Rossi elected mayor

Anthony Rossi beat two former township officials in a three-way battle for mayor in the Nov. 7 election, according to unofficial results reported by the Sussex County Clerk’s Office.

Mail-in and absentee ballots are accepted up to six days after Election Day, and provisional ballots are counted after the deadline for receiving mail-in/absentee ballots.

“It is a great honor to serve as Vernon’s next mayor,” said Rossi, who won a four-year term. “I’m overwhelmed by the amount of love and support I have been receiving on this campaign trail.”

He received 2,814 votes compared with 1,687 for Harry Shortway and 811 for Sally Rinker, according to election results updated Thursday, Nov. 9.

Both Shortway and Rinker were former mayors and Township Council members.

Rossi attributed his victory to the fact that “I listen.” “I listened to the hundreds of people I have spoken with. I listened to their concerns, frustrations and willingness to see Vernon change its course. This is what separated me from my opponents.”

When he takes office in January, he plans “to communicate the public’s concerns and issues to the municipality and work with each department head and staff on restoring good government.”

“I will need to address any immediate departmental issues and concerns. We have many administrative tasks, appointments, reorg issues and problems that must be addressed.”

He promised to thoroughly review the budget with the township’s chief financial officer, business administrator and Township Council members.

“I will also begin looking into the tax reassessment practices ASAP (as soon as possible) and express public concerns, especially the repeated in-home assessments.”

Vernon Township Council

Incumbent Bradley Sparta and former school board member William Higgins won two Vernon Township Council seats, according to the unofficial results. The terms are for three years.

Sparta had 3,354 votes and Higgins had 3,177 compared with 2,186 for Councilwoman Margaret “Peg” Distasi, who was appointed to the council last spring.

Jessica DeBenedetto won a council seat with a two-year term.

DeBenedetto had 2,305 votes while Daniel Storey had 1,564 and Mark Heftler received 1,263.

A referendum on the Vernon ballot asked whether the township should provide an annual monetary length of service award program for volunteer fire departments and emergency medical services organization members was approved, with 4,417 voting yes and 928 voting no.

Vernon school board

Incumbent Adina Hope was defeated in a race for three seats on the Vernon Township Board of Education.

Hope had 2,327 votes compared with 3,696 for incumbent Carl Contino, 3,195 for Elaine Colianni and 3,082 for incumbent Charles Cimaglia.

Residents had raised questions about the school district paying to send Hope’s child to a special school outside the district.

Sussex Borough Council

Republicans Nicholas Southard and Martin Kokoruda won two seats on the Sussex Borough Council, according to the unofficial results.

Southard had 222 votes and Kokoruda had 200, while Democrat Emily Downs received 114.

Sussex-Wantage school board

Caitlin Space and Stevie Vallone won seats on the Sussex-Wantage Regional Board of Education along with board president Nicholas D’Agostino.

Space received 1,443 votes, Vallone had 1,273 and D’Agostino had 1,034, according to the unofficial results.

Deborah Jenkins Braconi received 868 votes, Daniel Van Tassel had 846, Trevor McPherson had 771 and Stephanie McPherson had 723.

Frankford Township school board

Jessie Vaughan and incumbent Kathleen Retz Adam were leading in races for the Frankford Township Board of Education, while who would win the third seat was too close to call, according to the unofficial results.

Vaughan and Adam each had 854 votes. Charlene Molnar had 837 votes and Mindy Smith had 836, according to results updated Nov. 9.

Following were Darrin Chambers with 795 and Chris Dexter Jr. with 675.

CORRECTION: The winner of one Vernon Township Council seat with a two-year term was incorrect in an earlier version of this article.