in Freehold Borough
Mayor’s priorities to take
new direction in 5th term
Wilson: Quality of life issues now top priority
in Freehold Borough
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
Michael Wilson
FREEHOLD — Michael Wilson, who is finishing his 18th full year serving the borough as mayor, is about to make political history.
Wilson is running unopposed for a fifth four-year term as mayor and will sport the title of the longest serving mayor in borough history when 2005 rolls around.
Dr. Peter F. Runyon, who served as mayor for 20 years — from Jan. 1, 1926 through Dec. 31, 1945 — currently holds the record as the borough’s longest serving mayor.
Wilson will be joined on the Democratic ticket by incumbent Borough Council members Sharon Shutzer and Michael Toubin.
All three elected officials are running unopposed. The mayor’s term is for four years and the council terms are for three years. Election Day is Nov. 4.
Wilson had just started his second term on the council and was the council president when Mayor Jack McGackin died in April 1985. Wilson was appointed as the interim mayor and was subsequently elected to complete McGackin’s term. He has since been re-elected four times.
In an interview with the News Transcript, Wilson said he still has the energy to serve as mayor and, referring to the quality of life issues that have arisen in recent years, said he wants to "hang around a bit longer to turn the tide around."
Comparing his work as mayor to "embarking on a journey," he said the council formed a partnership with residents years ago.
"We are a small urban town and we were at a crossroads back then," Wilson said. "We could either go one way or the other. We became proactive, started major projects and got the private sector involved in the renaissance of the town. We set a goal and established a plan to lift our town from a despair that could be seen everywhere and return it to its former status as a first-class municipality."
The mayor said accomplishing this goal meant moving through the town, "block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, until the town would once again reflect its unique lifestyle and community."
The success of that mission can be witnessed in many ways, according to Wilson.
Citing the Triangle Parking Lot on South Street as the first major undertaking, Wilson said it was an "eyesore" that he and McGackin had talked about for years.
"He didn’t live to see its completion though," the mayor said of his friend.
The Main Street promenade was next, according to Wilson. Then came the renovation of Mechanic Street, a thoroughfare which Wilson called "cancer ridden." The results of the condemnation of many properties on the street, in addition to transactions with Monmouth County, yielded two new office buildings on the street.
Wilson also noted the project that took the former A&M Karagheusian rug mill and "converted [it] into a housing opportunity for many of our families and senior citizens," as well as a home for a YMCA community center and the borough’s police department.
The former Department of Public Works site on Manalapan Avenue, which is now home to an assisted living facility, new water lines and cleaning up the old sewer plant on Center Street were also projects the mayor cited as important contributions to the town.
"In short," Wilson said, "I am proud to say that the so-called ‘renaissance’ of Freehold Borough is successfully completed. It is time to embark on a new mission — to preserve the investment and sacrifice that the people have made to bring Freehold to what is today. This town is rooted by a structure of values that cherishes our community and respects the rights and properties of all of our neighbors. We’ve come full circle. We’ve developed everything. Now, the main thing is to try to deal with the quality of life issues affecting the town."
The issue that has impacted the town the most over the past decade is the influx of illegal immigrants that Wilson said is "very frustrating, and puts a strain on the state, the county and local towns."
Stating that "never before has the quality of life nationally and locally come under the assault that we have recently witnessed," Wilson said the quality of life campaign begun by the council last year will now be the cornerstone of the new mission of council members.
He said a quality of life enforcement team established by the administration and the council has aggressively addressed violations of municipal codes.
He added that the council’s "declaration of war" on absentee landlords is a part of the new mission. He said the council will continue its effort to guarantee that residents can work and play safely and comfortably anywhere in town.
"It is very easy to criticize what we’re doing here," Wilson said. "But we are doing everything we are aware of that we can legally do at a local level. If things are going to change, it is going to have to be at a federal level. It is always the path of least resistance to criticize. The hard part is effecting change."