When Hopewell Township Committee members convene for their reorganization meeting in 2020, they will be without John Hart.
Hart, the lone Republican on the committee, will not be returning after losing his bid for reelection this past November.
Hopewell Township’s five-member committee will now consist of only Democrats.
However, Hart has not ruled out a potential future run for himself on the committee and is seeking Republican challengers for two seats on the Township Committee for the 2020 election.
“There needs to be a balance on the Township Committee. I have felt like a lone voice on the committee and it is important to have different viewpoints for the township,” Hart said.
He said come January, he will be on the Mercer County Board of Agriculture.
Hart’s foray into politics was not a planned ambition; it came about after an issue he raised in the 1980s in regards to preserved farmland.
“I went to the township and wanted to preserve my farmland. The committee back then was all Republicans and I wanted to talk to them about this new program that would have the state and county kick in to buy the development rights,” Hart said. “To participate, the state wanted the township to kick in 20% of the cost of the development rights. Committee members said they were not really in favor of that and would not promote it.”
He said after trying to convince them of about this program for a few months, he decided to do the farmland preservation for his farm without the township.
“The county and state were anxious to preserve farmland. By the time I closed on the deal in 1987, that is what made me interested in government,” Hart said. “In 1992, I said to Township Committee members that I would like to run for the committee. They told me we do not need a candidate now, because the mayor’s daughter is running.”
He would go on to win the primary and secure his first term unopposed.
Hart served on the township committee from 1995-2000 and 2013-19. He served as mayor in 1997 and 1998.
“What made me come back to the township committee in 2013 was former mayor Jim Burd could not perform his duties after being laid up with a pretty bad injury from a fall. I was on the planning board at that time and the Hopewell Township Republican Party came to me to see if I could take his spot,” Hart said. “I finished Jim Burd’s term and ran for two more terms after that.”
Hart has also been on the planning board from 1997-98 and as a Class II member from 2005-12, the environmental commission from 2005-13, Agricultural Advisory Committee from 2001-13, as well as, serving as liaison on various boards, committees and commissions.
“What drove me to be this active was helping other people. My ancestors have been here for centuries. My grandfather was mayor of Hopewell Borough in the late 1950s and early 1960s,” Hart said. “I must have had a little bit of this in my blood.”
Hart can trace his family history back to ancestor John Hart, a New Jersey delegate to the Second Continental Congress. John Hart was one of signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Hart said he never thought he would be involved with politics and always thought he would just be a farmer.
“I just enjoyed doing this service. I am not a political person. I was not just there to use my position as a stepping stone to higher office,” Hart said. “I just was taking care of the people here. I am just focused on Hopewell Township, I’ll let big government take care of the whole state.”
He is the owner of Rosedale Mills Country Store, Hart Farms Stables and John Hart Farms.
“Because I had a business and was out in the public more I always helped people when they would come into Rosedale Mills and talk about township issues. People come to me about wanting to preserve their farmland,” Hart said. “We want young people to have farms and do something with it and not move away. I try to make things easy.”
Hart said he will continue to use his experience and education while he is on the county board to continue to help the residents of Hopewell.
