By John Burton
FAIR HAVEN – Borough residents have not seen a Democrat on the Borough Council for quite a while. That’ll change in January.
Aimee Humphreys, a first-time political candidate and Democrat, will take her seat the Jan. 1 municipal reorganization meeting. She will join five Republican council members and Republican Mayor Benjamin Lucarelli, who also will be sworn in after winning a new term in November. He ran unopposed.
“I never had any intention to run for office,” said Humphreys, a River Road resident. “It wasn’t in my game plan.”
Humphreys, 66, who runs an alteration/seamstress business from her home, edged out incumbent Republican Jerome A. Koch by 113 votes. Humphreys garnered 1,080 votes. Incumbent Republican Susan Sorensen captured the most votes with 1,220, securing another term, according to the final totals certified by the Monmouth County clerk of elections.
According to information Borough Clerk Allyson M. Cinquegrana obtained from the county elections clerk, the win makes Humphreys the first Democrat to be elected to the borough council since Douglas P. Sanecki won a one-year unexpired term by one vote in 1989. In 1988, Democrats Janice David Miller and Fred W. Pulfuerst each won full three-year terms.
Humphreys may have not thought about running for office previously, but, coming of age during the 1960s, she embraced political involvement. She was active on a number of fronts, attending rallies for issues she embraced, as well as working for candidates she supported.
“It was part of what I did,” she said.
This year, when the Democratic organization in the borough appeared at a loss for candidates, Humphreys said she was encouraged to attend county Democratic meetings by Amy Mallet. Mallet, who Humphreys calls a mentor, had been a Monmouth County freeholder and ran unsuccessfully for the state Assembly.
Following discussions with Mallet and Vin Gopal, the party’s county chairman, they decided to mount a write-in campaign to see if Fair Haven Democrats could get someone on the ballot.
After winning some votes in the June primary, “I thought maybe I should run.”
The more she thought about running for office, she “got excited and thought, why not?”
Humphreys husband Michael and grown children, Michael and Lisa, offered their support, with her kids telling her “You go, Mom,” as did others she consulted, she said.
“All these little pieces came together,” she said.
She found that living in the community for more than 30 years, running a local business, having children who went through local schools and the associations that come from all of those involvements – plus her continued campaigning – really played a major part in getting her elected, she said.
She also appreciated the support and work of Mallet, Gopal and the county Democrats’ executive director, Joe Libutti.
Over the course of her door-to-door campaign, she reconnected with some old friends and met many others she may not otherwise have had the chance to meet. She heard their issues and concerns. The experience was “an eye-opener” but also “really fun,” Humphreys said
She found many who share her political outlook and she has high hopes for Gopal and Libutti – who were very supportive of her campaign – to reinvigorate the party.
Since the election, her interactions with the other members of the governing body have been “very welcoming, very warm.
She sees the borough government as having been “ well run … The leadership has been very responsible.”
But, her presence will offer a counterweight to the years of one-party rule, she hopes.
Humphreys would like to get people more engaged, and wants to encourage informal town hall-style get-togethers during which residents and business owners can feel comfortable asking about their issues.
“I’d like to hear from the community,” she said. “I think we as council people would learn as well.”
She also has wondered whether council meetings can be broadcast for residents who have difficulty attending the twice-monthly evening meetings.
“I don’t know what you can do and can’t do yet,” she said, adding, “I’m hoping people become engaged.”
The borough master plan is scheduled for review in the coming year and that, along with the Department of Public Works, is something that interests her.
While there may not be many who would say they were interested in the minutiae of trash pickup and sewerage, Humphreys recognizes that they are things that impact everyone’s life. “I’d love to get into the nitty-gritty” of it, she said and is hoping for that committee appointment.
“It’s very exciting, very interesting, to do something new and challenging,” she said.
