What Do You Want From Your Township Committee?

What do you want from your Township Committee?

We want a balanced budget, so that we can get necessary services (and some additional nice to haves) while not significantly increasing taxes year over year. We want a Committee that serves the needs of the community, and not just the needs of individuals. We want a Committee that has a good working knowledge of how municipal governments work, how to move projects forward, how to gauge public opinion, and how to negotiate.

Who does all of these things and more? Mike Choi and Stacey Ewald.

In order to be fair, to educate and familiarize myself with the experience, qualifications, and previously held local roles of their opponents, I hopped on my laptop to do some research. I was disappointed to find very little information to help me understand who they are – career experience, Board roles, roles in the Community, information on the local Republican website, etc. – which again, leads me to ask the question:

What do you want from your Township Committee?

I don’t have a sense of what the opposing candidates’ agenda is, what projects they are interested in advancing in Chatham, or their ideas for improvements. They refused to debate, I have not seen them at any Committee meetings, and only put out the repetitive, tired, years-old memo about taxes being raised 27% (and I think most residents are smart enough to know that this is untrue). How serious are they about running for office and the commitment that comes with it?

This is what I do know.

I have had the great privilege for the past two years to watch Stacey and Mike advance community agenda items, fund additional projects through grants, maintain open space, work tirelessly with all of our departments and volunteers in town, ask questions, manage constituent needs, answer questions, and give an incredible amount of their time and expertise to the Township of Chatham. It is clear in what they do every day that they care about Chatham Township and their role as civil servants.

Having Corporate, Board, sub-committee or other experience is helpful when taking on the role of a Committee member, and some skills are transferable to local government, but there is no replacement for actual experience. We are very lucky to have Stacey’s years of experience with the Committee and formerly as Mayor, especially when it comes to affordable housing and the years’ long history there, as well as all of the efforts made to preserve our open space. Mike Choi has been an exceptional mayor this past year, and while there is a lot that the public is privy to, there is so much more that goes on behind the scenes just to manage and support the day to day operations, including obtaining new equipment, approving the bills, working with other municipalities on shared services agreements, as well as a myriad of other mundane tasks that keep our Township moving. Some projects take years to get over the finish line, simply due to the nature of the project, reliance on other County, State, or Federal agencies, as well as other factors (Fenske, Save Routes, etc.), and when there is turnover and lack of continuity, these things take even longer.

I have had the benefit of not only working with them on the Committee, but also getting to know them as people, and trust me when I tell you that they are not only exceptional civil servants, but exceptional humans as well.

Jen Rowland, Deputy Mayor

Chatham Township, NJ