Two teams of two candidates are running for election to two open seats on Ewing Township Council on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Incumbent Democrats Kathleen Wollert and Sarah Steward are running against Republicans William Andres and Colleen DiPastina.
The Ewing Observer asked each of the candidates to provide biographical information about themselves and a statement regarding why they are running for the board. Their answers are presented in alphabetical order below.
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William Andres, 32, has lived in Ewing since October 2005, except for 1.5 years when he lived in Lansing, Michigan.
A graduate of Ewing High School, he received an associate’s degree in the humanities from Mercer County Community College. In 2020, he graduated from William Paterson with a bachelor’s in psychology.
Andres is currently employed as a sales and brand growth leader at the Chick-fil-A in Flemington. He previously worked as the manager at the Philly Pretzel Factory in Ewing and a long-time employee at Marrazzo’s IGA in Ewing.
He is engaged to his fiance, Kelly, who he has been with for the past five years. He does not currently serve on any community or volunteer organizations, but says he’d like to volunteer for the EASEL animal shelter.
Andres’ statement: I decided to run for Council because I am troubled by the way the current administration is running Ewing. There are many issues to address, such as the growing tax burden that our citizens are having to bear, Trenton Water Works being completely out of Ewing’s control, the lack of consistent garbage collection, and the growing crime in our township without a full police force.
I also believe that I can bring a new and fresh perspective to Ewing politics. One of my opponents has been in office for 35 years. How fresh are her ideas? If the current state of Ewing is a reflection of the current government, we can all see that it’s time for change. Ron, Colleen and I are your best choice for change.
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Colleen DiPastina, 62, moved to Ewing two years ago with her husband, Robert, and lives in the West Trenton section of town. The couple’s children attended Our Lady of Sorrows/Saint Anthony’s and Notre Dame High School.
A graduate of Steinert High School in Hamilton, she currently works as a civilian in the Hamilton Township Police Division. Before that, she worked for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
DiPastina is also a volunteer with Interfaith Caregivers volunteer and a choir member in the OLSSA choir
DiPastina’s statement: I am running for a seat on the Ewing Council because I am concerned. I am concerned about the current Council going in the wrong direction.
I moved to Ewing a short time ago and have fallen in love with this great town. It reminds me much of what Hamilton used to be before Hamilton became too built up with traffic at a standstill on many roads. I plan to change direction here in Ewing and slow down overbuilding and overcrowding.
I have worked as a civilian with the Hamilton Police Division for almost 28 years. I know that these men and women put their lives on the line every day that they put on their uniforms as they strive to protect and serve our community. I am concerned that at Ewing’s low numbers in overall public safety that we must do everything we can to attract more qualified people.
With a projected 25% increase in natural gas price, I am concerned that our seniors will have to choose between heat and eat. I am also concerned that without proper fiscal management by Council we will have a large property tax increase.
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Sarah Steward, 40, has lived in Ewing for her entire life except a brief assignment living and working on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. She owns a home in Wynnewood Manor and is a third-generation Ewing homeowner—all of her grandparents were original owners in the early 1950s, and her parents raised her in the same neighborhood they were raised in.
Steward attended Ewing Public Schools and graduated from Ewing High School. She then graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Franklin and Marshall College with a double major in government and psychology. In 2018, she completed her master’s in public administration (government and non-profit management) from Rutgers University.
She was recently named CEO of HomeFront, a Mercer County non-profit social services agency, after serving as the organization’s chief operating officer for almost seven years. She previously worked for former Congressman Rush Holt for over a decade, serving as his deputy chief of staff and district director when his term in Congress ended. Steward began as an intern in Holt’s office in college.
Steward is a life-long parishioner, choir member and cantor at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in West Trenton and currently serves as president of the Central Jersey Choral Society, a local community choir. She has held leadership positions on the Mercer County Democratic Committee and has been an active member of the Ewing Township Democratic Club and the Sustainable Ewing Green Team. She currently serves on the Ewing Township Planning Board and the Advisory Board of the New Jersey Coalition to End Homelessness and just completed a year as a LeadNJ Fellow.
Steward’s statement: I am running for reelection to Council to continue to be of service to my friends, family, and neighbors here in Ewing Township. I was raised in Ewing, am a proud product of the Ewing Public Schools, and care deeply about this town and its future. Serving on Council is my effort to contribute my skills, vision, and experience to the very deserving residents of Ewing Township.
As your councilwoman since 2013, I have worked every day to represent the views and values of the residents of the Township. We need a strong Council to both partner with and provide oversight of the Mayor’s administration. I believe that I have the requisite experience to do both well.
My career working for Congressman Holt provided me with significant experience in setting goals, analyzing constituent concerns, managing organizations, and getting results for the people of Ewing. During my time on Council, I chose to use my free time to earn a master’s degree in public administration to hone my skills and study best practices in municipal management, law and public policy, financial management, policy analysis, and more.
When people ask why I run for local office, I often remind them of the significant impact that local government has on our quality of life. The news often focuses on the conflict and challenges of government at the national or state level but I would argue that the day-to-day decisions about running our town affect each of us much more personally.
Are our neighborhoods clean and safe? Are the streets, parks, and other public places well maintained? If an emergency happens, do our first responders have the personnel, equipment, and expertise to respond? Are we planning the future of the town in a balanced and responsible way? All of these questions come before Council in some way on a regular basis and require careful attention to answer well.
I have been proud to lead and contribute to efforts that have made life better in Ewing. As council president this year, I have led efforts to invest in much-needed road work, park improvements, and community facility improvements like the renovations to the Hollowbrook Community Center, Ewing Senior & Community Center, the pools and splash pads, and improvements to sports and recreational facilities at Moody and Banchoff Parks.
I have supported our police, fire, and emergency medical personnel through the purchase of state of the art equipment that saves lives, provided tools to recruit and fully train a diverse, effective, and representative workforce, and invested to expand our 24/7 fire coverage.
I have joined with my colleagues to hold Trenton Water Works accountable, require them to make infrastructure improvements, and become more transparent about their operations and challenges for Ewing customers. I have worked with the administration to encourage exciting new businesses to relocate to Ewing, rehabilitate commercial eyesores to useful purposes, and update our future development plans to ensure that we are always mindful of the needs of the residents and their quality of life as new developments are planned.
Through all of this, I have been continually mindful of how we spend our taxpayers’ precious resources. I have prioritized the need to be fiscally prudent, stabilize the tax base, improve our bond rating, and expand other tax ratables in the township to ensure that residents are not asked to pay more than their fair share. I don’t pretend that I have every answer and I know there are things we can do better. In a new term, I plan to focus on the local implementation of the state’s new cannabis laws and ensure that any cannabis-related businesses in Ewing are operating as good neighbors in accordance with the laws and local expectations.
I plan to continue to focus on making sure Ewing residents have reliable and efficient trash and leaf/brush pickup and hold vendors accountable to meeting the terms of their contracts. I want to improve the ways we communicate with our residents by continuing to improve our website/social media offerings, maximizing cost-effective digital communication, and ensuring that communication is a two-way street. Sharing updates from government is important but making sure that government is hearing from its constituents is critical.
As a council member, I cannot do my job without knowing what the residents of the Township think. I try to solicit those opinions every way I know how: visiting neighborhood and community groups, talking with neighbors on their porch, listening to public comments at official meetings, chatting with people at the grocery store, reading online comments and e-mails, and much more. Sometimes elected officials make the mistake of trying to make public participation convenient for themselves.
Instead, I think we need to constantly ask ourselves if we are making participation as convenient as possible for the residents, most of whom are too busy to attend Council meetings.
Our move to incorporate Zoom-based meetings has been well received; I hope to continue to find creative ways to make sure that all residents have a voice in our government. If you have questions or thoughts about where our focus should reside, I hope you feel free to reach out to me at ssteward@ewingnj.org.
Like all towns, Ewing has its challenges, but I believe that I have the determination, energy, and dedication to ensure that Ewing continues to prosper. I love this town and its residents; I want to continue to represent the values and aspirations of the wonderful, diverse, and wise people of our community. No one should ever expect to be re-elected to public office and I humbly place my trust in Ewing’s voters to make the best selections for our township’s leaders for the years to come.
As they consider their options, I hope that my neighbors consider my years of service and accomplishments for Ewing’s residents. It would be an honor to continue to represent your interests on Council. I remain dedicated to serving you and I humbly ask for your support.
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Kathleen Wollert, 78, has lived in Ewing for over 60 years. She graduated from Notre Dame High School and Trenton State College with a BS in elementary education. She taught in both public and private schools in Ewing. (Lanning, Parkway and Incarnation.
She is currently employed by the N.J. Education Association as a pension/health benefits consultant. She is a member of NJREA.
She and her husband, Robert, have three sons and three grandchildren. The youngest is currently a Ewing student and the older two graduated from Ewing High School.
She has served on the Zoning and Planning Boards, as well as the Ewing Council. In addition, she has been a member of the board of Meals on Wheels, as well as other civic groups, including the Lions Club, Village on the Green Civic Association and Incarnation PTA.
Wollert’s statement: I am running for reelection because I care about my hometown. As we all moved along in time, we have seen many changes and faced many challenges.. I have seen these changes first-hand over many years. We have grown from a community of farmland and gravel back streets with our industrial work centered at the GM-Fisher Guide plant and the Naval Turbine Center.
Our retail center was Olden Avenue and other specialty shops were scattered in neighborhoods throughout the town. We have grown in population (approx. 37,000) and that has generated other practical changes- in housing, business, and municipal needs that accompany that growth. In my time as a Councilwoman,the challenges have continued. In my legislative role on the Council, I have been a voice for careful consideration of ideas, trying to look at all sides. I know that I represent all of our townspeople, not just who shouts the loudest.
On the current agenda, the issues that I see as pressing would include maintaining a stable municipal tax rate. We have been able to do this by sharing services with our county and other municipal partners. We have increased our ratables (tax-generating properties.
We have aggressively sought grants which help us underwrite costs of necessary protections for our community- especially in the areas of police, fire, and emergency services. We have to promote responsible redevelopment of the Naval Turbine site on Parkway Ave. We have to continue to oversee the implementation of the cannabis industry in our town. While it is a means of raising revenue, which in turn helps stabilize the tax rate, I feel that as it is a new, legal industry, we have a responsibility to oversee its growth in Ewing to help insure that it acts as a positive and not a negative for our town and its residents.
These are several of the issues we will deal with and there will be others. In all of this, what is most important to me is creating and maintaining a home place where the quality of our lives is positive, hopeful, and supportive. I hope that you, the voters, will reelect me so I may continue to serve you.
Will Andres,
