Historic election draws near

Washington Township voters will decide the makeup of the township’s new government on May 10.

By: Lauren Burgoon
   WASHINGTON — With less than two weeks to go before voters head to the polls to choose the first Township Council and mayor, things are heating up in Washington.
   The campaigns have reached a fever pitch and the mud is flying from all sides as the 12 council and two mayoral candidates vie for the support of Washington’s more than 7,300 voters. It’s those voters who will help set the course for the town’s future by selecting five council members and a mayor. The candidates have, to say the least, differing opinions on what direction Washington should move in, how best to address rising tax bills and what kind of ratables should be brought in.
   For weeks now the candidates have canvassed neighbors and attended candidate forums. Now it is time for The Messenger-Press to introduce each hopeful and allow readers to hear from the candidates about why they are running and how they hope to help Washington. The candidates provided the information in each profile through written questionnaires. The two men running for mayor, Steve McPhillips and Dave Fried, were contacted separately to sound off on what they agree is the most important issue — taxes. Their positions can be found in a Page 7A story.
   A complete look at the 14 candidates begins on Page 4A. Letters to editor submitted by some of the candidates for this week’s issue can be found on Page 10A. Although most of the council candidates have allied themselves with two different slates, The Messenger-Press has presented them independent of their affiliations in alphabetical order by last name. The two mayoral candidates are shown the same way.
   The candidates’ contrasting plans and the fervor of their supporters have made for a lively election season already. Streets are plastered with candidate signs, neighbors are stumping for their favorites and community letters have gone out to every home. But on the darker side, the rumor mill is in overdrive as allies of different candidates try to discredit opponents — although the hopefuls themselves have largely stayed away from that side of the campaign.
   May 10 will be the first time voters will go to the polls to elect a nonpartisan government. The push to change Washington’s government from a partisan Township Committee, in which the mayor is selected by the committee, to a nonpartisan council and separately elected mayor started over the summer. It was then that Washington First, a five-member citizens group, began collecting signatures on a petition to a get a change-of-government ballot question. Months and two court cases later, 60 percent of voters pulled the lever in November in favor of changing the government.
   The election is only the first step in this process. The new government will take effect on July 1 and after that major changes could come to town. Some candidates want to move in a new direction by putting new people on boards and commissions. Others want to add senior housing or develop Route 130 or concentrate on getting more state funding. Who gets elected could determine what gets priority in the coming years.