FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — Four candidates will seek two three-year terms on the Township Committee in the Nov. 3 election.
The five-person committee has a 5-0 Republican majority.
Republican Thomas Cook, who is serving as Freehold Township’s mayor this year, and Republican Committeeman Anthony Ammiano will seek re-election.
Cook and Ammiano will be challenged for the seats by Democrats Doris Lin and Haven Franklin.
Cook, 54, is the reprographics director for a law firm in New York City.
He said he has enjoyed his first term on the committee and would like to “continue to make a contribution to the overall success of Freehold Township.”
“I have the passion and drive to continue to work alongside my fellow committee members and the great employees of Freehold Township to make the residents of the community want to raise their families here and hopefully their children’s families,” Cook said.
Ammiano, 64, has been the chief financial officer and treasurer of Del-Sano Contracting, Union, for 30 years. Ammiano and his wife of 35 years, Maria, have one son and have lived in the township for 18 years.
Ammiano said that while his professional experience in the private sector helps him understand the fiscal and operational issues facing Freehold Township, “it is the result of my very active 15 years on the Township Committee that I am keenly in touch with the needs of the township.”
One issue facing the township, according to Ammiano, is what he called the state’s inequitable school funding formula that punishes suburban municipalities while rewarding 31 school districts with the majority of the Garden State’s school funding dollars.
“In Freehold Township, school taxes account for 70 cents of every dollar. Our schools do a great job of educating our children while being unfairly under-funded by the Department of Education formula that caps the aid we should get under their own formula,” he said.
Ammiano is also interested in addressing what he called the over-reliance on property taxes to fund “almost everything.”
Lin, 47, is an attorney who has run for public office in the past.
Franklin, 60, is semi-retired, and her most recent work experience includes technical support for a home-based publishing business. Prior to that she worked in technical positions at AT&T and Bell Laboratories for 30 years.
Lin and Franklin issued the following joint statement: “We are running because when one party rules for over 40 years we cannot be assured of balanced representation and objective oversight. One-party rule breeds the rubber stamping of old ideas.
“Furthermore, we have only one female and no people of color on the Township Committee, which does not represent our community demographics. Diverse viewpoints give rise to new vision and fresh ideas. We want to initiate transparency in our local government by bringing our Democratic perspective to the table.”