure they get the best care. And so do we.
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her career as a scientist in the pharmaceutical industry brought her to the area. She has been married to husband Ashok Purandare, also a research scientist, for 33 years. Their children, Rohit and Radhika, are graduates of HVCHS. Although we made repeated attempts to encourage Bob Zansitis to respond to our questionnaire, and extended our deadline, ultimately he did not send us any responses. Therefore, only Uma Purandare’s answers appear below. HE: Tell us about the moment you decided to run, or run again, for office. Uma Purandare: I am proud of what we have accomplished over the past three years to ensure the affordability, health, and safety of our community. Nevertheless, I recognize there is more work to do and look forward to building upon that in the future. For example, my colleagues and I kept the township budget below the inflation rate and supported the expansion of the police force to ensure safety. Further, I championed Sustainable Jersey recertification See ELECTIONS, Page 6
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