A group of four candidates will be vying for a pair of three-year terms on the Hillsborough Township Board of Fire Commissioners later this month when voters determine who will help guide the municipality’s fire response efforts.
On Saturday, February 17, the polls will open from 2-9 p.m. at the municipal building on South Branch Road. This year, incumbent members Mike Carone and Pat Buckley will hope to return to their posts against newcomers Judy Faulkner and Rollin Rathbun.
In anticipation for the upcoming election, all four candidates were asked a series of questions regarding their qualifications and what they sought to achieve if elected to the board.
Mike Carone, an incumbent fire commissioner and 20-year Hillsborough resident, said he was seeking re-election because he felt the board’s “forward-moving direction must be maintained.”
“I am proud to be a part of the fire commission and am running for re-election because I feel continuity on the board is very important to continue to address the needs of the community in the coming years,” he said
Having been a member of the board for the last three years and a firefighter for the last nine years with the Flagtown Fire Department, Carone feels that his budgetary experience in his professional life can be a continued benefit to the board.
“I have experience with budgeting in my professional career, and have managed both large- and small-scale projects,” he said. “All of these have given me the background necessary to both understand and properly address the issues brought to the township’s fire district.”
Carone said the biggest hurdle facing the township’s fire departments has been “the transition of services from the former rescue squad to our fire departments, and continuing to provide the township’s residents with the necessary emergency services while keeping within the constraints of our budget.”
Since the township’s EMS services have been transferred to Robert Wood Johnson, the local fire departments have had to take on responsibilities, such as extrication and water rescue. Carone said those responsibilities come with additional educational needs for first responders and training at the Somerset County Emergency Services Training Academy. Additional equipment for all three fire departments are also a consideration for the board, he said.
Looking forward, Carone said he wants to see a continued push for “recruitment throughout the fire district, as our numbers are down.”
“The fire departments welcome men and women of all ages who would like to serve their community,” he said. “It would be great to bring more youth into the fire service so that they can become educated in community response efforts while rooted in Hillsborough and gain valuable experience that will instill in them a sense of community.”
Fellow incumbent member Pat Buckley has been a member of the Hillsborough Fire Company No. 2 since 1996, where he has held every leadership position, including recently as the chief. He has also been a member of the Hillsborough Township Board of Fire Commissioners since February 2015.
Outside of the board, Buckley is a state Level 2 Fire Instructor and a Fire Instructor at the Somerset County Emergency Services Training Academy in Somerset County, where he teaches the Truck Company, Bailout, Coaching the Emergency Vehicle Operator (CEVO), Pump Operations and Rules of Air Management Utility Control. He also is an instructor for many of the firefighter 1 and 2 courses. In addition, he has developed several courses.
Much like his fellow incumbent member Carone, Buckley said attracting and retaining volunteers proves to be the biggest challenge for the township’s fire companies.
“Volunteerism is down nationally. Without the volunteers, residents would face a huge financial crisis,” he said. “The cost to staff a career fire service would add millions to the tax burden of the township residents.”
If elected, Buckley said he wants to “ensure the firefighters are trained and certified to the latest standards for their safety as well as the safety of the public.”
“As an incumbent, I feel my track record over the past three years speaks for itself,” Buckley said. “I feel I have made positive contributions to the district and the residents of the township. As a state certified fire instructor, I’m required to stay current and up-to-date with all of the new standards, which plays a major role and influences my decisions pertaining to firefighter safety and training while being fiscally responsible with taxpayer funds.”
While Buckley and Carone can rely on their past experience on the board, Faulkner said she would draw on a different set of experiences in local and county-wide emergency services, with nearly 30 years as an EMT, along with time on the Hillsborough Rescue Squad.
“I am credentialed as a NJ EMT and also hold a NJ Firefighter 1 certification. I have taken over 100 courses and earned nearly 500 continuing education credits in areas including search and rescue, hazmat, extrication, administrative/management issues and a variety of medical matters,” she said. “I have a background in billing and bookkeeping for several employers.”
Faulkner, a life-long Hillsborough resident and mother of three children, would be the first female fire commissioner to serve in Hillsborough Township. If elected, she said she would use her experience to “find inefficiencies while maintaining service levels, to question the status quo, to inject accountability in the spending of millions of taxpayer dollars and to open up a real information channel to the public.”
With a focus on the board’s budgets and taxpayer costs, Faulkner said she was recently worried by how much those budgets increased over the years.
“Attending commissioner meetings, I observed a common theme in the commissioner discussions around their financial strain which assuredly could be reduced by not triplicating vehicles, equipment and training,” she said. “Forcing volunteers to spend their valuable time training on items they may have little interest…results in minimally committed firefighters mediocre at many skills rather than experts at their job.”
As for the board’s transparency, Faulkner said, was a key reason for her candidacy.
“I expect to improve accountability and transparency in the Board of Fire Commissioners’ use of public funds. They have operated in a glaringly unchallenged and unchecked manner, raising my interest to look further into their activities,” she said. “I filed a number of requests under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) focusing on the Fire District’s involvement in the termination of the Hillsborough Rescue Squad, the accuracy of the incumbents’ claimed numbers of members trained, and the handling of fraudulent certifications in the possession of fire chiefs and commissioners…These items highlight a comfort level that exists among the Fire Commissioners as they operate further and further from the expectations that taxpaying residents have of elected officials.”
As for Rathbun, who has served as a firefighter since 1970 at four different fire companies (South Bound Brook, Franklin Park, East Middlebury Fire Department in Vermont and Hillsborough Fire Company No. 2), he said his professional experience would be a boon to the board.
“I’m current with all of my certifications, so I bring a vast experience to the board and I am an ex-chief out of South Bound Brook, so I can bring some management experience in that way,” he said. “I think I would be able to bring a lot of experience and insight into a board position.”
Having been with Fire Company No. 2 for the last 15 years. Rathbun said the biggest issue facing the township’s fire response capabilities isn’t so much a problem, but a matter of adaptation, as construction and expansion continues within the township.
“It’s a matter of adapting to the amount of new construction in the township and keeping up with the training and equipment needed to maintain the very high standard we set for firefighters,” he said.
Though he said the board would need to focus on equipment and training, Rathbun said the current training regiment used by the township’s fire companies was already “very high,” stating that the municipality’s current standards “exceed the state standards.”
If elected, Rathbun said he would look to continue going down that road.
“The best thing we can do is get the best possible equipment for the firefighters and make training available to them,” he said.
In the event that he becomes the newest member of the Board of Fire Commissioners, Rathbun said he would be able to avail himself more readily to the board’s needs, since he is retired.
As a retiree, Rathbun said he could be a “good asset” for the board that could be ready and willing to work when he’s needed.
“I’ve also, during my time when I was working, I worked to sell fire equipment over the years, so I’m familiar with the aspects of purchasing equipment like turnout gear, trucks and so on,” he said. “I have varied experiences to bring to the table and I have the time to devote to it that some other people might not have if they’re trying to be on the board and have a job also.”