Eric A. Steeber MILLTOWN — Voters will have a choice when they head to the polls on Nov. 3 to either re-elect Democratic Mayor Eric A. Steeber or opt for change by voting for Republican Councilman Ronald “Ron” Dixon.
Steeber served as a councilman for seven years from 1994 to 1999 and 2005 to 2007. He was elected to his first term as mayor in 2011.
He said he is running for re-election to continue 25 years of work
“My clear vision of Milltown’s future includes a reinvigorated, redeveloped downtown district with new family-friendly shops, ample public parking and increased professional businesses,” he said.
Steeber said he hopes to complete construction of the borough’s town-wide footpath bikeway plan so residents can walk or bike to the downtown area and he hopes to find solutions for the borough’s drinking water quality issues and flooding problems.
Ronald “Ron” Dixon “Milltown needs to continue to have a mayor that wants to attend meetings and conduct borough business in public,” he said.
Steeber said an area he would like to continue to work on is infrastructure.
“We need to solve our water quality issues,” he said. “I issued residents a questionnaire and mapped our existing water supply system so real solutions can be found.”
“Flooding issues must be solved to ensure the safety of our residents and their property. Many roads need repaving or reconstruction.”
He also serves the borough in other official roles.
“I am presently a voting member of the planning board and the Ford Avenue Redevelopment Agency,” he said. “I serve as an ex-officio member of all six council committees and as a governmental representative of the Milltown Office of Emergency Management.”
He has also been a voting member of numerous borough committees and commissions.
Steeber attended Milltown public schools and is a graduate of St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, Middlesex County College and the Middlesex County Fire Academy.
He is a land surveyor with Fisk Associates in Middlesex Borough.
Steeber also serves as president of the Middlesex County Conference of Mayors and as a member of the board of directors of the New Jersey Conference of Mayors.
Dixon, who has lived in the borough for 10 years, ran an unsuccessful bid for mayor in 2011. He was a member of the Borough Council from 2009 to 2011. While on council he served as chairman of the Public Works Department, Health and Social Services Department and the Parks and Recreation Department.
He was elected to a second term on the council last November. He currently serves as chairman of finance and administration.
Dixon said he has spent his professional life serving and protecting residents.
“I’m active in town and want to continue my public service as an elected official,” he said. “My background allows me to make educated decisions pertaining to the wellbeing of the borough.
“I am able to work with all political parties and have no political agenda,” he said. “Being retired, I can be a full-time mayor who can be both available and visible in town, always putting Milltown first.”
If elected mayor, Dixon said his main concern is the aging and neglected infrastructure in the borough — water lines, electric substation, water tower, and road repairs.
“During my current time on council, I voted to expand the water line project to include additional residential areas,” he said. “We also authorized the business professionals to apply for grants to paint the water tower.”
Dixon said the electric substation project must be monitored to ensure qualified individuals are running the facility.
“Routine maintenance is not enough, ensuring long-term plans and funding are in place will allow proactivity, not reactivity,” he said.
A graduate of Edison High School, Dixon served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam era. He is a retired law enforcement officer and served for 30 years with the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office as a lieutenant investigator and eight years as a police officer in Edison. He worked with the U.S. Justice Department Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for 15 years.
Dixon attended Rutgers and Glassboro State College (now Rowan University); attended development classes at the University of Virginia for the DEA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) academies and is a graduate of the U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Academy in Washington, D.C., and the FBI Academy.
Dixon has served as post commander for American Legion Joyce Kilmer Post 25 in Milltown from 2005 to the present to aid veterans and their family.
While working on the Milltown Municipal Alliance, he created the June fishing derby to promote “Get hooked on fishing, not drugs” in 2009 and has continued to run the program every year since. Currently, he volunteers as a member of the Office of Emergency Management for both Middlesex County and the Borough of Milltown.
Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 3.