Garwood Council Selects Sara Todisco to Fill Vacant Council Seat

At the borough council meeting on Tuesday, May 10, council members unanimously voted in favor of appointing Sara Todisco to fill the

Sworn in at the meeting by Mayor Patricia Quattrocchi, Todisco, 22, is the youngest council member in borough history and also the only current member born and raised in Garwood; she is a fifth generation resident and her family owns Garwood's

"I’ve known Sara since she was about this big from working with her on the Lion's Club," said Mayor Quattrocchi as Todisco took her seat. “And I know my good friend, her grandfather, is exceptionally proud today.” 

Todisco is a teacher in the Clark School District and has been involved in the Garwood Celebrations Committee, Recreation Commission, Lion’s Club and Garwood Baseball League as a softball coach. She graduated from Arthur L. Johnson High School in 2006 and summa cum laude from Northeastern University in 2010, where she studied history with minors in education and business.

"I’m honored to have this position, especially with my family's history in town," Todisco told Patch. "I approached the Democratic Committee about becoming involved after returning from college and realizing this is where my roots are and I'm here to stay. I definitely did not expect this to happen so soon, but I'm very excited."

In recent council meetings, Todisco has been vocal about the Athletic Field complex. "I'm happy to see the complex moving forward and eager to see it come to fruition," said Todisco. "I just want to see Garwood progress and continue to improve."

On April 13, Linken, a Democrat, submitted his formal letter of resignation from borough council, citing personal family reasons for his exit. Linken was elected to council in 2009. 

Since Linken's three-year term would have expired in December, Todisco will still have to run in this year's elections to hold onto her seat. Todisco and incumbent Councilman Louis Petruzzelli had already announced that they would be running for the two council seats available in January 2012, against Republicans Carol Kearney and Steven Blaufeder. 

To fill the vacancy, the Garwood Democratic Committee had to present three nominees to council within 15 days of Linken's resignation. The committee nominated and planning board member William Nierstedt. Within 30 days, council then had to select one of those nominees to fill the position. If council had not agreed on Todisco within 30 days, the Democratic Committee would have had another 15 days to appoint one of the nominees as Linken's successor.

"We chose these three nominees because they are all very competent and know town issues," said Garwood Democratic Committee Chair Charles Lombardo. "Sara has shown us great knowledge of the issues and a lot of promise."