A bigger reason may lie in the overall involvement of Cedar Crest’s residents. “We  have people who volunteer in the local schools and community, a lively current events discussion group, and over a hundred other activities,” says Marymae Henley, Cedar Crest’s resident life director. “People at Cedar Crest are engaged in living, and so, naturally, they come out and vote.”

Finally, there are the efforts of David and Dottie Way and Julius and Irma Cohn. David and Dottie represent Pequannock District 12 on the Morris County Republican Committee, and Julius and Irma serve on the Democratic County Committee. In addition, David serves on the Resident Advisory Council (RAC) and chairs its Legislative Committee.

Voter Registration
As chair of the Legislative Committee, David, with the help of Dottie, conducts voter registration at Cedar Crest.

“The deadline for registering is 21 days prior to any election,” says David. “So a week before the deadline for every general election, primary, or school election, we hold voter registration sessions in each clubhouse. Then I hand-carry the registrations over to Morristown [the county seat] to be sure they get there on time.”

David is also responsible for inviting candidates to Cedar Crest. “We’ve made it a point to have candidates’ nights before the town council elections and the school board elections,” he says.

As of this writing, David is hopeful that he’ll also be able to arrange forums for the Morris County freeholder candidates as well as the two congressional candidates for U.S. District 11.

Bi-Partisan Good Will
Although the area surrounding Cedar Crest is predominantly Republican, voting at the community is more evenly split. “It’s about 50-50,” says Irma.  I think most of the independents vote Democratic, so there might be a slight Democratic majority.”

David generally agrees with that assessment. “Although there are nearly twice as many declared Republicans who vote in primary elections at Cedar Crest, in the general elections it’s pretty close to being evenly divided. It seems the undeclared voters tend to vote Democratic. I don’t know why, but it seems to be the case.”

And how are relations between Cedar Crest’s Democratic and Republican leaders? While partisan rancor may dominate elsewhere, that’s not the case at Cedar Crest.

“We’re friendly,” says Irma. “Totally friendly,” agrees David.

A Political Who’s Who at Cedar Crest

Morris County Democratic Committee

Irma Cohn
Julius Cohn

Morris County Republican Committee

Dorothy Way
David Way (also serves on the Cedar Crest Resident Advisory Council)

Township of Pequannock Advisory Boards

Bob Krause—Planning Board (also serves as Resident Director on the Cedar Crest Board of Directors)
David Way—Board of Adjustment Dottie Way—Senior Citizen Advisory Board

Former Mayors

Walter Ash—Saddle River
Rusty Thompson— Ho-Ho-Kus (also serves on the Cedar Crest Future Planning Committee)
David Way—Pequannock

Plus numerous volunteers who give their time to the Pequannock schools and community.