ENGLISHTOWN – One Democrat and two Republicans are seeking a pair of three-year terms on the Borough Council in Englishtown this year. Voters will head to the polls on Nov. 7.
Democrat Steven Bloom is seeking one of the seats currently held by Republicans Eric Mann and Cindy Robilotti, who are both seeking re-election.
Robilotti did not respond to requests for comment.
Bloom has lived in Englishtown for more than two years and is making his second consecutive bid for Borough Council. He is a senior finance manager at CBRE and holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and economics from Ramapo College and an MBA from Monmouth University. While at Ramapo, he served as a student trustee.
“Growing up with a civic responsibility and giving back to the community, I want to use my accounting and finance background to make a positive, bipartisan difference in improving the service of our local government to the community,” Bloom said.
“As I have already been instilled with working with different constituencies, I look forward to working with our wonderful borough staff, police, firefighters and residents to make positive measurable outcomes for our town. Having previously attended council meetings, I feel that my approach would bring a data-driven process to council deliberations.
If elected, issues that Bloom said he will address are improving communication of town events and meetings by leveraging social media and improving the borough’s website, exploring shared services with neighboring municipalities to mitigate property tax increases while promoting Englishtown’s identity, keeping Englishtown safe with police and fire personnel having all necessary tools, and improving the borough’s downtown area in regard to traffic flow and businesses.
“While I hope to be the newest member of the council, I realize there is information I am not privy to,” he said. “I look forward to working with all members of the council in a bipartisan fashion to understand the facts and do what is best for the residents of Englishtown.”
Mann joined the council in 2016 when he was appointed to fill a vacant seat. In November 2016, he won a one-year unexpired term to serve during 2017. Mann has served on the Shade Tree Commission. He has lived in Englishtown for more than four years.
“I am seeking re-election to continue to serve our residents in maintaining Englishtown as an independent and well-run fiscally healthy community,” Mann said. “I strongly believe that good government must be both representative and responsive, and should be managed in such a way as the important local services are provided timely, professionally and cost-efficiently.”
Mann is employed as the international group credit manager for Kyocera Document Solutions America and is also the first vice chairman of the Federation of Credit and Financial Professionals. During his career, he has been employed in accounting and finance management positions for multinational, publicly traded manufacturing and distribution firms for 28 years.
“I believe my education and training as a CPA and my almost 30 years of accounting and finance experience allow me to contribute to making sound, well-reasoned fiscally responsible decisions,” he said. “My service with nonprofit organizations has also trained me to work as a team member to plan, budget, implement, maintain and improve processes to meet the mission of a particular organization at the lowest reasonable cost.
“My six years of active duty experience in the U.S. Navy and more than five years of active drilling in the U.S. Naval Reserve provided me with leadership training and experience in operational positions, engineering and maintenance roles, and administrative assignments.”
If re-elected, issues that Mann said he will continue to address are the maintenance of services at the lowest reasonable cost to maintain the lowest practical tax rate, the improvement of the downtown area to attract and retain businesses, working with Monmouth County to improve the traffic flow through Englishtown, and being responsive to community concerns.