A decade ago as a student at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., Sarah Steward was a government major.
Later, after joining the staff of U.S. Rep. Rush Holt in Washington, D.C., she put her academic background to work.
Now, as Ewing’s newest council member, she hopes to “give back” service to her hometown.
“Ewing is in my blood, quite literally; and I am looking forward to serving it,” said Steward, in an interview noting her status as a third generation resident of the township.
Steward was appointed by the council to fill the seat recently vacated by Council President Hilary Hyser, who resigned in late October to take a position with Ewing Township as director of personnel.
The 31-year-old Democrat is resident of the Wynnewood Manor section of the township.
She was the unanimous selection after three candidates were interviewed in closed session by the remaining council members.
The other candidates, who, along with Steward, were chosen by the local Democratic Committee, were Abelardo Conesa, a member of the township’s environmental commission, and Ken Bradley, a veteran Ewing school board member.
Steward, whose father George ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for council last year, will continue working full-time for Holt — as deputy chief of staff and director of the Democratic congressman’s district office in West Windsor Township.
She is in line to run for a full four-year council term next year on a Democratic ticket that would be headed by Mayor Bert Steinmann if he decides to run for re-election.
But she expects to have much to do as a council member before her current term ends Dec. 31, 2014.
“There are a lot of exciting things coming up this year and next,” said she, citing the proposed redevelopment of the former General Motors and Naval Jet Propulsion properties off Parkway Avenue.
A 2000 graduate of Ewing High School, she recalled her days at Franklin & Marshall, where she co-majored in psychology and government. She noted that the latter was called “government” there, as opposed to the standard “political science” label used in most colleges.
That’s because, she said, they believe it’s “more of an art, than a science.”
