Committee hopefuls divided in outlook

Betty Jane Hunt and Nance Palladino are seeking the GOP nod for a three-year seat on the West Amwell Township Committee.

By: Mae Rhine
   WEST AMWELL — "My agenda is set by the wants of the people, and my vote is what they tell me they want," said Nance Palladino.
   Ms. Palladino is trying to keep her seat on the Township Committee, facing off against former longtime Township Clerk Betty Jane Hunt in the June 7 GOP primary.
   No Democrats filed for the seat, which is for a three-year term.
   Ms. Hunt declared, "I’m not a politician. I have no bigger aspirations" than winning the seat on the Township Committee.
   They are two women who fiercely love their community and want to see it stay as rural as possible.
   But their outlooks and methods are as sharply defined as their mutual love of the township.
   Ms. Hunt, 62, served the township for 35 years, as deputy clerk from 1973 until she was named clerk in 1979. She retired in December.
   Ms. Palladino, 52, has spent most of her four terms on the committee battling the old guard, longtime members of the community who strongly oppose any type of change, in particular, Bernard Meader, former committeeman and mayor, who is one of Ms. Hunt’s supporters.
   Ms. Palladino first won a seat on the committee in 1993 and served two terms before leaving office for several years. She has served two additional terms since 2000.
   She also is in her second year of a three-year term on the Hunterdon County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
   Her county seat is a bone of contention with Ms. Hunt, who says Ms. Palladino "serves two masters" by retaining her seat at the township level while serving as a freeholder.
   Ms. Hunt said being a freeholder is a full-time job in itself, and Ms. Palladino should not keep the township seat at the same time.
   One thing that bothered her, she said, was when West Amwell farmers went to the freeholders last year, protesting the township being reclassified as a 4A area, which is the state’s classification for all agriculture, to a 4B area, which would be agriculture and environmental.
   "Originally, Nance was against it," Ms. Hunt said. "She voted against it."
   But when it came up at the township level during the cross-acceptance process, "she recused herself."
   The cross-acceptance process is a lengthy one in which the county and individual municipalities look at the state’s draft of its Development and Redevelopment Plan and ask for changes where they think it is necessary.
   The farmers were concerned, Ms. Hunt said, because "so many things come down from the state level" regarding the environment, "they felt it would hamper them more to be caught up in it."
   It also could impact the township’s share of open space funding, Ms. Hunt said, perhaps reducing the amount it could receive.
   "That was one of the concerns that I had, Nance trying to serve two masters," she added. "I don’t think that’s really good."
   Ms. Palladino strongly disagreed, saying the county seat can work to the township’s advantage.
   "That’s purely a Betty Jane allegation that she hope sticks," Ms. Palladino said, noting Ms. Hunt has "West Amwell First" on some of her political signs. "She knows better than anyone I never missed a township meeting. I’m the first to go to a seminar and come back and share that information."
   Pointing to a well-filled appointment book, she estimated she spends anywhere from 15 to 25 hours a week with township business. At the county level, she probably spends about 40 hours.
   "That’s my full-time job," she said, pointing out the other two members of the Township Committee — Mayor Gary Bleacher and Thomas Molnar — have full-time jobs.
   "I cannot work because I choose to do volunteer work (as a committeewoman and freeholder)," Ms. Palladino said.
   Although she gets $16,000 a year as a freeholder, she says she actually loses money because she asks no reimbursement for mileage and seminars as well as other expenses.
   "That is a full-time job, learning what’s out there," she said. "To say it’s a minus is ridiculous. What does county government exist for unless it helps municipalities? It’s not a conflict. It’s a perfect complement. I stay on top of the issues and go to bat (for West Amwell) on the county level."
   Another issue the two women are sharply divided over is transfer of development rights, in particular, a General Development Plan approved for property owned by Robert Fulper and his family along Lambertville-Rocktown Road.
   In February 2004, when Ms. Hunt served on the Planning Board, the board approved a plan that would allow Mr. Fulper to build 76 units. Nine of those would be scattered on the different tracts he owns along the road, but 67 could be clustered on acreage he owns near Mill Road.
   The plan also called for the Fulpers to preserve nearly 500 of the total 600 acres they own.
   Ms. Palladino suggested Ms. Hunt approved the plan because the units would not be built near her own property. Ms. Hunt lives across the street from the Fulper’s main farmland.
   "Some would get Wonderland (Ms. Hunt and the Fulpers) and others, the opposite," Ms. Palladino said.
   "It’s like a hot ball," she said of the proposed 67-unit plan. "Who wants it?"
   The Fulper plan was approved just before the former 2-acre zoning was increased to 5 acres, she added.
   The township still has options because the plan includes a three-year moratorium on building. One option would be to "buy back" each unit that could be built at a fair market value for each lot and preserve the land as open space or transfer the development rights to another tract and another owner within the township.
   Ms. Hunt bristled at the idea she would stand to gain from the plan, pointing out, "I’d certainly realize traffic from it" if a 67-unit development were built just down the road.
   "It wasn’t any of my doing," she said of the plan approved by the board. A subcommittee of the board worked out the details before she and other members of the board approved it, she explained.
   Both women do agree on the need to preserve as much open space as possible. Nearly 4,000 acres have been preserved so far.
   Ms. Palladino pointed out the 21-square-mile township has one of the highest open space taxes in the state, 6 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
   But she draws the line at spending any other township money for preservation.
   "If they want more money, they need to go back to the voters and ask them to spend 8 cents," she said.
   Ms. Hunt also wants to continue to preserve land. She gives the credit for the township’s efforts to Open Space Committee members such as Hal Shute and Jamie Kamph.
   "All politician take the credit, but they’re not out there doing the work, the day-to-day deals," she said.
   Both women also agree on keeping taxes as low as possible.
   Ms. Palladino pointed to her "wonderful tried and true record" of keeping taxes down in the budget, saying this year’s spending plan kept the rate "virtually flat" at 4 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
   "That’s the only one we have control over," she said, noting local government can’t control state, county and school taxes.
   Even while keeping taxes low, "We have been able to keep pace with any problems," Ms. Palladino said with pride.
   Ms. Palladino came to West Amwell 26 years ago from Mountainside in Union County. She was "intrigued" by horses and spent many years working with them, training and boarding them, before the demands of her political life became "more intriguing."
   She and her husband, Bill, a fiscal analyst for Union County, have two children, Jennifer, 19, a freshman at Rowan University, and William, 22, who will graduate from Rowan next month with a bachelor of science degree in marketing.
   Ms. Hunt wants life "as simple and free from government control as possible."
   She has four children, David, 35; Paul, 33; Peter, 30; and Sarah, 25. She grew up in Delaware Township and came to West Amwell when she married Larry Hunt, who died in a school bus accident several years ago.
   Ms. Hunt also wants to protect the environment "where it makes sense and where’s it’s reasonable."
   As far as development, she thinks it’s "unrealistic to keep everyone out if lots are less than 1 acre."
   She said, "If they had done that with Circle A, I wouldn’t have my neighbors. There has to be some housing allowed."
   She concluded, "I have faith the people of West Amwell know I’m honest and I just care. These are my priorities in life: my spiritual beliefs, then my family, then the community. I want to be remembered as a Christian first, a family member second and a community member, third. If people have problems with that, maybe they shouldn’t vote for me."