Age: 54
Years in Maplewood: 30
Profession: I'm a professor in the Computer Science Department at NJIT. I'm also a software developer and development manager at an Internet startup called Wickr.
Past public service: My service includes:
- Four terms on the Township Committee from 1992-2003, including three years as Mayor from 1998-2000
- Seven additional years on the Township Committee from 2009 to the present
- Service on the Planning Board for 18 years since 1994 (as an elected official and appointed member), including time as Chair
- Founding trustee of the Community Coalition on Race
- Active in the founding of the Springfield Avenue Partnership
- Led the efforts on the Township Committee to help create our Historic Preservation Commission
- Served as a board member of the YMCA
- Active member, Trustee and President of The Strollers, Maplewood's Community Theatre
1. Why should you be on the Township Committee?
I believe very strongly in community service, and have "walked that walk" for my whole life. I try to approach this work in a thoughtful and analytic way, and apply my knowledge and experience to finding solutions that move us forward as a community. I have a record of working with people throughout our community to deliver quality programs and services to all of our residents. I believe in engaging in responsible economic development, and of working to share services with other communities to help keep costs down.
The project is the result of a long collaborative public process to determine the best solution for Maplewood Village. It represents a consensus after many years of discussion and review. I believe the development brings many advantages to Maplewood, including a reasonable number of new retail opportunities and new apartments that will benefit all of our residents and village businesses; the connection of existing parking lots to provide improved traffic flow; and the improved connections to the tunnel to Memorial Park. Experts in design and architecture have reviewed the design and have overwhelmingly approved the improvement to Maplewood Village. For this reason, I support the project and disagree with the notion of derailing it and ignoring the community consensus and extensive reviews that have gone on.
3. What is your position on the Post Office project PILOT tax abatement?
The PILOT represents a short term abatement so that the builder constructs the building in a style and using materials that the community has demanded. The PILOT gives additional revenue to the Township for the five-year duration of the agreement, and has zero effect on the school budget. I asked all of these questions when the PILOT was proposed before deciding to vote in favor.
4. What are your top three priorities for the Township and what would you do on them if elected?
A primary focus of mine is on delivering quality services to all of our residents. This means a continuous effort to assess our programs and services to make sure that the best quality of service is delivered for all. It means being open to creative new ideas for programs and for improvements to the way services are delivered. The continued responsible economic development of our community is another critical priority for me. It is essential that new development and expansion be done in a way that is responsive to the needs the community. Collaborating in community meetings with our neighbors is a crucial part of making sure that any development matches the needs of the residents. Finally, I believe that being creative about exploring opportunities for sharing services with other communities is vital for controlling costs and improving efficiencies. I want to continue and expand on existing efforts, including opportunities to share fire services, public safety dispatch services, and perhaps even space in our Police facility for other communities.
5. What would you do about our high property tax rate?
I will continue to work to deliver responsible fiscal decision making and budgeting for all of the programs and services in our town. I've been a leader in the township's efforts to reduce its debt load and minimize our municipal costs and tax increases, and I want to continue this work.
6. What services would you seek to cut and in what way to cut costs?
I don't think that we should be in the business of cutting services. The only services that should be cut are the ones that are not needed any more! We should be creative in searching for alternate sources of funding and in sharing with other communities to control costs.
7. What services would you seek to increase and how would you pay for them?
A consistent message that I hear across town is that there are not enough fields for all of the uses that we have in the community. I want to continue working with partners from South Orange and from our school district to understand how we can collaborate on maintaining our facilities. I would like to work to find a way to develop facilities like Chyzowicz field so that they can be more available. I also think that our cultural affairs offerings can grow and improve even more than they have already. We have wonderful physical assets in the community, especially the recently acquired Woodland facility. We also have fantastic human capital in our arts community here in Maplewood. There are many opportunities for expansion here, and I believe many funding opportunities as well.
8. What should voters know about you that they may not?
Nobody believes it, but compared to the rest of my extended family, I am the shy one.
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