Rumson Final Hour Write-In Council Campaign a First: Tom Ridgway

Until very recently, Rumson's GOP candidates for Borough Council, incumbent Joseph Hemphill and newcomer to the race, Laura Atwell, were running for the two seats up for grabs opposed only by Democrats Michael Steinhorn and Philip Wagner, who have run and lost for several years.

Now, in a last-minute move, a write-in campaign under the moniker of Rumson Family has emerged.

Its candidates, Tim McCooey and Tom Ridgway, who are registered Republicans, boast a non-partisan platform based on a "community-based view."

Patch provided each candidate with a questionnaire. The following are the questions and candidate Tom Ridgway's responses. Ridgway, 41, lives on Blackpoint Road.

Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your background and why you should be elected.

My name is Tom Ridgway (that’s Ridgway with no ‘e’) and I live on Blackpoint Road with my wife, Dawn, and our two children who attend Deane Porter Elementary School.

I have coached girls soccer, boys soccer, flag football, baseball and wrestling.  I currently sit on the Rumson Endowment Fund which uses private donations for public use (i.e. 4th of July Fireworks; tree lighting; equipment for the police, EMS and fire companies).

I am running as a write-in candidate supported by Rumson Family, a newly formed grass-roots organization that focuses on making our community a better place for families.

What do you think distinguishes you from other candidates? What do you bring to the table?

I have worked to improve our community by helping prevent the proposed multi-family COAH house on Bingham Road.

I also publicly disputed a lot variance on Ridge Road which would have increased traffic and parking in a densely populated area as well as allowed all neighbors to gain the variance and turn the neighborhood into a “cookie-cutter” development.

I have stood with neighbors on Avenue of Two Rivers when they were unfairly stonewalled by the Building Department on their plan to remove an overgrown brush area to grow a lawn for their family to enjoy.

When a council member shuts down our Boy Scouts from selling popcorn on a River Road sidewalk, you can tell there is something wrong in our town.

If elected, I will look under the hood and bring families back into focus. On the Borough Council I will be a voice for Rumson families, and I will ensure that their interests are in the forefront of our government and its boards.

What are the most pressing issues facing Rumson today? How would you approach and resolve these issues?

In a nutshell, the current governing body is out of touch with the 2013 Rumson family. We need to overhaul our current ordinances.

We learn from the successes and failures of other towns in dealing with landlords whose tenants violate the law or put our children at risk. We need more safety measures in place for children who ride bicycles on our busiest streets.

The various boards appointed by our council — planning, zoning, recreation, etc., need to be more resident and family-friendly. We’ve seen families denied C/Os for things as small as a question on their backyard grading, or have to incur thousands in fees and experts just to put in a lawn. 

Through Rumson Family we can break through the “old guard” to bring forward more ideas and people who put families first.