Republican state Assembly incumbents Caroline Casagrande and Declan O’Scanlon Jr. will face Green Party candidate Steven Welzer and Democrats Michelle Roth and John Amberg in a race for two 12th District state Assembly seats on Nov. 3.
Caroline Casagrande O’Scanlon, of Little Silver, and Casagrande, of Colts Neck, are seeking re-election to their second terms representing the 12th Legislative District.
Among the topics discussed by the candidates were state-mandated affordable housing and the agency that oversees such housing, the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH).
“I am more supportive of COAH now that bill A500/S1783 has passed and has been signed into law. That bill abolishes regional contribution agreements, which had allowed wealthy municipalities to pay poor municipalities to accept their affordable housing obligation, thus perpetuating segregation and increasing the concentration of poverty in our inner cities,” Welzer said.
“The bill also requires every municipality to include ‘very low income’ housing for families earning less than 30 percent of median income, and it creates a new statewide funding source (through a fee charged on nonresidential development). These are steps in the right direction,” explained Welzer.
Roth, who is a current member of the Township Committee in Manalapan, disagreed with Welzer, stating that she does not support COAH in its present form.
“It creates a growth profile for each municipality that is often not reflective of what is likely to occur in each town,” Roth said. She added: “also am an ardent supporter of the regional contribution agreement vehicle, which was eliminated. This tool was extremely important for municipalities as they could use it to eliminate additional stresses on their infrastructure that more homes would add.”
“I believe in creating affordable housing. The current system, however, is broken,” O’Scanlon said.
“What we have now is a massive bureaucracy with millions of taxpayers’ dollars spent on conforming to COAH regulations.
“It’s broken beyond compare and it needs to be scrapped. We need to start from scratch. Bipartisan consensus calls for the demolition of COAH,” O’Scanlon said.
“COAH has been twisted into a complete mess. I believe at this point, it’s so distorted, that it’s only adding to the problem,” Casagrande echoed.
“COAH should be abolished. A new program should be in place without adding to costs,” Casagrande said.
The candidates
voiced their opinions regarding the issue of corruption facing the state.
Welzer said the first step to curb corruption is to implement a new approach to how political activity is financed.
“Under ‘Clean Money Campaign Finance Reform,’ candidates who volunteer for full public funding and who pass a qualification threshold would receive a set amount of money from a publicly financed election fund. Eligibility would be conditioned upon a candidate’s agreement not to raise or spend private money,” said Welzer.
Roth said there are several ways to end corruption.
“First would be to compel all candidates for public office at every level of government to agree to and participate in campaign finance reform. By publicly financing campaigns, it would take special interests out of the picture to a large degree,” said Roth.
Michelle Roth The second way Roth described would be to prohibit any former legislator from lobbying in Trenton for five years after her or she had held public office.
“I would also look to prohibit legislators from accepting another job with a local or county government or with an agency, utility or commission within the state while in office,” Roth explained.
O’Scanlon plans to enhance ethical values and laws coming out of Trenton.
“People would lose their public pensions once they commit a crime,” he said.
He explained that currently criminals could lose one pension and still continue collecting from another state-mandated pension.
“There will be no double-dipping,” he said.”
“After this summer’s arrests (of public figures), we will make sure crime doesn’t pay, especially when it’s taxpayers’ money,” he said.
“Now, the criminals get probation before they can begin lobbying again. It’s just long enough to get a one-year ban while they’re serving in prison. When they get out, they go back to being high-paid lobbyists,” O’Scanlon explained.
Steven Welzer “The 12th Legislative is honest, open, and as accessible as a [district] can be. We practice what we preach,” O’Scanlon said.
“We’ve done a lot of ethics reform, including supporting and sponsoring a ban on dual office holding,” Casagrande explained.
“I plan to cap sick leave on public officials and prohibit convicted offenders on becoming lobbyists,” Casagrande said.
Casagrande said that legislation would be passed that would mandate that felons are no longer eligible to receive their pensions.
The candidates responded on how they would address New Jersey’s increasing debt problem.
“Wealth and income disparities have been rising and corporate taxation as a percentage of revenues has been falling. I advocate making the state income tax more progressive and increasing taxes on large corporations,” Welzer said.
“Increases in the state income tax should be coupled with credits for lower- and middle income taxpayers, along with a dedicated fund to provide property tax abatements. This would address several issues: school funding inequality, our regressive tax system, our over-reliance on the property tax and our structural deficit,” Welzer continued.
Roth explained how she plans to provide quality education while reining in costs.
“Nearly 70 percent of our property tax bill supports the school system. I advocate that administration of our schools be shifted to the county level, making auditing by the state more hands-on (21 budgets instead of over 600),” she said.
“I would also require purchasing be done on a multi-county basis to achieve greater economies of scale,” Roth added.
Police departments also represent 25 percent or more of a municipality’s operating budget, Roth said.
“I would advocate for a county-wide police department where we could keep our local officers on the road in our towns but shift the administrative function to a countywide department,” Roth said.
O’Scanlon said he and state Sen. Jennifer Beck and Casagrande are calling for finance reforms. Their plan, “Cut, Cap, Contribute,” would, according to O’Scanlon, “cut what needs to be cut, cap state spending, and contribute tax savings to property tax relief.”
“It’s a fundamental change to overhaul how the state does business,” O’Scanlon said.
Casagrande said the 12th District is an advocate of independent auditors
“We have an $8 billion deficit and we’re the highest taxed state in the United States. We have to dig out of hole the governor made. We need to stop spending and borrowing. State spending and debt increases need to be curbed.
“There’s currently an over-reliance on property taxes. There’s no quick fix to the extraordinary problem of deficit and spending. There’s no magic answer. It’s difficult,” Casagrande said.
Welzer raised his concern over health care reform.
“If the federal government fails to implement truly comprehensive health care reform, I believe the states could and should take the initiative on this vital issue.
“For example, in July Connecticut passed into law a plan called SustiNet, with the goal of achieving health care coverage of 98 percent of its residents by 2014,” said Welzer.
Roth’s top priority would be to address property tax relief.
“I would advocate for an immediate moratorium on unfunded state mandates so that our municipalities and school boards could get some breathing room for their budgets during this global economic crisis.
“I would also look to improve upon the senior freeze program by making the freeze apply to the individual and not their property. This way our seniors could downsize their homes without the worry that they can’t afford to move because the new tax bill is too burdensome,” said Roth.
O’Scanlon said that the 12th District will continue to work to change the tone and discussion of state finances in Trenton.
“We bring a fresh and effective perspective. We see both the local and the big picture,” O’Scanlon said.
“We saved Tinton Falls $7 million during their third round in COAH regulations. We changed the law so that municipalities are not crushed by COAH regulations,” O’Scanlon explained.
“We have the most dynamic legislation in the state. We’re never silent and always outspoken,” Casagrande said.
“We stopped the toll hike. We passed legislation for Tara’s Law and Neighbors Opposed to Privatization at Earle (NOPE),” Casagrande said.
“We’re working on a bill calling for standard contracts for superintendents.
“Officials in Keansburg and the Freehold Regional High School District have been paid for making bad decisions. That will not be allowed to happen after this bill is passed,” Casagrande explained.
Amberg did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this article.
District 12 includes parts of Mercer and Monmouth counties: Colts Neck, East Windsor, Englishtown, Fair Haven, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Hightstown, Little Silver, Manalapan, Marlboro, Millstone Township, Oceanport, Red Bank, Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury Township and Tinton Falls