VOTE411 Voter Guide

I am running because Hunterdon County deserves a commission that hears more than one point of view. The same perspectives have held these seats for too long, and that narrowness costs us. Good decisions come from real debate, from commissioners who ask hard questions before the vote rather than after it. I want to bring that back to the county.

My preparation is practical. I spent a decade directing the State Department's Office of Counterterrorism Finance and Designations, where I ran a federal office, managed its budget, and answered for how every dollar was spent. Public safety was the work itself. I served in Afghanistan leading the narcotics affairs section, and I now teach and direct a research center focused on security and extremism.

Budgets and public safety are the core of what commissioners do. I have done both under pressure, with real consequences, and I will bring that judgment to Hunterdon County.

Affordability. Hunterdon County taxes are too high, and the current commissioners have papered over that with careful language. They say the rate is not going up. The levy tells a different story. It has climbed year after year while the county has piled up nearly 60 million dollars in reserves, roughly twice what Somerset and Morris hold with the same AAA credit rating.

A surplus that large is not prudence. It is money taken from Hunterdon families and left sitting in an account instead of working for them. Reserves exist to protect the county against emergencies and to hold down borrowing costs, not to grow without limit.

I will push to right-size the surplus and return the difference to taxpayers through a lower levy. I will ask for a full public accounting of what the reserves are for, what each line actually requires, and what is simply being held. Then I will vote to give the rest back.

The pressures are familiar to anyone who has run a public budget. Employee health and pension costs rise faster than revenue. Roads, bridges, and county facilities age and demand capital. Human services and emergency response absorb costs the county does not control. Meanwhile the county draws almost entirely on one revenue source, the property taxpayer.

Stability is not the goal. I want the rate to come down, and even a fraction of a percentage point is worth fighting for. That means two things.

First, discipline at home. A 60 million dollar surplus is evidence that we are collecting more than we need.

Second, stop leaving outside money on the table. Trenton and Washington distribute grant dollars every year, and Hunterdon has not competed aggressively for them. I will build direct working relationships with the state government and with our congressional delegation, including Rebecca Bennett if she is elected, to bring federal and state support here.

I do not want AI data centers in Hunterdon County. They consume enormous amounts of electricity and water, generate constant noise, and produce very few permanent jobs for the land they take.

New Jersey households have already absorbed steep increases driven by regional grid capacity costs, and large new loads push those costs higher for everyone. I will not support raising the bills of Hunterdon residents to power a private server farm.

Zoning authority sits with our municipalities, and I respect that. But the county is not a bystander. The county planning board reviews applications that touch county roads and drainage, and the commissioners set the tone.

I would support clear safeguards. Full disclosure of projected megawatt demand and water use before any approval. Binding limits on potable water and on noise at the property line, including generator testing. Independent aquifer and traffic studies at the applicant's cost. Written commitments that the developer, not the ratepayer, funds transmission upgrades. Formal notice to every adjoining municipality. And a county resolution putting this on the record.

I have served in elective office for over 30 years, first to give back to my community, Tewksbury Township and for the last 9 years to the residents of Hunterdon County. My goal was and has been to help people and solve problems, to ensure government serves the people and is run efficiently and effectively.

My focus is shared services with Hunterdon's 26 municipalities - find more services that we at the County level can share and provide a cost savings and thus save taxpayers. We have done it already with Health Department services, with economic development grants, grants for public safety and fire safety equipment as well as parks and playground equipment. The next focus will be on road signage safety improvements - provide municipalities with the signage they need created by the County's sign shop.

Health care costs continue to rise at 20 to 35 % per year, which is not sustainable for Hunterdon or any County. The County must work with its unions to look for alternative solutions to bring the costs down such as expanding the number of plans whereby if an employee wants a "gold" or "platinum" plan they employee has to pay more as well as offer more options within existing plans.

The County does not control local zoning and land use, only each municipality can so if a municipality wants to update its Master Plan and Land Use Ordinances to prohibit data centers then the County can provide grants to help them with the costs of updating the plans by their professionals as well as the County Planning staff for those who have no staff to help with the guidance and planning reviews.