JACKSON — Andrew Kern and Samara Porter O’Neill have concluded their service on the Jackson Township Council.
Kern, who served one four-year term on the governing body, said his goodbyes during the council’s final meeting of 2022 on Dec. 27. He was unsuccessful in his bid for a second term in the November election.
Kern said, in part, “I would like to thank everyone who has supported and helped me do everything I could for the people of Jackson. … I wish I could have done more in my time here these past four years.
“I’m not blaming the (coronavirus) pandemic; it was distraction by legal issues we thought would be over two years ago. … I will still do my best in any capacity I am able to, to make our hometown the best. I encourage people to come up and volunteer,” he said.
Township Council President Martin Flemming and Councilman Stephen M. Chisholm Jr. thanked Kern for his service to the municipality.
O’Neill and Councilman Nino Borrelli were not present at the Dec. 27 meeting.
O’Neill served on the council for four months. She was appointed to the governing body in September to fill a vacant seat. She was unsuccessful in her bid for a full term in the November election.
O’Neill was serving on the Jackson Zoning Board of Adjustment at the time of her appointment to the Township Council.
O’Neill attended her final council meeting on Dec. 13. She thanked her fellow council members for sharing their knowledge with her and wished incoming council members Jennifer Kuhn and Scott Sargent well in their new roles as municipal leaders.
Kuhn and Sargent won four-year terms on the council in the November election at the same time Michael Reina won re-election as mayor, defeating Flemming in a race for the four-year term.
Sargent stepped down from his seat on the Jackson School District Board of Education following his election to the council.
Kuhn and Sargent joined the Township Council when the governing body held its 2023 reorganization meeting on Jan. 3.
In leaving the dais, O’Neill said, “I will continue to give back to the community. I have been doing that for two decades.”
The members of the council in 2023 will be Flemming, Chisholm, Borrelli, Kuhn and Sargent. Reina generally does not attend council meetings. The administration is represented at the council meetings by Township Administrator Terence Wall.
