Candidates Night

[anon-7666]

I attended candidates night. My view:

It was well run. There were a lot of questions posed by the candidates to themselves and then the resident questions seemed largely focused on the other side of 130 and the ware houses.

In terms of responses:

Mr. Wittman and Mr. Ferrante seemed like kids who got a dollar in hand and ran to the candy store. They both advocated spending such as a bike path to Plainsboro and Library. Mr. Taylor stated the town can’t take on more debt and stated that his review showed there is 800k-1m of money in surplus that should be used for a tax reduction to residents and to pay down debt.

The question was posed about National politics. Mr. Ferrante stated the national politics created engagement in Town was good. Mr. Wittman mentioned the national politics impacting Cranbury such as taxes. He stated perhaps non-partisan elections should be considered. Mr. Taylor stated national politics don’t and shouldn’t impact the town there are not Rep or Dem issues in town. .

They all seemed aligned on the need for better planning on land use and the impact of warehouses. Mr. Taylor highlighted the concern about the potential of the developer seeking a zoning change and it adding amajor impact with housing. He also highlighted in response to a question about Cranbury not being a good neighbor that we had the impact of all the Monroe residents traveling through town to the train and shopping.

A question was posed about retail marijuana on Main st. Mr. Taylor stated strong opposition to retail. Mr. Ferrante seemed opposed. Mr. Wittman took a position of opposed on Main st. Then called for a resident referendum to let the residents vote to allow retail.

There was an interesting view on spending money. Mr. Taylor said the town is like the board of directors and that they owe the residents as investors. That the budget should not be viewed as one’s own budget as it leads to spending on individual needs. Mr. Ferrante disagreed stating he sees it that way, but he has criteria. I forget Mr. Wittman’s response, but think it was closer to Mr. Ferrante.

A little more detail in alphabetical order:

Mr Ferrante- He is in favor of funding the library (assuming no grant) and building a bike path to Plainsboro. He did not seem to grasp the budget numbers. He also showed his conflict in that he would vote for the library. He did well. I thought he was engaging, but didn’t know the details. But, he seemed very concerned about ensuring all residents had engagement and a view considered.

Mr . Wittman- he did well and was engaging. He seemed focused on volunteers and creating opportunity. But, He seemed to be seeking a position and didn’t know what he believed. He stated he was for the library via grants, but then if no grants were available then the Town should work on a plan B. But did not say what that is yet, then proceeded to say the town had a commitment to work with the library and the donors. He started opposed to bike paths and then changed to he is for it and looking for grants. He also seemed to favor bike paths in town. He seemed very interested in working with residents.

Mr. Taylor- he did well and was the most prepared. it was clear he has a finance background. It took some thought to keep up. He cited the better financial position than 10 years ago and how by every measurement the town is better. He outlined his plan to reduce taxes by 2 cents and also pay down debt. He was not in favor of Twp money going to the library as the town can’t afford the debt and he was not in favor of bike paths and explained the legal and high costs why. He also explained why Mike cannot vote for the library due to his conflict of interest being the foundation president, but did so politely. I am not sure Mike understood.

In the end, I don’t see much difference between Mr. Ferrante and Mr. Wittman. Either seems like a good candidate and no voter would lose a position. I think Mr. Taylor was the only one who staked a real position on the questions. But, as he is not into spending and is more focused on the must dos rather than the niceties he would not be the choice for those wanting bike paths and the library. He would be the choice if the aim is to keeping spending down.

[anon-s316]

Seems like Taylor is more of a Republican than Wittman.

[anon-07n2]

Seems like Taylor is more sane financially regardless of party.

[anon-07n2]

To finish my thought. Taylor grew up here and understands that while home prices may have gone up a lot of people can’t afford to just spend money. Given he lives and breathes finances I trust him a lot more than the others. It is like having the choice to take investment advice from Buffet or from my cousin who sits on the couch. I may like my cousin more and he may be a great guy, but I don’t want to hand him a ton of money.

To date his no votes and reasons have proven correct on the budget and we’re in a solid financial place. Why toss it away now?

[anon-572n]

[anon-0053]

Hahaha. Jay Taylor is posting on this board all the time! I am sure one or two posts here are his!

[anon-8n60]

[anon-7666]

http://www.centraljersey.com/news/the_cranbury_press/candidates-for-cranbury-township-committee-discuss-election-issues/article_3cce12f1-e314-522c-8a1f-825a8155bdee.html

The above is from candidates night. People can judge for themselves.

[anon1234-ps38]

It is evident that half of the posts (if not more) are from Jay promoting himself while trying to present a misleading version of Mr Ferrante and Wittman responses. Anyone who was unable to attend, should read tomorrow's Cranbury Press from the reporter's perspective and not Jay's version. If not, residents should take the time to reach out to the candidates individually to hear their responses directly.

There was one point that I feel needs a bit more focus-- the $800- 1M in surplus. If Jay (the self proclaimed finance expert) is so fiscally prudent, why is there such a significant amount of surplus? In order to create this type of surplus, one would have to believe there was significant "over" budgeting, or bad financial management to continue to tax residents if funds weren't actually needed? Jay talks about returning the surplus to tax payers however, I would ask why TC kept collecting unnecessary taxes in the first place? Several issues came up that haven't been adequately addressed such as dredging the lake and repairing roads therefore, why hasn't the surplus been applied to address these issues that have been ongoing for years? If residents are supposed to rely on Jay's experience, why haven't these issues been addressed, clearly there are funds available? I would have like to hear a little more about his vision and plan moving forward, and a little less patting himself on the back at every turn.

[anon-0053]

Jay is a proud libertarian

[Guest 127-n6o0]

Jay did not post the above. Obviously, we have some more trolling going on here. He has never been afraid to use his name when posting on this sight. Therefore, if you have some serious questions to ask him, do so instead of making asinine comments. Further, if you knew anything about the township budget and debt (which I doubt you do since very few bother to attend the budget meetings or read the budget) you’d know why there is a surplus and why the capital improvements he mentioned had not yet been done or taxes reduced. Also, he did vote against increasing taxes because there was a surplus. If you understood the town’s finances or attended the TC meetings you’d know this. Vote for whom you wish without disparaging the other candidates. This is not what Cranbury is about, or didn’t you know that?

[anon-2oqn]

anon1234-ps38 Municipalities MUST have a surplus if they want to get a good bond rating for when money may be needed for capital projects. For example Cranbury will have major projects coming up which will require us to take out loans for the following.
Our lake
Paving of roads
Petty Road project
Brick yard road
Liberty Way
Cranbury has a triple A rating (the highest possible) which is due to us having more than 20% of our municipal budget in surplus. This will allow us to get the best rate which will save us millions over the life of the loan.

To learn more about this issue and many others Township committee meetings are held every other Monday. Attending these meeting will help you make accurate posts when commenting on issues.

[Double standard-648s]

[anon-2oqn]

There were not many surprises for the night the one that I did not expect was Mr. Ferrante answering the question of his priorities in order for the town spending money. He listed his top three in order of funding which the Library was 3rd behind fixing the lake and our roads. Could it be Mr. Ferrante has actually smartened up and realized there are much more greater needs in our town than a new library? He has been working so hard for the last few years to make this happen and now that he is in control and sees how such a project impacts the taxpayers negatively and that we have so many more important issues our dollars need to go to. [/code]

[anon1234-ps38]

[Guest 354-n6o0]

If one listened carefully to Jay, he never suggested jeopardizing our AAA bond rating by returning too much surplus. Of all the candidates, Jay had a better grasp on the town’s financial status, which is not to say the others are not equally concerned. He simply stated that excess surplus could be used to reduce the tax rate. We usually don’t do this but rather keep the surplus as a means to maintain the rate. Regardless, this is only one issue to consider, and obviously this individual sounds angry with Jay since this person accused the prior posts of being written by him.