Linda Johnson
Age: 43
Occupation: Monmouth-Ocean Hospital Service Corp. Integrated Medicine Alliance
Democrat
Linda Johnson
Age: 43
Occupation: Monmouth-Ocean Hospital Service Corp. Integrated Medicine Alliance
Biography: Member of the Oceanport First Aid Squad for 27 years. First Aid captain in 2003 and 1995. Trustee of Oceanport First Aid Squad for four years. Member of Oceanport Emergency Planning Council. Certified instructor with the American Red Cross for seven years. Coordinator of Oceanport Blood Drive. Instructor in CPR, AED and First Responder. Married with two children and three grandchildren.
Q. What do you think will be your greatest contribution to the governing body?
A. I have volunteered for many years in Oceanport and dedicated myself in helping others when in need. I will continue to serve the residents of Oceanport in bringing new ideas and working together as a team and keeping Oceanport a great place to live.
Q. The typical price for a home in Oceanport is beyond the reach of the children of many of the borough’s residents. What can be done to create affordable housing in the borough?
A. Stabilization must be in place. Keeping a stable tax rate where all residents will be able to purchase a home in Oceanport. Also, giving our senior citizens the ability to enjoy their retirement where they have raised their family.
Q. How important is it to improve the borough’s downtown business district and what are your ideas for it?
A. Improving Oceanport is always a big asset to our residents. The Village Center will produce more ratables for Oceanport which has been long overdue.
Q. Right now the state is considering reforming no-bid contracts for professional services. Are you in support of that?
A. My biggest concern on a no-bid contract for professional services is making sure that the most qualified and responsible person is hired. A professional who can bring their expertise and honesty to our community.
DEMOCRAT
Lucille Chaump
Age: 51
Occupation: Teacher at St. John’s Nursery School
Biography:
Board of Education member for the past 11 years, including president for three years. President of the Oceanport Library Association, treasurer for 15 years. Chairperson of Oceanport Alliance to Prevent Alcoholism and Drug Abuse. Executive board member of the Coastal Alliance. Member of the PTO executive board, president and recording secretary. Member of the Oceanport Economic Development Committee. Married with two children.
Q. What do you think will be your greatest contribution to the governing body?
A. I have many years of administrative experience while serving on the Board of Education. I have participated in budget development and paid particular attention to controlling costs. While on the Board of Education, both schools needed to be expanded and I was involved with the development of a plan that had the least impact as possible to our residents.
Q. The typical price for a home in Oceanport is beyond the reach of the children of many of the borough’s residents. What can be done to create affordable housing in the borough?
A. All of Monmouth County has been experiencing dramatic property value increases. It is very important that we work to keep Oceanport affordable. We have to control our budget costs and stabilize taxes. One way to do this is to research shared taxes and to support any feasible plan for property tax relief.
Q. How important is it to improve the borough’s downtown business district and what are your ideas for it?
A. It is important to improve our downtown district as it will be a tax ratable. The Village Center must be carefully planned. It should be aesthetically pleasing and convenient for all our residents.
Q. Right now the state is considering reforming no-bid contracts for professional services. Are you in support of that?
A. Yes, I absolutely am in support of contract reform, and that includes those for professional services. There should be mandatory bidding of all contracts. I am also in support of other ethics reform activities.
REPUBLICAN
Patty Cooper
Age: 39
Occupation: Owner/operator Scrap-A-Doodles, sales consultant for Creative Memories.
Biography: Filling an unexpired term, Cooper, as a councilwoman, has been assigned to various committees including finance and administration capital improvements, economic development, insurance, municipal coordinating, real property, street lighting and utilities, building and grounds, and the township bulletin. Board member of the Natalie Bruno Squassi Cancer Foundation, executive board member of Oceanport PTO, treasurer of Cub Scout Pack 58 (2001, 2002, 2003), and Shore Pop Warner fund-raising chairperson. Married with three children.
Q. What has been your greatest contribution to the borough since joining the council?
A. Since being appointed to the council in March, I have worked to develop a good working relationship with the borough and its citizens by initiating a comment card for ongoing feedback, both positive and negative. Comments would then be relayed back to the proper departments for action to be taken or recognition to be given for a job well done. I have also been working on the development of employee performance evaluations and surveys.
Q. The typical price for a home in Oceanport is beyond the reach of the children of many of the borough’s residents. What can be done to create affordable housing in the borough?
A. The price of real estate in Oceanport and all of Monmouth County has skyrocketed over the past few years. While we do not have much land in town to develop, we do have plans for a new area of age-restricted housing. This will hopefully allow our older residents the possibility of selling to their children and staying in town to be close to their grandchildren. I think a key issue is to stabilize the taxes so that those of us who are here in town can afford to stay.
Q. How important is it to improve the borough’s downtown business district and what are your ideas for it?
A. It is extremely important to improve the borough’s downtown district to reduce the tax burden on our citizens. Successful businesses will do just that for our borough. We need to improve the quality of businesses to create a demand and therefore increase the draw to our area.
Q. Right now the state is considering reforming no-bid contracts for professional services. Are you in support of that?
A. Obtaining competitive bids on professional service contracts such as legal, insurance, accounting and engineering services is essential to controlling government expenses. It is the only way to insure the best price and not overpayment for services we obtain.
REPUBLICAN
Hugh Sharkey
Age: 42
Biography: Certified public accountant holding a life, health and property casualty license. Member of the N.J. Society of CPAs. Former chairman of N.J. Society of CPAs Insurance Committee. Workers Compensation administrator for city of Asbury Park. Chief financial officer for a $35 million hotel management company. Chief financial officer for a managed care claim administrator company for self-insured employers and government entities. Audits and recovers insurance overpayments for business owners.
Q. What do you think will be your greatest contribution to the council?
A. I believe my greatest contributions to the council will be 20 years of financial and business experience for evaluating the financial ramifications of different scenarios regarding the Monmouth Park racetrack. This is the single most important issue facing Oceanport today.
Q. The typical price for a home in Oceanport is beyond the reach of the children of many of the borough’s residents. What can be done to create affordable housing in the borough?
A. The exceptional quality of life in Oceanport is due to our school system, our location near water and our residents. This makes Oceanport an extremely desirable place to live as reflected in the dramatic increase in home prices over the last 10 years. Unfortunately, the limited amount of building lots creates a supply and demand situation that makes it difficult to significantly increase the amount of affordable housing.
Q. How important is it to improve the borough’s downtown business district and what are your ideas for it?
A. I believe it is very important to have a thriving downtown business district. Successful businesses contribute to the borough’s tax burden at a higher rate than residential rates, making it more affordable for seniors and less wealthy residents. It also provides a convenience to our busy residents by reducing trips to the malls.
Q. Right now the state is considering reforming no-bid contracts for professional services. Are you in support of that?
A. I wholeheartedly support reform of no-bid professional service contracts. Oceanport officials currently play this game and it must be stopped. The process does not promote the hiring of the most competent professionals, as many believe. It promotes hiring a professional based on the amount of their donation instead of their qualifications. Many fine professionals won’t play this game, depriving taxpayers of the benefits of their skills and experiences.