People in Metuchen are happy and the schools are good, two points Metuchen Pcouncil members running for re-election hope will help them retain their seats.
Pete Cammarano Democrats Tim Dacey and Pete Cammarano expect voter turnout to be high due to the presidential race. Considering that voters favored Democrats 2 to 1 in past elections, this could help them. They spoke about the election and issues during an interview with the Sentinel at Dacey’s home on Oct 3.
Dacey is seeking his second term on the Metuchen Borough Council and is a former member of the Metuchen Parking Authority. He works as vice president of administration services at Bergen Community College in North Jersey and is a former deputy executive director of the New Jersey Turnpike. He graduated from St. Joseph’s High School in Metuchen, and is married and has a son.
Cammarano is seeking his first term as an elected member of the council. He was appointed to serve the last year of Mayor Tom Vahalla’s unexpired term. Cammarano is a former member of the Planning Board and Development Commission and grew up in Metuchen. He is married and has two sons.
Tim Dacey Their campaign focus has been to go door to door, attend community events like the Metuchen County Fair on Oct. 4, and meet as many voters as possible. They said people aren’t expressing “a lot of worries,” but traffic is a major concern.
“I think we have a clearly defined vision for the future,” Dacey said. “To keep [Metuchen] a vibrant town where people enjoy living and where people would like to move to, maintaining the quality of the community… .”
“And a vibrant downtown,” said Cammarano.
While they are a team, they each have their own focus and expertise. Dacey talks about taxes, the $15 million budget and recreation.
“The train station is a big factor in keeping Metuchen what it is,” Cammarano said. “The downtown is more than just a business district, it’s the heart
and soul of the borough.”
Cammarano lets Dacey take the lead on most questions, but takes over to discuss traffic, the train station and the downtown area. He’s noticed the vacancies and expressed a desire to work with the town’s Chamber of Commerce to find out what businesses need and to try to “remove hurdles” they face.
Dacey adds that currently there is a lot of bureaucratic red tape when a new tenant wants to move into business space, but didn’t specify what the council could or should do about it.
They clearly are aware of their competition, directly responding to challenger Justin Manley’s charge that the budget has increased 35 percent on the Democrats’ watch. They attribute some increases to a prior mayoral administration that was opposed to raising taxes and cut services to the point that one can only do so much through efficiency changes as well as to unavoidable increases in salaries, insurance costs, increases in utility and gasoline costs.
They also noted the poor national economy and charged Manley’s criticism of the borough’s debt to be unfair. They claimed Manley favored refinancing some of that debt, which would be an error.
“Nobody’s refinancing right now,” Dacey said. “To say to do so shows a lack of fiscal knowledge.”
Enid Weiss can be contacted at [email protected]