In a joint statement, Council President Eric Range of Loantaka Way and Council Member Melissa Honohan of Pine Avenue announced their plans to run as a team for re-election to the Madison Borough Council in 2024.
Eric Range is seeking his second term on Council and Melissa Honohan is running for her first full three-year term after winning the November 2023 special election to serve out the final year of former Council Member Debra Coen’s unexpired term.
“We will be running as a team,” stated Range. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Melissa since she was sworn into office last November. She has already had a big impact on Council, jumping right into her role as a Council member. I’m looking forward to hitting the campaign trail with her and sharing our common vision for Madison with voters.”
Eric Range has a long history in Madison that began when he was a student at Fairleigh Dickinson University. After graduation, he decided to put his roots down in Madison. “Madison is such a rich and welcoming place to live whether you are a college student, family, professional, or at any stage of your life,” stated Range.
Prior to joining the Council, Eric Range was one of the longest serving commissioners ever on the Downtown Development Commission, serving for over 15 years, including a stint as Commission Chair. Later he served on the Madison Board of Health from 2015 to 2021 and was its president from 2017 to 2021. During that time he was part of the team that negotiated a shared services contract with Bloomfield Township to offer services in Madison that both expanded services offered to the Madison community and saved taxpayer money.
Range also became a “full-time volunteer” in the health department during much of the pandemic. He noted, “This was a special time for me—I trained as a contact tracer and worked closely with the borough administration and the health officer ensuring Madison residents had access to information and resources to fight the pandemic.”
Melissa Honohan moved to Madison in 2008 to pursue a leadership position at the NJ Sharing Network. She stated that “the organization was based in Springfield at the time, and I knew Madison was a lovely town with many wonderful amenities, as my parents had already lived there for several years . I wanted my daughter, who was four at the time, to be able to grow up close to her grandparents and extended family.”
Upon arriving in Madison, Council Member Honohan “heard the call of, ‘If not us, who?’ and realized that I needed to step up.” For Honohan, that meant doing what so many do in Madison: volunteering. “I was appointed to serve on the Madison Open Space, Recreation and Historic Preservation Advisory Committee in 2011, and served multiple stints as its chair and I’m proud to be the current Council liaison.” Prior to her election to Council in November, she served as a member of the Madison Planning Board and the Madison Community Garden. She has also served on the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.
As a Council Member, Eric Range plays important roles, including serving on the negotiating team working to save the Drew Forest, with the objective of ensuring that the forest remains intact and Drew can move ahead and be more financially stable. “Drew is an important part of Madison,” Range noted, “and we need to be partners in a solution, despite Drew’s adversarial position in this matter. ‘We’ve got unfinished business here,’as Mayor Conley would say.”
Eric Range also served as Public Safety liaison to address public safety issues such as working closely with Chief Miscia to create additional pathways to hire police officers, and to ensure that the Fire Department and Volunteer Ambulance Squad are fully supported in navigating the challenge of providing full-time professional EMS services to Madison residents.
In just a few short months in office, Council Member Honohan has jumped into the complexities of developing the 2024 budget, worked in partnership with the borough administration on the Masonic Lodge development and design, and reconnected with the Senior Center of the Chathams “to ensure we have good partners moving forward to eventually have a return of strong senior programming in the Borough of Madison.” Honohan is also organizing the 2024 National Trails Day event for early June, following an extremely successful 2023 event.
“I am so excited and energized to be running for a full three-year team on Council with Eric Range,” stated Honohan. “We share a love for Madison, an optimism for the future, and the passion and commitment to do the hard work it takes to keep Madison moving forward. We both were volunteers for many years before serving on Council, and we take seriously our responsibilities to serve the Madison community.”
Madison Democratic Committee (MDC) co-chairs, Alix Jennings and Christine Preston, stated that “following a transparent vetting process, MDC district representatives and elected officials voted to endorse the nomination of Eric Range and Melissa Honohan as Democratic candidates for the Madison Borough Council.” With the MDC endorsement, the candidates will appear on the Morris County Democratic Committee line on the June 4th Primary ballot.
Council member Range concluded: “Melissa and I look forward to sharing our vision for Madison with voters and hope everyone will bring their concerns and ideas to us so we can continue to represent your priorities and bring your voices to the table. Madison is a community of people who care, and we appreciate everyone’s support.”