He’s a Democrat
The six candidates for Manville Borough Council were invited to give a closing statement to the voters in the campaign.
Here is the response from Harry Bugal Jr.:
The purpose of this letter is to help give the Manville residents some light on who I am and what issues I think are the most important that have been directly impacting our town.
Foremost, I am seeking a seat on Town Council in Manville Borough. Currently I am a police officer for the Clinton Township Police Department and have been with the department since 1998. I served in the Army National Guard from 1996 to 2002. I have an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Raritan Valley Community College and my bachelor’s degree in sociology from Centenary College.
As a police officer, I have written and coordinated state and federal grants throughout the years to bring additional funds and equipment into Clinton Township. I have taught at the school system numerous times. I’m a representative for the Awards and Hiring Committee, a representative for the State and County Traffic Officers Association, and a coordinator for the child passenger safety seat program.
I have trained and supervised new officers in the police department. I have taken on many supervisory roles through the years and have held a steady career in my profession. I am continually striving to develop myself as a professional and I know I have the proper background to be an asset to our community.
Being a lifelong resident of Manville, I have been through many floods, lost many loved ones from asbestoses, and dealt with the creosote contamination. Our town has been through many trials and tribulations and throughout time, my family has always been part of this town, just as I am.
Even now as we deal with losing many of our homes due to flooding, the constant aggravation of rebuilding the Rustic Mall, and the ongoing battle of the safety of our community, I have not given up on our town. I have chosen to run to make our town a place where people will want people to move in again, but mostly, I am running to secure our town for our children and our children’s children.
Currently, Manville is faced with a variety of issues, but the main issues I would strive to directly impact is the flooding in town, redeveloping the Rustic Mall, and public safety. I feel that these three issues impact our community as a whole and need to be addressed.
Our community has to continually worry every time a major storm heads our way — constantly driving around town to see where the water level is, worrying about what the next step is, to protect our family and homes. This town has gone through enough with the flooding. I have faith in our current Flood Commission and know that they are making progress. They have had already made great progress by getting the Army Corps of Engineers plans finished. They have gotten more support from our elected officials, and secured approximately $700,000.00 to fund more of the study.
Even though this is a great start, the realization is that it will take years before anything is even started and the sad part is that this should have been accomplished years ago. Thanks to Frank Jurewicz and Mayor Corradino, we are finally making some progress and they are there to make sure our town gets the best possible plan. I would like to see preventative measures taken. I would like to work on deals for our residents who chose to get moving trucks or storage units prior to a flood hitting. I would like to make sure there are enough sandbags and/or anything else to assist the community in this time of need.
In conjunction with the flooding issue, we need to resolve the redevelopment question of the Rustic Mall to ease the burden of taxes, if homes are bought out due to flooding. This is long overdue, and it amazes me that it took over 10 years to get this property off of the Superfund list. And today, how many years after that, it is still sitting there empty. If our prior Republican-controlled council actually did their job, this property could have been developed already, our individual property taxes could have been lowered and our town stabilized, but they did not.
I am here to tell you that this is a top priority of mine and it will be accomplished if I am given the chance to serve on Council. If the current owner is unwilling to work with us by the end of the first quarter of 2014, then I would push to condemn the property and declare the property in need of redevelopment. By doing this, it would allow us to find a developer who is willing to work with the borough to create a mixed use of the property. I also want to petition the state to acquire the six lots adjacent to the Rustic Mall to build single-family homes to maintain that section of town.
We need to bring good businesses and job opportunities to our residents in town, which makes redeveloping the Rustic Mall so important.
Being a lifelong resident of Manville, I have seen areas of our town where the safety and well-being of our residents has been compromised. My goal is not only to assist with getting our police force back to the proper man power that is needed to safeguard our community, but to also support our emergency medical service members and firefighters. Safety is a key aspect for maintaining and improving our quality of life, especially to the youth and the senior citizens.
Mayor Corradino is also striving to accomplish this through his task force. Increasing the visibility of police in our town will assist with elevating our quality of life and assuring our residents of their security.
Moving to the county dispatch service was long overdue, and what Sue Asher and Rich Onderko do not realize is that civilian dispatchers are not Police Officers; they have no police powers or authority. Civilian dispatchers cannot legally do the jobs of police officers. They cannot legally be responsible to “Monitor cell blocks”, and especially they cannot “Provide Security” for a police department, only a Police Officer can do that. To protect our town from future lawsuits and litigation, switching over to Somerset County Communication was the best move. There are more cost-effective ways to make sure our police department is staffed to effectively safeguard our community.
One example would be hiring parttime Class I and Class II police officers. They can man the front desk and legally assist our police officers with prisoners and day-to-day operations. Class I and Class II police officers are cost effective and will give our officers the ability to be a proactive police force.
The biggest difference voters should consider between me and my opponents is that, as a newcomer to politics, I am not, and will not be, influenced by any outside agendas, when elected to office. I will listen to the people and do what I can to resolve their issues.
I understand that some issues will be difficult and pleasing everyone on an issue is not feasible. We will work together as a team and seek compromise on issues that are unable to be ratified by the entire council. I will always keep our residents and what is best for our community in mind with every decision made.
With my professional experience in law enforcement and my dedication to the community, I know the people of Manville will find that it makes me the best choice as their next Borough Councilman.
Thank you for your support.

