My congratulations to Mr. Ken Schleifer and Mr. Ron Francioli for prevailing during the Republican primary held this past Tuesday, June 8, 2010. They have now earned the right to compete against me this fall when, on November 2, 2010, the residents of Hanover Township will vote to elect two of us to fill two seats that are available on the Hanover Township Committee in the general election.
I followed the primary campaign waged by Mr. Schleifer and Mr. Francioli against their opponents very closely. Regrettably, the campaign waged by Mr. Francioli against his opponents, despite initial assurances to the contrary, really did culminate with it being derisive in tone and divisive in effect. Yet, the most discouraging aspect of the campaign, for me, was the decision by the candidates to focus on events that occurred in the past which, because their outcomes had neither been anticipated or planned, were used by each candidate as the means to point fingers, malign one another, deflect and assign blame, and place their opponent in as great a negative light as possible. Such tactics, though effective at times, are never constructive, and are usually employed by candidates who either don't have a clear vision of what needs to be accomplished in the future, or don't know where to turn to obtain solutions to the problems that a community like ours confronts.
Political campaigns, in their purest sense, are designed and should be employed to educate and familiarize voters about the proposals and agenda of the candidate who seeks to gain their confidence and vote. They should be used as the platform to set one's agenda going forward, not be used as the means to look backward, or be critical of that which took place in the past. If problems exist that arose because of actions or events that took place in the past, then the candidate should be offering solutions to employ in the future to solve those problems that were created in the past. The campaigns of the candidates during the primary election focused exclusively on the problems of the past, and who caused them, and offered nothing in the way of solutions to rectify those problems in the future. This is why Hanover Township needs a fresh approach.
Hanover Township has been given a rare and unique opportunity. The owners of the thirty-two (32) teams which comprise the National Football League, or NFL, recently voted to have Super Bowl XLVIII played at the new Meadowlands Stadium in February of 2014. Shortly after the vote was cast the NFL announced the team that will play in Super Bowl XLVIII that originates from the National Football Conference, or NFC, will set up its on-site football operations and have its players stay at the Hanover Marriott here in Hanover Township.
The NFL is a huge money making entity. Many businesses want and, in fact, are willing to spend thousands of dollars to merely be associated with its brand, and in particular the Super Bowl brand, since it is the NFL's biggest money making and multi-million dollar event of the year. Since the Hanover Marriott, and hence, Hanover Township, have been selected to be vital parts of the NFL's biggest money making event for the 2013 pro-football season, members of our Township Committee must formulate a plan now that will allow the Township to be a partner with the NFL as soon as possible, and for the next 3 1/2 years in anticipation of the event. Formulating a plan to partner with one of the biggest money making entities in the country for at least the next 3 1/2 years, if not more if the relationship were to go well, will bring much needed revenue into the community to offset and defray the loss of millions of dollars in lost ratables spearheaded by the departure, this past winter, of Alcatel-Lucent. If elected it would give me great pleasure to contribute to the formulation of such a plan that will work towards developing that partnership with the NFL.
Moreover, and in a similar vein, Atlantic Health made a decision last year to postpone the construction of a huge facility it had planned to construct on property adjacent to the new New York Jets Football complex located in Florham Park, New Jersey. It didn't announce the length of time it planned to postpone the construction of its new health complex, but it made the decision due to the huge expense it would have had to bear at a time when the economic climate was poor. Had I been a member of the Township Committee at the time Atlantic Health made its decision to postpone construction of its new facility I would have immediately contacted the health provider and made it aware of the facility that Alcatel-Lucent recently vacated. It could have served as a temporary home for Atlantic Health. I am not aware that any member of our Township Committee considered Atlantic Health as an option, or even contacted the health provider, but if Atlantic Health is still searching for a temporary home in January of 2011, when I would be sworn in as a member of the Township Committee if elected, I would immediately make it a point to contact Atlantic Health in order to introduce it to the facility that formerly housed Alcatel-Lucent's operations to see if the still vacant space might be able to accommodate the health provider's needs.
These represent just a mere sampling of the ideas I possess that I can, and want to offer to the residents of our Township as the means to offset the loss of revenue that will derive from the departure of some rather sizable ratables. As I mentioned earlier, my platform will be about offering fresh ideas to solve problems our Township will need to address in the future. It won't be about digging up the past, and dragging it through the mud!
As my slogan states, I will endeavor to get "Dunne, what's needed for Hanover". Our Township needs to elect individuals to its Committee who can offer fresh ideas, and will work hard to implement them, not members who are complacent, whose definition of being involved for and on behalf of our community is far too often limited to the expression of mere rhetoric.
