12-21 EO

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Inside this issue:

SIX09 Senior Living!

DECEMBER 2021 FREE

COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG

Board of Ed Incumbents re-elected

Turning citizens into leaders

back at the helm

By BiLL SaNserViNO

Ewing School Board President Lisa Hall McConnell, Vice President Anthony Messina and board member Deborah Delutis won re-election to three, three-year seats on the board on Nov. 2. According to unofficial results from the Mercer County Clerk’s office as of Nov. 11, the three edged out challenger Crystal Fedeli. Messina was the top votegetter with 5,975 votes (27.75%), followed by Delutis with 5,666 (26.32%), McConnell with 5,139 (23.87%), and Fedeli with 4,750 (22.06%). Meanwhile, Democrats swept all county and state elections on the ballot. In the race for Mercer County Commissioner, Democrats Kristin McLaughlin 60,943 (21.92%), Samuel Frisby, 59,967 (21.58%) and Terrance Stokes, 59,792, (21.51%) easily defeated Republicans Michael Chianese, 32,847 (11.82%), Richard Balgowan, 32,541 (11.71%)and Andrew Kotula, 31,889 (11.47%). For State Senate, 15th District, incumbent Democrat Shirley Turner, 37,544 (72.01%) defeated Republican Susan Gaul, 14,592 (27.99%), by a wide margin In the State Assembly, 15th District race, Democrat incumbents Anthony Verrelli Verrelli, 36,481 (40.61%) and Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, 36,189 (40.28%) defeated lone Republican Patricia Johnson, 15,137 (16.89%) and Independent Pedro Reyes, 1,999 (2.23%).

Program would help build residents’ engagement in their community By ReBekah SchrOeder

Shelly Dearden coaches Ewing players during a 2017 Moody Park League game at Ewing High School. She has returned to coaching after retiring in 2019. To read more, turn to Page 16. (File photo by Martin Griff.)

Airport manager keeps facility safe throughout pandemic By Cara LaThaM

The impact COVID-19 had on the airline industry was unlike anything that Melinda Montgomery, the manager of the Ewing-based TrentonMercer Airport, had ever seen before. Having been through other major events like 9-11, she knew that the industry would bounce back. Her leadership and commitment to keeping passengers and employees safe during

the pandemic, combined with her dedication to developing young professionals in the industry are just some of the ways she is turning corners in the niche commercial airport industry. Recently, the Hamilton resident’s efforts have earned her the respect of her industry peers, who became president of the Northeast Chapter of the American Association of Airport Executives (NEC/ AAAE) for 2022.

Elected during the association’s annual meeting in Vermont in August, Montgomery is only the seventh female president in the chapter’s history and is one of only 429 commercial airport managers in the country. “Melinda Montgomery’s expertise is instrumental in the growth and continued success at Trenton-Mercer Airport,” says Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes. See AIRPORT, Page 13

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The United States is divided by numerous issues. People are increasingly at odds with each other, and the process of making important change is difficult, if not impossible. It is in this political climate that Mercer County Community College recently unveiled a multi-pronged program to combat the situation by educating citizens and empowering them to become leaders within their communities. The college has teamed up with The Citizens Campaign, a Metuchen-based nonprofit organization that works to ensure that discourse can be helpful, not harmful, and urges that people do not have to be elected officials or stop their advocacy at the ballot box. One piece of the program is the establishment of a Citizen Leadership Center in partnership with The Citizens Campaign. The purpose of the center, which will be located at MCCC’s James Kerney Campus in Trenton, is to encourSee LEADERS, Page 3

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