First Ward Councilman Rodney Farrar of Park Street resigned, triggering a special election this fall for the remaining two years of his original term.

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In a Sept. 6 letter to the city clerk, Democratic Municipal Chairman Kevin O’Brien identified three nominees who were selected to present to City Council for the vacant seat:

• Al Parker of East Milton Avenue
• Eric Miles of East Milton Avenue
• James Pellettiere of East Grand Avenue

Since the seat is held by a Democrat — as all nine City Council seats are — the Democratic Municipal Committee must submit three nominees to the governing body for appointment to the vacant seat until a special election in  November. City Council is likely to make the appointment at its next meeting, scheduled for Monday.

Farrar served on the governing body for more than 10 years and was re-elected to a four-year term in 2020. He also will give up his seat on the seven-member Redevelopment Agency, a seat that will be filled by mayoral appointment with confirmation by City Council. The 1st Ward encompasses an area in the northeastern part of the city from about Whittier Street east to the Linden border, up to about downtown, and as far south as East Milton Avenue.

Also on the ballot in November as part of the biennial elections in Rahway are the mayor’s seat and three At-Large City Council seats. The six ward representatives on City Council were elected in 2020 and will next be up for election in 2024.

Farrar is the 5th council representative in as many years to resign his seat before his term ended:

• At Large: Jeff Brooks was appointed in January to the remainder of James Baker’s term after Baker stepped down in December after winning election as county commissioner. Brooks is running this fall with incumbents, At-Large Council members Joanna Miles and Jeremy Mojica and Mayor Raymond Giacobbe, Jr. Parker also was among the nominees for that seat.
• 3rd Ward: Vannie Parson was appointed in August 2020 after Robert Bresenhan stepped down three months ahead of the General Election.
• 5th Ward: Danni Newbury was appointed in October 2019 to the remaining 15 months of the term vacated by Jennifer Wenson Maier, who resigned to become executive director of the Housing Authority.
• 6th Ward: Joseph Gibilisco was appointed in January 2018 and then won a special election to the remaining two years of the Giacobbe’s unexpired term after he was appointed mayor.

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