Beyond the Talking Points: Oversight Questions Remain In Berkeley Heights Town Council Responses

Part Two of a Series Analyzing Public Statements Made by Berkeley Heights Town Council and BOE Candidates

Turning from the Berkeley Heights Board of Education candidates to the candidates running for Town Council, this article will take a look at the introductions and the questions asked by TapInto for the first three weeks.  The Republican candidates are Glenn Endick and Michael Kaminsky.  The Democrat candidates are Alvaro Medeiros and Susan Poage.

All four candidates mention “community” in their introductions, and list a desire to help Berkeley Heights as a reason for running.  Endick and Poage are both teachers.  Kaminsky and Endick both have younger children and mention them in their bios.  Medeiros and Poage focus on their histories as Town Council members and volunteers of other organizations, and both note that they are familiar with township issues. 

The week one question asks what candidates see as the most pressing issue for the town and how they would address it.  Glenn Endick cites a lack of urgency from the town’s government and says, “There’s no time like the present.”  He mentions flooding and infrastructure, overdevelopment, and basic services like roads and communication from town council.  He urges leadership to become more proactive and work to anticipate challenges.

Michael Kaminsky’s answer lists the same infrastructure issues of flooding, drainage and wastewater treatment.  He says his focus will be on sustainable solutions that protect residents and the environment.  In regard to the wastewater treatment plant, he advocates for an evaluation of options saying that any decision must be transparent and that there needs to be public input so that residents can understand the solutions.  He appears to be open to all potential solutions.  He notes leveraging grants and other funding opportunities for infrastructure.

 Like the two candidates above, Alvaro Medeiros says infrastructure poses the greatest challenge, noting the challenges stem from many angles, including the state-mandated affordable housing obligations. He mentions the departure of Nokia Bell Labs as an issue, which will affect the town with a loss of tax revenue as well as opening over 200 acres to potential development, and cites the risk of penalties from the wastewater treatment plant.  As for solutions, Medeiros says there is “no single simple solution”, and he then goes on to credit the current administration for their efforts while mentioning his previous role on the council.

Susan Poage says our greatest challenge at the moment is to address the loss of the Nokia property. She notes that they provide over $3 million in tax revenue and refers to the community visioning sessions Council has provided to gather residents’ input.  She cautions residents that the acreage is not going to be an “abundance of green space”, and notes the need to be realistic with land development goals. 

The week two questions mirror what was asked of BOE candidates: how you would implement shared services agreements and keep them from becoming  political tools, and how you envision your role in overseeing and guiding operations.  

Glenn Endick lays out some specific detail here which show he has put some time and thought into his goals as a Town Council member.  After a call for openness and accountability, he shares his proposal for monthly efficiency reports to measure cost savings and progress that in turn mean accountability.  He notes his desire to see more competitive bidding for shared services and major projects, and mentions working with both neighboring towns and the State Comptroller to keep services fair and of benefit to the community.  He sees his role as one of providing direction and setting standards.  

Michael Kaminsky’s answers closely follow those of Endick, noting that shared services agreements need to be fair and managed transparently.  He also would like regular updates so the community can see the benefit of these arrangements.  He mentions collaboration with neighboring towns to avoid redundancy and also mentions the need to work with the Comptroller to prevent potential double-dipping of benefits.  In his role, he would provide staff guidance and resources to professional staff, and he tells us he has a responsibility to serve as a bridge between residents and those professionals.

Alvaro Medeiros makes note of shared service agreements entered into when he was a Town Council member, including Union County agreements for health and emergency dispatch.  He does note that an agreement with the County for a Department of Public Works manager was politically charged at the time, but says that controversy “dissipated”.  He says a more deliberative approach would have minimized this political aspect.  He says that agreements should be evaluated against intended results and cost effectiveness.  Medeiros says there is a limited pool of qualified professionals due to the large number of municipalities in New Jersey, and notes that it’s important in the role as Council member to be diligent in selecting professionals to work for the town.

Candidate Susan Poage tells us that Council members do not oversee or guide daily operations, but that they are responsible for the budget and for voting on resolutions and ordinances.  She says Council members are in a unique position, in our town, to affect direct change for residents.  Poage credits Council members “the last few years” for working together without fighting, but with constructive debate and collaboration.  She says the biggest role is to work with the CFO, Business Administrator, and department heads to assess budget needs.  She does not mention shared service agreements. 

In summary, much of what was answered by the candidates sounds the same.  What we do have as a difference for the two candidates who serve, or have served, already is a track record.  Both Medeiros and Poage have worked on positive measures for the town that they have pointed to, such as helping form a Grants Committee and Mayor’s Wellness Committee (Poage), and helping establish a multi-town Recycling Task Force and securing a grant to plant 500 trees (Medeiros). 

At the same time, it was interesting (to me) that while Medeiros and Poage both mentioned familiarity with the waste treatment plant as a positive, there were DEP violations happening while they were Council members. Poage’s description of Council members’ roles not including oversight of daily operations gives credible distance from the issue, but this does not answer the question as to why the budgetary needs of the waste treatment plant were apparently not being met.  Of additional interest is that the lack of “fighting” is great for optics, but often we see resolutions and ordinances being passed not only without “fighting”, but with no discussion whatsoever. We should all welcome a less hostile setting, but let’s be sure that it doesn’t come at a cost.

Also Read:

Beyond the Talking Points: Analyzing BOE Candidate Responses on Shared Services and Governance

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