Updated November 5, 2015, 2:40 PM
On Tuesday, November 3rd, you get to vote in the Bridgewater Township Mayoral and Council elections. For those of us who make Bridgewater our home, this may turn out to be the most influential among the other three contests on the ballot; namely, those of the schools, county, and state elections.
This is one of the few times in Bridgewater history that there has been a well-organized, concentrated push on behalf of new faces to oust all three incumbents. This one is not a sleeper.
Competition in elections is good but, onto itself, an opposing field of candidates does not necessarily provide a compelling basis to replace an ongoing, effective leadership such as that which exists in Bridgewater.
The candidates striving to push out incumbents Mayor Dan Hayes and Council Members Matthew Moench and Christine Henderson-Rose simply have not come up with the beef, despite a bevy of claims, most of which don’t hold water.
RECOMMENDATION: Although change is at times desirable, this is not the moment for it in Bridgewater. It will not improve conditions here, will not change your real estate taxes for the better, and will disrupt a well-managed team running this township, one that is doing much better than most Bridgewaterites may suspect.
The charges brought by opponents of the Hayes, Moench and Henderson-Rose ticket are largely unpersuasive, factually misleading, and, at least in one case, demonstratively bogus.
Tax Rate Reality: Bridgewater’s municipal tax rate, the only portion of your entire real estate tax bill for which Bridgewater Municipal Government is responsible, is the second lowest in Somerset County.
However, when the open space and library tax rates of presumably lowest-tax-rated Bernards are included in its own calculation, Bridgewater ends up with an even lower tax rate, making it effectively the best in Somerset County.
Yet political opponents of the Bridgewater Township administration are howling about that!
Business Acumen: Bridgewater leadership, past and present, has worked very hard to lure corporate headquarters into this township. Keeping them here is just as difficult a struggle.
There has not been an iota of evidence presented by the three joint-candidates attempting to overthrow the incumbents that they can meet the business challenges any better than the Hayes administration and independent Council Members Matthew Moench and Christine Henderson-Rose.
Management Skills: I’ve attended scores of township meetings under three mayors: Hayes has a skilled team that includes a strong township administrator, an experienced economic development manager and other competent department heads.
I’m not going to schmooze you by maintaining that every department head and each manager is perfect. That just isn’t the case.
But I haven’t seen anything from the challengers’ written claims as to where the weakest link on the Bridgewater Township management team may be, or how, if they identified one, these electoral challengers would presume to effect change in that regard.
Nebulous Claims: The mayoral aspirant and the two council candidates attempting to knock off Dan Hayes, Matthew Moench and Christine Henderson-Rose have written that it’s time to “shake Bridgewater up,” and to institute “smart fiscal management.”
OK. But just what is going to get shaken up? What, exactly will they do to improve upon current fiscal management at the municipal level in Bridgewater?
Dispelling a most Unsavory and Popular Myth:
The juggernaut tax burden in Bridgewater Township does not emanate from municipal government.
It is the tax burden imposed by the Bridgewater-Raritan Schools District which claims that distinction -- it constitutes 67% of each and every tax dollar that comes from your pocket when you pay your tax bill.
County taxes, Bridgewater municipal taxes, and Special District Taxes constitute 20%, 12.1% and 1.3% of the remaining portion of your tax bill, respectively.
So, if you want your taxes to stabilize, visit the Wade Building in Martinsville at its next School Board meeting and make your voices known.
That is where the pressure is currently being exerted by powerful unions to settle the next multi-year round of labor contract negotiations now under way which, if accepted by the BR-BOE, will result in your taxes rising even further.
Have you heard any mention of that “inconvenient fact” relating to “smart fiscal management?” and of how tax rates would be cut or stabilized in the face of that proportional issue, because it’s within the School District that the big bucks are being spent.
