Stafford Township is a unique and special place to live with a strong sense of community and great pride in who we are. It is that pride, and our appreciation of the richness of our history that enables us to face an exciting future full of opportunities and challenges. I look forward to working with you the people of Stafford Township so that together we can meet these challenges and overcome all obstacles to an even brighter future.
My wife and I, my children, and all of my grandchildren are all proud to call Stafford our home. I want to assure that my children and grandchildren as well as yours have the same opportunities I had growing up in this wonderful place.
Stafford Township has so much to offer from our numerous parks and recreation opportunities, to shopping, and a quality school system. Our geographic location in close proximity to Long Beach Island, Barnegat Bay, Philadelphia, Atlantic City and New York assure our residents quick access to a variety of metropolitan areas while living in a quiet suburban atmosphere.
Since my appointment to the office of Mayor in April, and my subsequent election by the people in November, I have been committed to changing the way our government does business. It is time for government to look at all the options available and to focus on new and innovative ways to address issues, rather than simply throwing money at the problem. It is time for government to be responsible to the people, think outside the box, and be ever mindful that we are keepers of a sacred trust, the welfare of our citizens.
Over the years I have been proud to spearhead Stafford’s efforts in environmental areas, and through those efforts we have been able to achieve not only significant recognition but substantive quality of life benefits for our community. Our ordinances and policies have received recognition and acclaim from US Presidents, World Leaders, and numerous magazines such as National Geographic. Our environmental policies have been a modeled on both the National and International level and have been translated into 11 languages. Stafford Township has received more environmental awards than any other community in the United States including the National EPA Award for Engineering Excellence, the Presidential Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Award, and the International Environmental Excellence Award. In addition, we have received the National Tree City designation every year since 1989 and the Ground Water Guardian Foundation every year since 1996. Receiving awards and international recognition, is not as important as what these award represent, they show a strong commitment to the quality of life within our community.
In addition, Stafford has put together a highly recognized comprehensive Long Range Master Plan to address smart growth policies in our community. This plan assures a proper mix of homes, businesses, recreation, parks, infrastructure while still preserving 70% of our community as open space. The Stafford township master plan has been so effective that in addition to the significant open space and recreation components, the tax benefits in terms of tax avoidance through commercial construction and proper planning for each tax payer is a reduction of over $700 dollars annually
Many of the changes I advocate include being more aggressive with shared services and shared equipment. There are unique requirements, licenses and capabilities within our workforce and the equipment we own,by sharing these resources with other communities and them sharing with us will generate a new source of revenue for our community other than taxation, and this should result in an overall reduction in our cost of operation. Teamwork and sharing resources saves money for everyone involved. Being able to accomplish this while improving the quality of life of all our residents is the goal.
Many of these ideas and approaches will improve efficiencies while developing a better end result for everyone involved. Budget cuts, a strained economy, new cap laws, and continuing mandates from the State and Federal Government requires different approaches to problems. Finding new ways to fix problems allowed us to re-open Manahawkin Lake to swimming after having it closed for the previous seven years. We also reconstructed the historic pavilion on Lake Manahawkin without using any taxpayer’s money for the actual construction
I believe that we derive our strength as a community from the people in our community and that is why I have established a number of new committees and programs that allow more involvement from our residents, and promotes a more responsive and fully transparent government for our citizens.
I am optimistic about the future of Stafford Township, and excited to be able to move forward with new approaches to existing problems. I am also thrilled by the enthusiastic responses I have been receiving from our citizens, the County, the State, and Mayors from our surrounding towns. Many of these problems do not recognize boundaries on a map, we are all in this together, and together we can all find solutions.
