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Slogan
Experience Matters Voting has Consequences
Involvement in Community
Somerset County Volunteer Science Teacher 1992 Borough of High Bridge, NJ Councilman 1993 Chair of Public Assistance and Welfare, High Bridge, NJ 1993 Planning Board Member, Class IV 1993 Economic Development Commission Chairman 1993 Mayor of High Bridge, New Jersey 1993-2006 Planning Board Member Class I 1994-2006 Emergency Management Coordinator 1994 Solid Waste Advisory Panel Member, Hunterdon County 1995 Economic Development Commission Honorary Chair 1995-2006 Hunterdon Economic Partnership Executive Board 1995-2004 Emergency Management Press Coordinator 1995-2006 Hunterdon County Planning Board Municipal Advisor 1995-2006 Gore-Mubarek Economic Agreement Invited Diplomat 1996 Developed High Bridge Golf Course 1996-1999 YMCA Youth Board 2000 NJ Assembly Task force on Fair Housing Act 2001-2003 NJ Elected Official of the Year-Municipal Managers Assoc. 2001 Bridges Homeless Outreach Coordinator (Summit, NJ) 2008-2018 High Bridge Historical Committee 2022-2025
Hi, I’m Al Schweikert, and I am running for Mayor of High Bridge. For me its a basic sense of duty.
Some of you have known me from my time as Mayor between 1993 and 2006. For those that don’t, here is my story and why I’m again running for Mayor.
I have stayed active—attending meetings, volunteering, and closely watching our borough's government. I’ve seen a shift in High Bridge that concerns me: a move away from transparency and a steep decline in affordability.
I am retired from my full-time work which means I have both the time and the energy to focus 100% on bringing High Bridge back to a position of strength and affordability. My philosophy is simple: Do not buy anything unless you have a clear revenue source to pay for it. During my career I ascended to the executive ranks at both small and large corporations. These positions came with specific training in budgeting, problems solving and personnel management. Experience matters.
Uncontrolled development. Protecting both the Health and Environment for High Bridge Citizens.
Mayor and Council have grown fond of redevelopment plans which bypasses the role our planning board has. Despite almost no favorable review from residents, including the school board, which stated it will not be able to handle the students, they continue pushing forward and even negotiate with developers for PILOT programs. I took a personal legal stand against 100 West Main Street (Exact Tool Property) redevelopment.
I am fighting to return to the original, safer plan (written by Maser Consulting and approved by the planning board and borough engineer in 2016) that protects our residents' health and the character of our downtown.
Affordability, the "elephant in the room" is the affordability of living in High Bridge. When I was Mayor, the municipal portion of your taxes was roughly 9% of your total tax bill. It has surged to 25% and is even much higher if you count the utility costs you pay on a quarterly basis. I intend to address these challenges in the budget process.
My "Day One" Plan for Fixes
• Line-by-Line Audits: I will go through the budget with a fine-tooth comb. No more "automatic" new vehicle purchases or unnecessary spending.
• True Transparency: We are tossing out the "three-minute rule" that silences residents. We will also limit "consent agendas"—no more burying secret contracts and spending in a single bulk vote.
• Empowered Committees: The Council will choose its own finance committee to work with the CFO, ensuring checks and balances instead of "cliques."
• Constructive Dissent: Disagreement makes better decisions. I welcome it.
I see many decisions made without consulting actual experts. I propose using trained qualified auditors for both human resource and financial decisions. I would like to return the free position of Police Commissioner so that police overtime has some checks and balances. I would like to make the borough golf course a utility so that residents will get a refund from the revenue rather than it all being spent in the boroughs general fund. We are spending millions of dollars in road repair, which requires large amounts of borough spending and utility fund spending. Those decisions are driving our debt. Total general outstanding debt is $13,016,987.22. This means that of the 1,415 households in High Bridge, each house carries $9,199.28 in debt and over $800 is paid annually by taxpayers. I would like to see better engineering reviews which include the financial impact.
