Dixel is critical of Schomaker’s service as a member of the council and for what she calls the incumbent’s seeming “refusal to talk on the record about any of the issues.”
Schomaker is seeking her second term on the council. The Tri-Town News made several attempts to speak with Schomaker for comment in this article. Telephone messages left for the councilwoman were not returned.
Dixel said it should give voters pause that Schomaker has not made herself available for media interviews throughout the campaign. She said that in every news story that has been published in any newspaper during the campaign, Schomaker has been conspicuously absent.
“I have a problem with that and every Howell citizen should [too],” Dixel said. “If she’s not available for comment, maybe she shouldn’t be re-elected if she’s not going to be accountable for her views and goals. Incumbents owe it to the town to say what they think and not rely on their running mate to do the talking for the both of them.”
Schomaker is running with Joseph DiBella, who is seeking the office of mayor. Dixel is running with Steve Farkas, who is also seeking to become Howell’s mayor.
Dixel, a resident of The Villages adult community, has a record of community activism. She singly and successfully lobbied the state to redesign Wyckoff Road, which runs in front of The Villages, into an S-curve with a speed reduction.
When the Adelphia Water Company, which serviced The Villages, was sold to the New Jersey-American Water Company its customers were faced with paying some of the highest water rates in the state. Dixel was appointed by her fellow residents to take the helm in working with township officials as they sought relief for the rate payers.
Her efforts were successful and resulted in an administrative law judge ruling that the water company had to adjust the former Adelphia customers’ rates over time and bring them in line with New Jersey-American customers statewide.
Dixel also authored the township’s Dieldrin ordinance which mandates testing for the pesticide Dieldrin at all construction sites in Howell that are on former farmland. She said that if she is elected to the council she will continue to fight as aggressively for the things that will preserve or improve the quality of life for all of Howell’s residents.
Dixel said she and Farkas are pledging accountability along with their campaign promise to control what she called “runaway spending and bonding.”
“Bonding is a fancy word for loans,” Dixel said, adding that a recent $16 million bonding ordinance for 300 acres near
Democratic challenger
criticizes incumbent’s
lack of public comment
BY KATHY BARATTA
Staff Writer