Matawan councilman may return
Longtime borough
official Jim Shea looks back over 14-yr. tenure
By Alison Granito
Staff Writer
MATAWAN — Democratic Councilman Jim Shea wants everyone to know that he is not going anywhere.
"I do intend to remain involved in town however I can," Shea said in an interview on Friday.
A lifelong Matawan resident, Shea has spent 14 years on the Borough Council and has seen a multitude of changes occur in town.
"I really felt proud of this community and decided to stay," Shea said. "When I was asked to run for council in 1981, I was ecstatic."
Shea served on the council as a Republican from 1982 to 1993. He has been serving as a Democrat since 1997.
According to Shea, the mayor and council remained all Republican throughout the 1980s.
"When it is 7-0, you have no debate," Shea said. "If you choose to be an independent voice, then you are a traitor."
With Republicans poised to fill the seats vacated by Shea and his fellow Democrats Patrick Falcon and Laurie Zalepka, the mayor and council are once again going to be all Republican.
"I don’t care whether it is all Republican or all Democrat, Matawan needs a two-party system," Shea said.
Shea pointed to the success the council has enjoyed in recent years despite being split 3-3 between Republicans and Democrats.
"We had some power for the first time in nearly a generation, and we helped make some sweeping changes," he said of the Democrats.
Shea pointed to the control of the municipal property tax rate, which jumped by 17 cents per $100 of assessed valuation in 1996.
As he departs the council, Shea said that he is concerned with the general state of affairs in the borough.
Shea said one of the things that most upsets him is to see how downtown Matawan has "slipped."
"Traditionally, Matawan has been the hub of surrounding communities," Shea said.
"Hundreds of commuters pass through town every day, yet the downtown area continues to die," he added.
Shea attributed the "slip" in part to the growth of shopping malls in the region, coupled with the inaccessibility of parking downtown, but said that the GOP majority must also take some responsibility.
"Other similar downtown areas in the state have been able to revitalize, and there is no reason Matawan should not as well," he said.
On another note, Shea said he is "definitely concerned with the deterioration" of the borough’s two dams which hold in Lake Lefferts and Lake Matawan.
"We need to make sure that the taxpayers of Matawan should not be the ones to repair the dams if the dams need repairing," Shea said.
"The county and the state should participate, if not foot the whole bill," he added.
Shea said that he is proud of many programs which he had a hand in during his tenure on the council.
"I’m very proud of having rebuilt the docks in 1982" on Lake Lefferts, Shea said, adding that it was the first time that the docks had been rebuilt in many years.
"I also helped start a newspaper recycling program after a long hiatus in 1982," he said.
Shea added that the program was a good source of revenue for the town before newspaper recycling became compulsory in the late 1980s.
Shea is particularly proud of a Memorial Day ceremony he held for veterans this year in Memorial Park where 80 veterans were awarded the New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal.
"We have since lost some of those veterans, and some of the families chose to display the medals at the viewing. To know that meant a lot," Shea said.
Shea, who was not asked to run for re-election on the Democratic ticket this year, will not rule out another bid for office in the future.
"Right now I have no voice to be able to run again," he said. "So, I’ll just sit back and wait."