VOTE411 Voter Guide

My priorities for municipal government center on fiscal transparency, protecting our schools, and restoring common-sense infrastructure planning: Show the Math Before Every Vote (PILOTs & School Funding): State law splits PILOT payments 95% township and 5% county, leaving schools with zero by default. While I credit the current administration for setting aside a percentage of PILOT revenue for our schools, our district still faces deep deficits. I would require a one-page fiscal impact summary with every development agreement, showing exact revenues for the township, county, and schools in year one and thirty, while pursuing a standing revenue-sharing agreement with the Board of Education.

Rigorous, Public Budget Discipline: The municipal portion is ~19% of your tax bill and rose ~$194 on the average home this year. I would audit major expenses, insurance, benefits, professional services, and transportation, one contract at a time, publishing the analysis before budget votes. We must grow our commercial tax base rather than raising rates.

Safe Walking Routes & Reforming Sidewalk Policies: Developers currently pay into an in-lieu trust fund instead of building sidewalks. I have already filed an OPRA requests to examine this fund's balance and waivers. As your councilman, I would inventory every student walking route, pursue NJDOT Safe Routes to School grants, and permanently bar sidewalk waivers along school paths.

I have knocked on more than 1,000 doors across two campaigns, and I am still knocking. But listening is not the hard part of this job. Acting on what you hear, in public, is the hard part.

An example. When parents told me their children walk to school on roads where the pavement simply ends, I did not write a position statement. I asked them to name the road and the exact spot, and I am building that list street by street. That does not replace a proper route audit by the township. But residents should not have to wait for permission to be useful.

That is the method I would bring. Ask a narrow question. Publish what comes back. Act where the council has authority, and say so plainly where it does not.

I would publish weekly answers to questions residents ask, including the ones where the honest answer is that council cannot do this. Courtesy busing is the school district's decision. Site plan approvals belong to the Land Use Board. Telling people the truth about who decides what is the first step toward helping them influence it.

On disagreement: I have served on my homeowners association board since 2008 and on the Economic Development Advisory Committee. In both, I have found that most local disputes are arguments about facts, not about values. Publish the numbers and many settle on their own. What remains is a real difference about priorities, and it deserves to be heard before the vote rather than explained after it.

By Resolution 2025-060, adopted January 2025, Robbinsville accepted a Fourth Round obligation for 2025 through 2035: 40 units of present need, meaning existing homes needing repair, and 336 units of prospective need, meaning new affordable homes. Our Third Round settlement required 638 units. This is a constitutional obligation, and I support meeting it. The question is how well we carry it out.

Sequencing. Homes are approved years before the infrastructure serving them is built. Families in these homes are less likely to own a second car, so safe walking routes matter more, not less. If we approve housing without securing the sidewalk connection at approval, when the township still has leverage, we create the exact problem parents describe to me today.

School impact. New family rentals affect enrollment. Our district lost a $4.8 million operating referendum in November 2023, passed a smaller one in March 2024, and returned to voters again this year. Enrollment and budget effects should be calculated and published before a vote, not discovered two budgets later.

The affordable housing trust fund. Developer fees paid into it cannot be spent until a spending plan is approved. That plan should be public and the money committed to real projects. Towns that fight this obligation lose in court and end up worse off than towns that plan.

Yes, and they overlap more than people assume. Seniors on fixed incomes feel every municipal increase immediately. Robbinsville does not run senior transportation; rides come through Mercer County T.R.A.D.E., Ride Provide and Access Link, mainly for medical trips and the senior center. I would ask how many eligible residents are enrolled and what trips they still cannot make. I would also have the Senior Center help residents apply for Senior Freeze and ANCHOR; unclaimed relief is money already set aside for them.

Residents with disabilities. 27 group home bedrooms count toward our Fourth Round obligation, and Project Freedom is planned at Town Center South. State law already permits group homes in residential zones, so the township's role is to be a responsive partner on permits, inspections and the streets around them. ADA curb ramps and crossings are eligible Safe Routes to School costs, so accessibility near a school can be funded by the same application as the sidewalk.

Residents whose first language is not English. The township website offers translation, but mailed and published legal notices do not. Land use notices, emergency information and tax changes should reach people in the language they read.

One notice serves all the above three groups. For example, Residents learned about the crematorium approval after the vote. This could have been avoided with one early notice.

As a Councilman my primary responsibility is the safety, health, and well-being of all residents, ensuring our municipal resources are managed effectively and lawfully.

While federal immigration enforcement and ICE policies fall entirely outside the jurisdiction of a local township council, local government does have a direct role in how our institutions operate: Focusing on Local Priorities: Our local police department and municipal staff must remain focused on core local safety responding to crime, managing traffic, maintaining infrastructure, and protecting neighborhoods. Entangling local police in federal immigration enforcement diverts valuable municipal resources and strains community trust.

Fostering Public Trust and Safety: Public safety relies heavily on cooperation between residents and law enforcement. Victims and witnesses of crimes must feel safe coming forward to the Robbinsville Police Department without fear, regardless of their background.

Adhering to State and Federal Law: Municipalities must operate within established legal guidelines. My priority is ensuring that our township follows the law while maintaining a professional, orderly administration that serves every taxpayer.

A councilman’s job is to focus on what we actually control local budget, safe walking routes, school support, and municipal services while ensuring our local government remains professional, lawful, and focused on the daily needs of all Robbinsville residents.

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