Where I stand on Township Issues

I chose to move here because I loved the location and have learned to love the town. I guess there’s a difference between making the choice to live here and being born here and never leaving.

I’ve considered a number of issues where I believe my experience and inclinations would be helpful. In outlining them, I am obliged to point out certain deficiencies in the ways things have been managed in the past. Though I honor all who volunteer their efforts, we all have different talents and abilities. I suggest there are areas where I can do better.

Unfortunately, these are not “sound bite” or “bumper sticker” issues (like I’m for or against the Highlands Act). They can be complicated and take a little thought to consider. And I may change my position based on what I hear from you during the campaign. So, if you wish to discuss any of these, please call me at 908-832-6704 or send a comment on this site.

For ease of reference, the topics are listed in alphabetical order:

Being Green; the Highlands Act

COAH

Factions

Master Plan

Open Communications

Our Employees

Public Lands

Taxes and Finances

Volunteers

Being Green; the Highlands Act - Nancy and I not only appreciate the beauties of nature, but have tried for the past 45 years or so to preserve or improve our surroundings. Half our power now comes from solar panels, rain water drenches our garden, last year’s celery tops are now compost and good Tewksbury horse manure feeds our vegetables. We have removed invasive species from our little backyard forest and planted things birds love. Our grandson, Jake, is convinced we also farm huge bull frogs in our miniature wetland.

As to preservation and regeneration, I feel deeply the importance of stewardship for our natural beauty and rural atmosphere (that’s why we moved here; it reminded us of our first home in the woods of Connecticut). Aside from the simple enjoyment of our lovely Township, there are thoroughly practical reasons to try and leave things as they are, or actually improve our environment by preservation and regeneration planning.

Our 2004 Master Plan points out that there may not be enough water in the three aquifers under us to support further growth. Most economists confirm that development principally benefits developers and those who sell land to them. Communities where development occurs must ultimately provide enlarged infrastructure and services – and taxes go up. Fortunately, our past zoning changes and the Highlands Act have limited growth. I endorse the philosophy of the Act and will work to put in place the ordinances needed to further that plan.

However, I am troubled by a number of recommendations by the Highlands Commission which unfairly determine the value of property which is to be preserved. Rather than scrap the Act, though, I would work toward resolving the money issues. Compared with the need to preserve a fragile watershed which nourishes half the state, providing fair value for affected property shouldn’t be brain surgery.

I am a founding member of the National Wildlife Federation, have long been associated with the Nature Conservancy and continue to be a member of the Monmouth Conservation Foundation. I worked for preservation with the Historical Society in Monmouth County and even visited jungle reserves along the Amazon River in Peru three times in the past 6 years to support a “preserved jungle” program and halt the destruction of the Amazon rain forest.

If elected, I will certainly work to reduce Tewksbury’s carbon footprint. Installing solar panels to generate electricity for sale to utilities, replacing incandescent lights with fluorescent, trading up to energy efficient engines and purchasing hybrid vehicles are easy, cost effective starting points. I would also promote the reestablishment of a monthly Township recycling program. Not only would that provide an opportunity for community members to meet and feel good about helping the environment, it can be profitable as well.

Aside from such simple ways to be “green” there are many exciting new ways in which communities can act to protect the environment and aid conservation. Assessing them would be an assignment I’d offer to our Environmental Commission – along with appropriate funding.

COAH – Unfortunately, the most recent COAH proposals, which are to take effect in October, are seriously deficient as to arbitrary assumptions regarding future growth and the determination of land areas to be considered in calculating housing requirements. Further, they demonstrate a rigidity of thinking and bureaucratic procedures which impose almost impossible burdens on rural towns and serious confusion as to how the plan’s mandates must be followed.

Briefly, one unit of affordable housing would have to be built for every five units of market rate housing, an increase from the current ratio of one for every eight. Commercial developers would be obliged to provide one new affordable housing unit for every 16 jobs generated by that development. In late June the state Legislature approved bill A-500 which eliminates the ability of one community to pay another to build affordable housing. Consequently, Tewksbury will no longer be able to shift its COAH obligations to locations that want more housing and can supply the needed jobs. Also, this plan enhances the ability of developers to impose a “builder’s remedy” as cover for unneeded developments in rural communities.

It was hoped that the third round of planning would have been the charm, but the current COAH proposals seem destined to embroil municipalities in the courts, not only to sort out the issues mentioned above, but to seek some conformity with the Highlands Act. At this writing 17 municipalities (Tewksbury excluded) are challenging the COAH proposals in court.

I have been involved with affordable housing projects for 13 years, and have both legal and leadership experience in both these critical areas. If elected, I intend to bring that experience to bear on this issue and obtain clarity as economically as possible and avoid the anticipated problems of attempting uneconomical development in an area which should not be required to sustain it.

Factions – Throughout my professional career as attorney/negotiator and businessman I have been rewarded for bringing parties together and obtaining predetermined results. To do that I have learned to minimize differences among factions, understand all sides of an issue and search for common objectives and balanced outcomes. Simply put, moving forward together for common goals is really important to me.

That’s not a cliché for teamwork; it’s a formula for getting opposing teams to work together.

From observing many Township Committee meetings, we could use a more conciliatory approach in resolving issues. I would use my experience in pursuit of that goal, to avoid divisiveness and foster conciliation. We can’t make everyone happy, but we should work harder to resolve touchy issues which arise among the numerous factions in Tewksbury. My 40 years of successful experience in that area says I can do that.

Master Plan – Having slogged through all 196 pages of this plan, I consider it to be a nice mixture of township history, generalities and vague thoughts of nice things we might do in the future. There is not a single goal, objective or other criterion against which future actions (or inactions) of the Township Committee can be measured. Likewise, there is no clear notion of where we want to be a few years from now or how we’re going to get there. It’s a nice, fuzzy, green document which, I understand, cost us over $80,000 to have some one outside Tewksbury create.

The Master Plan is due for revision. As mentioned elsewhere, it must conform to the Highlands Master Plan. It must also take into account requirements under the State Development and Redevelopment Plan under the State Planning Act. We have an obligation to take part in the cross acceptance process and negotiate the best outcome for our community.

The new COAH requirements must be incorporated with our Master Plan, so it may be necessary to postpone the plan’s completion till there is resolution on the numerous COAH issues. As you can imagine, this will be a complicated and involved process which will require rigorous attention to detail and strong negotiating ability. It also involves becoming familiar with numerous lengthy legal documents and legislative acts. My legal background and years of business negotiations prepare me for this task.

In the process, I’d like to impose planning standards which have been successfully applied in many disciplines – including the political area – to measure performance under the plan. I would establish suggested steps toward common goals which affect our Township – for all our people. If we don’t have measurable goals, how can we achieve them – or evaluate the members of the Township Committee who are responsible for getting them done?

Open Communications - I believe in promoting transparency in the actions of all government officials. As observed in many political arenas, prevarication, nepotism and corruption are the legacy of secrecy. Sunshine remains the best disinfectant.

In Tewksbury we certainly follow all legal requirements for openness: newspaper notices, agendas and minutes are properly maintained. However, many work products of the Township Committee and, of equal importance, the numerous committees which advise them are sometimes lost, forgotten or misplaced.

The proper place for all such materials, in this century at least, is our Township web site. Unfortunately, documents which do find their way to that site are poorly organized, mislabeled or missing. Trying to find a particular document is time consuming, frustrating and, frequently, impossible.

If elected, I would insist that any non-confidential document which passes through the hands of the Township Committee be available on our Township web site – for at least three years. That will help improve our institutional memory.

I would also insist that our Township ordinances be made available on the site. That will clear up the mystery about some of the antiquated or silly rules which govern us and dampen the selective enforcement of some of those ordinances. We might even decide to change some of them.

Naturally, clear labeling and proper placement of past and present minutes would be required. Dates alone do not give a hint of what transpired. While this would require some effort and a strong sense of organization, it is not a difficult task; the technology is readily available. Though the Township Committee might be reluctant to spend the money or delegate responsibility for this task to volunteers, I am sure we have many capable and interested people who would like to foster the availability of this basic information and take responsibility for collecting, collating and editing it. I’d really like to promote a project of that nature.

Our Employees -Tewksbury has 47 employees, but none of them has a detailed job description, a definition of accountabilities or a comprehensive program to evaluate performance. There are no rules regarding pay practices – except for the police who were awarded, in early 2007, a generous 4 year, 19 and ½ per cent pay increase regardless of job performance. There are no systems in place to compare jobs or performance with the practices of other similar municipalities.

It is well known that employees become demoralized when there is ambiguity regarding their positions and pay practices are unclear. While change should not be sudden or poorly defined, I will try to instill basic personnel practices to support our employees. My objective would be to enhance employees’ job comfort and performance.

Public Lands - Tewksbury’s public lands represent an asset conservatively valued at over $100 million, yet there is no comprehensive plan in place regarding the use, maintenance or future disposition of this asset. There is neither a readily available map showing their locations nor signage indicating where they are – except for Christie Hoffman, Pascale and Whittemore. Most people don’t know that the area behind TES is a public park. It is deplorable that so much of such a valuable and important asset, acquired with our tax dollars and potentially available to us all, is being withheld from our use through poor administration.

I will fight to develop a comprehensive plan for the public use of all our park lands and their maintenance. Part of that plan would be an assessment of the lands’ ecological, economic and environmental potential. With careful delineation of their locations we can easily identify prospective areas for future acquisition and plan accordingly. No longer will the Township Committee be a reactive agency, creating financial fiascos like the Wetteland property acquisition which wasted over 1 million of our taxpayer dollars through haste and poor planning.

Taxes and Finances - How frequently does the Township Committee boast about its “fiscal conservatism” and take credit for not raising taxes? In fact, that portion of taxes allocable to the township rises continually with increases in our property assessments, and as property improvements and additions occur. On average, our taxes have increased between 6 and 8 percent annually for the past few years. You know that if you have been comparing the dollar increase each year.

The real issue is how well the continually rising tax revenues are managed. As a person who has been responsible for the “bottom line” of numerous operations, I will insist on employing basic management techniques to enhance financial performance. There will be no more quarter million dollar ball fields put in the wrong location which require another $150 thousand to remedy improper installation.

Further, the past practice of making hasty and poorly considered property acquisitions simply to keep land out of developers’ hands (and without a plan as to how the property will be used) burdens us with unanticipated debt.

I have operated businesses both very large and very small, and have always insisted on careful and thoughtful money management. My emphasis is on delivering value for the dollars spent. I know I can improve on past performance.

Volunteers - One of our most underutilized resources is the volunteers who give of themselves to serve on our various committees and Commissions. Except for the Land Use Board, which is a state mandated agency, none of our committees is truly empowered to affect ways in which things are done in our town.

Recommendations are accepted and then ignored, or not even acknowledged by the Township Committee. Well thought out studies and proposals (such as the Parks Committee Master Plan, the Pascale Park Plan and the Highlands Act ordinances proposed by the Environmental Commission) have been accepted and forgotten. Our committee volunteers wither away as they realize they are simply place markers.

I will fight to empower all our volunteer groups. They will have approved mission statements and realistic budgets. Projects suitable to their expertise will be assigned and their advice will be provided formally at announced Township Committee meetings – and it will be heeded. They will become part of the fabric of the decision making process. I will try to replace feelings of frustration with the knowledge they are a respected and valuable community resource.