Bridgewater Township Council General Election 2025: Andrew Bucko

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Bridgewater's general election on Nov. 4 has six candidates running for seats on the Township Council.

Democrat Andrew Bucko is running for one of three, three-year open seats on the Township Council, along with Ridwana Isla and Joan Geiger.

Incumbents Allen Kurdyla and Filipe Pedroso, along with newcomer Meghan Moench are running on the Republican ticket.

Are you running for office in Bridgewater? Contact Alexis Tarrazi at alexis.tarrazi@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Bridgewater Patch.

Andrew Bucko

Age: 43

Town of residence: Bridgewater

Position sought: Bridgewater Township Council

Party affiliation: Democratic

Family: I’ve been married to my wife for 13 years and we have one daughter

Education: BS in Computer Science and Economics from Rutgers University

Occupation: Senior Software Engineer

Previous or current elected appointed office: None

Campaign website: bigforbridgewater.com

Why are you seeking election as a Councilmember in Bridgewater?

For far too long, the existing council has been completely unresponsive and dismissive of the concerns of Bridgewater residents. Attend a council meeting or watch any of the livestreams, and you will see residents begging for the council’s assistance only to be met with blank stares and utter disdain. This is not how our elected representatives should treat Bridgewater residents. I am running to change the direction of Bridgewater and make sure that the council’s priorities are serving the people of Bridgewater.

The Council recently approved its fourth-round affordable housing plan that includes 421 housing units. What do you think of this plan?

The plan is a start, but the township needs to actually execute on it. Based on statements made by members of the current council, they don’t believe that Bridgewater needs to take affordable housing seriously. This would be a grave mistake; failure to meet the legally-mandated obligations would open Bridgewater to builder’s remedy lawsuits, where real estate developers could get a judge to force the town to allow high-density housing projects anywhere in town and ignore any existing zoning restrictions.

We could very well find ourselves in such a position if the projects that the housing plan relies on don’t pan out. One such project is Eden Woods: a development that was approved for vacant land south of East Main Street in the Finderne section of town back in 2016. Bridgewater counted a credit of 88 units toward third-round affordable housing obligations, but to date, no new units have been built. The township’s “2025 Housing Element & Fair Share Plan” offers an explanation: the developer now wants to increase the number of units by 55% citing financial constraints.

This is one of the pitfalls of relying on a carve-out of affordable housing from a larger development: if the project never gets built, we don’t meet the legal obligations. Bridgewater needs to be more proactive in taking steps to meeting the requirements by rehabilitating existing vacant, dilapidated properties, encouraging the construction of two-family (duplex) homes, and evaluating the potential for innovative housing such as allowing for the construction of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on sufficiently sized lots.

The Council approved a budget in June with a 1.077 percent increase over last year. How do you feel about the Township's handling of the budget?

For starters, the budget was late by multiple months. Second, the appropriations – the amount of money the township has budgeted to spend – increased by 2.53% versus last year. Third, the tax levy – the amount of money that the township needs to collect in property taxes – increased by 2.50% versus last year’s budgeted amount. The increase in the tax levy would have been higher if not for the township raiding the sewer utility funds to the tune of $730,000 while still raising the sewer tax by 9.5% year-over-year.

Our taxes keep going up while the level of services continues a downward slide. This is due to the current council’s misplaced priorities. They’ve allowed the mayor to grow the top of the administration while cutting the positions of employees who are doing work on behalf of residents. The township’s budget documents detail this: nine additional supervisory staff have been added, while 49 of the rank-and-file employees have been reduced since 2023.

The Camp Cromwell property has been a topic of discussion for years. How do you feel about the Council's handling and plan for the property?

Camp Cromwell has the potential to be a real jewel for recreation in Bridgewater; the property has facilities for basketball, hiking and biking trails, plus buildings for indoor activities. Unfortunately for residents, the township has left the property to deteriorate over the preceding years. The township applied for, and received, a grant from the Federal government of $4 million to fund improvements to the property. Not only has the township not claimed the funds from that grant, despite providing a list of projects they would use the money on when they applied for the grant, the township is going back to the drawing board to decide what to actually do on the property. There have been multiple rounds of public input over the years on what residents would like to see done with Camp Cromwell. If the administration still doesn’t have concrete plans, I question their commitment to actually provide any improvements.

Beyond Camp Cromwell, the township has acquired a number of properties over the years through the open space fund that are just being left to fallow, such as the Vaucher Preserve and the Hancock Preserve. The township purchased these and other properties, presumably to prevent real estate developers from buying them and building homes. All that has been achieved is taking the properties off the tax roll. The township needs to do more with these properties than simply put up “No Trespassing” signs; like Camp Cromwell, they ought to be properly maintained and made usable by Bridgewater residents for recreation. Otherwise, it has just been another waste of our tax dollars to have purchased the properties in the first place.

What other issues do you feel need to be tackled in the Township?

Bridgewater needs to make sure that any new real estate development is right for the area and Bridgewater as a whole. The council recently approved a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) program for the property on US 202-206 that was previously called the Center of Excellence. This agreement will cut the developer an estimated 45% tax break over 30 years on two warehouses in the initial phase, followed by life science and retail buildings in subsequent phases.

Prior to this, Bridgewater’s only PILOTs were the mall and the Centerbridge senior housing buildings. The council has in the works at least two additional PILOTs: a trucking terminal on the former Ethicon property at the intersection of US 22 and Country Club Road, as well as a data center between Adamsville Road and Woodside Lane. Neither of these projects are appropriate for those locations. The proposed trucking terminal would bring hundreds of pollution-spewing and noise-generating trucks per day right next to the high school and residential neighborhoods, not to mention further clogging the already congested roads in the area. The proposed data center would put a strain on electrical and water utilities. Bridgewater’s council is prepared to give the developers tax breaks for the privilege of dirtying our air, clogging our streets, and further driving up electricity costs.

I would not approve PILOT agreements that give the level of tax breaks that the current council is willing to hand out. I would give careful consideration to whether any PILOT agreement was right for Bridgewater by weighing the benefit, if any, the township would receive against the drawbacks that each proposed development would have on residents.

What sets you apart from the challenging candidates?

I’m a pragmatic advocate for the residents of Bridgewater. I understand that tough decisions need to be made, and I’m not going to shy away from them. The incumbent council members up for re-election this year have presided over years of rising taxes and shrinking township services. Bridgewater needs real solutions, not short-term gimmicks. It was just two years ago that the administration and council were on the verge of approving a digital billboard next to the Kids Street playground in exchange for a one-time cash payment.

One incumbent council member, likely recognizing the lack of fiscal responsibility by the administration and council, offered a list of amendments to the budget when it was finally released. Instead of tackling the areas where Bridgewater is wastefully overspending, his plan would simply pay less for things like fire hydrants and sewage treatment. There was no justification provided for how Bridgewater would be able to do that. The bottom line is that his cuts wouldn’t even bring the budgeted appropriation back to last year’s levels.

I can’t promise that I can lower our taxes overnight. I can make the commitment to everyone in Bridgewater that I will be a better steward of our tax dollars than the current administration and council have been. When it comes to prioritizing the bloated bureaucracy in the municipal building or providing services to residents, I will always pick the services for our residents – that’s a choice the current council has been unwilling to make.

Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself or your campaign?

I am not a professional politician or political operative. I am not seeking office as a stepping stone to a higher position. I’m a father, husband, and concerned citizen of Bridgewater who sees our town heading in the wrong direction. I know that we can do better than the current council has been, and the residents of Bridgewater deserve a local government that is responsive to the needs of all its residents, not just a select few.