By Emily Schopfer
HIGHLANDS – Highlands’ nonpartisan borough council has four candidates running for two full-term seats in the Nov. 3 election. The candidates on the ballot are Melissa Cavaluzzi, Alyson Serkin, ElenaRose Villali and Joseph Walsh.
Highlands Borough Council consists of an elected mayor and a six-member council. The terms of council president Jo-Anne Olszewski and council member Donald Melnyk are expiring, and neither is running for reelection.
The Henry Hudson Regional School District (HHRSD) Board of Education will see a contested November election for both Atlantic Highlands and Highlands Board of Education candidates. In Highlands, four candidates are up for two full-term seats. Those candidates are Robin Manno, Lindsay Silberman, current sitting board president Diane Knox, and incumbent Rebecca Wells. For more information about the contested school board election, see page XX in this issue of The Two River Times.
This year’s general election will take place Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting began Oct. 24 and continues through Nov. 1. Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by last name.
Melissa Cavaluzzi is currently a member of the Henry Hudson Regional School District Board of Education (BOE), representing Highlands, and has also formerly served on the Highlands Arts Council and ran for borough council in 2021. During an Oct. 20 candidates forum held by the Monmouth County League of Women Voters, Cavaluzzi said she “came for the commute, and stayed for the community,” as her husband was commuting to New York City when they moved to Highlands in 2015. “I feel very strongly about serving the community that’s been so good to me since I’ve lived here,” she said.
Professionally, Cavaluzzi is a Registered Nurse who has worked with several nonprofits throughout Monmouth County. Her background in nonprofit work, she said, has given her experience working with “large budgets” and “getting things through systems that sometimes can seem a little monotonous or bureaucratic.” If elected, Cavaluzzi said she “would like another opportunity to serve the council and the community as best I can.”
Alyson Serkin is an active board member of the Highlands Borough Arts Council, with professional experience in architectural sales and has a degree in structural engineering from Ohio State University. In her free time, she said she “loves spending time with family, practicing yoga, walking the town, gardening, cooking, traveling, and catching trivia at The Chubby Pickle on Wednesdays.”
“Smart, responsible development” would be Serkin’s top priority, she said. Any new development needs to “fit (the) character of Highlands,” and be “developed in a thoughtful way,” she added.
Another concern for Serkin is affordability amid increased development, as she has noticed more higher-end development in town, likely tied to the Netflix boom in Eatontown and Oceanport.
“Highlands has become a great commuter town,” she said, and is “serving a demand for higher-end homes” due to its quiet, coastal atmosphere and walkability. While rising property values are a good thing, she said, they also bring higher property taxes and a higher cost of living. “People who have lived in Highlands their whole lives… are getting pushed out,” Serkin said, and if elected, she would push to keep Highlands affordable, especially for existing residents.
If elected, she also added she would support bringing “more people into town during off-season (outside of the summer months), so businesses cannot just survive but thrive.” To do this, she would push for stronger partnerships with borough-run organizations and support community events like bringing back the Highlands Halloween parade.
ElenaRose Villali has been a Highlands resident for over a decade and said her decision to run for council “stems from a genuine desire to advocate for residents, ensure their voices are heard, and encourage meaningful change. I believe effective leadership begins with listening, asking thoughtful questions, and understanding our community’s concerns.”
Professionally, Villali has worked in business, construction and real estate, and hopes to bring “fresh perspectives and practical ideas” to the borough.
“As far as there being one priority, it’s tough,” Villali said. If she had to select a handful of action items, she said she’d prioritize greater accountability for public officials, better stormwater solutions and preparations, and stronger support for new business if elected.
Villali said qualified engineers should determine how to prevent flooding, whether through check valves, bulkheads or other measures. She said this issue needs to be addressed now. The town needs to “be ahead of that issue” so, “when it does come time for a major storm,” it is prepared.
Additionally, Villali would push for greater flexibility with vacant storefronts, such as pop-up shops, rather than letting spaces sit empty in downtown Highlands, she said. She would also advocate for greater zoning flexibility in the Bay Avenue redevelopment zone, to “make it essentially more appealing (for new businesses) but also maintain the rules and regulations and laws in place.” If elected, Villali would work to invite new businesses and support existing ones, to make Highlands “more of a year-round destination.”
Joseph Walsh has been a Highlands resident for four generations and is running for borough council because he “believes this town deserves leaders who listen, ask tough questions and follow through,” he said. Professionally, Walsh has worked in insurance compliance, and if elected, will push for “serious flood mitigation, stand behind the police, fire and first aid volunteers who keep residents safe, and make sure new development pays its fair share,” he said.
Walsh said his top priority would be a combination of affordability and flood mitigation. During the nor’easter that bashed much of the Jersey Shore in late September, Highlands experienced severe flooding, especially downtown near Bay and Waterwitch avenues. Walsh said the current borough council has made a “real and legitimate effort towards flood mitigation,” but flooding will only grow over the next five years, so it must be addressed more aggressively. While Walsh said deciding on flood mitigation measures such as bulkheads or sea walls are better suited to engineers, he said appointing a council liaison to deal with this matter would be one step he’d push.
“Affordability encompasses that as well,” he said. Walsh would consider pursuing a Community Rating System (CRS) certificate, as it can lower flood insurance premiums for Highlands residents. A CRS certification is a flood insurance program that recognizes community floodplain management practices.
This article originally appeared in the October 29-November 4, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
