JACKSON — Township Council members in Jackson will appoint a resident to fill an open seat on the governing body to succeed Alex Sauickie III, who resigned from the council on Aug. 22 as he prepared to take his seat in the state Assembly.
During the Aug. 23 meeting of the governing body, Township Council President Martin Flemming said residents who were interested in seeking the appointment had until Aug. 26 to submit a letter of interest to the municipality.
The names of the residents who filed a letter of interest by the deadline were not immediately available from the municipality on Aug. 31.
Flemming said the individuals who expressed interest in being appointed to the council would be interviewed, but he did not say when those interviews would occur, or if they would take place in public or in private, or when the open seat on the governing body would be filled. The next council meeting is scheduled for Sept. 13.
The appointment will run through Dec. 31, according to the municipal clerk’s office.
The seat previously held by Sauickie will be on the Nov. 8 ballot for a full four-year term.
Sauickie, a lifelong resident of Jackson who joined the Township Council in January 2019, was recently elected by Republican representatives to succeed Ron Dancer as a state assemblyman in New Jersey’s 12th Legislative District.
Dancer, 73, a Republican from Plumsted Township, died on July 23 after a long illness. He was representing the 12th District at the time of his passing. His district colleagues were Republican Sen. Sam Thompson and Republican Assemblyman Robert Clifton.
New Jersey’s 12th Legislative District includes portions of Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex and Burlington counties, specifically the municipalities of Jackson, Allentown, Manalapan, Matawan, Millstone Township, Old Bridge, Upper Freehold Township, Englishtown, Chesterfield, New Hanover, North Hanover, Plumsted Township, Roosevelt and Wrightstown.
Sauickie will serve in the Assembly at least through the end of 2022. He was also tapped by the district’s Republican representatives to run in a Nov. 8 special election for the final year (2023) of the term Dancer was serving, as initially reported by the New Jersey Globe.
Sauickie’s letter of resignation was read into the record by Township Council Vice President Andrew Kern during the Aug. 23 meeting of the governing body.
In his letter, Sauickie wrote that he was required to step down as an elected official in Jackson prior to being sworn in as a member of the state Assembly.
He went on to say, “It has been my greatest honor to represent the residents of my hometown for the past six years; first on the Environmental Commission, then on the Zoning Board of Adjustment and finally on the Township Council.”
After reading Sauickie’s letter, Kern said, “I wish Alex nothing but the best and thank him for every day he gave this township and every day he will give this township as a member of the Assembly.”
Councilman Stephen M. Chisholm Jr. said, “I want to wish (Sauickie) good luck. I am confident he will be a great asset (in the Assembly) for the residents of Jackson and for the rest of the legislative district.”
