The Livingston Township Council appears poised to have at least one newcomer on the dais in 2023.Rudy Fernandez, who is in his 14th year on the Council, will not seek reelection this year. Three Council seats are open in the November 8 election, and six candidates – three Democrats and three Republicans – have filed their petitions to fill the positions. The Primary Election will be held on June 7.Mayor Ed Meinhardt and Council member Shawn Klein are also up for reelection this year and will be running again alongside newcomer Rosy Bagolie on the Democratic ticket.Three new Republican candidates will be seeking the available Council seats, as well. The candidates who submitted petitions on Monday were Sejal Lakhani-Bhatt, Rus Milov, and Michael Livi.The filing deadline to run was on Monday, April 4. Biographies of the six candidates will appear in the next edition of the Tribune.“Not Going Away” Fernandez, a three-time mayor ofFernandez, a three-time mayor of Livingston, first ran for a position on the Council as a Republican in 2006, before winning in a 2008 special election as a Democrat; he has since remained affiliated with that party. He then won reelections to the Council in 2010, 2014, and 2018.“My time doing this will be ending soon,” Fernandez said. “But I volunteered before I was on the Council and I will volunteer my time after I leave it; it’s not like I’m going away.”Fernandez said he is open to remaining on township committees should the Council choose to appoint him. If he is not appointed, he said he still plans to find ways to contribute to Livingston.Fernandez said that he did not wish to make a big deal of his exit from the Council, noting that it is an “unofficial rule” to not seek a fourth full term on the governing body.“If you’re fortunate enough to win reelection, three full terms is enough,” he said, while giving credit to township employees for the work done while he has been in office. “I love the Council. I have been fortunate to work with wonderful people, from my initial days to this current group. I have made wonderful friendships. But it’s the employees in town, the town manager, the administration, they’re the ones who deserve credit for the work that gets done. We get the photo ops, they do the hard work.”Fernandez said that he always insists residents call him ...
