HOWELL – Six residents are running for three four-year terms on the Howell Township Council in the Nov. 6 election.
Republican council members Robert Nicastro and Pauline Smith are not seeking re-election.
The candidates are Republicans Bob Walsh, Pamela J. Richmond and Thomas Russo, and Democrats John Bonevich, Kristal Dias and Paul Dorato. See a separate article for profiles of the Democrats.
Richmond is a teacher’s aide for special education professionals in Freehold Township. She has lived in Howell for nine years and said she never thought about running for office until she was approached and asked about running for council.
“I really never gave politics a thought because I was always a PTO member and stay-at-home mom. When someone approached me and asked me how I felt about it, I said I am up for the challenge, I am willing to give it a try, I am interested in politics. I figured I put my time into the school systems for so long, now it is time for me to move on and do other things, so I thought it would be a good opportunity,” Richmond said.
She said the one issue that drew her to running for council was affordable housing.
“That is a really big issue because I live in affordable housing, so I kind of felt it would be a good thing to have someone who is living it and went through the process explain to people what it really is,” Richmond said.
She said school safety and working with police to keep Howell safe are other issues council members must address.
“Keeping the town safe, keeping it affordable and keeping it the way it is now. I do not want to overbuild, I want to preserve what we have and keep it the reason I came here. I want it to stay this way. I left high-density homes where I could not find a parking spot and had to use a garbage can to protect my parking spot. I love being able to have that freedom and all the open space. I want to make it a good place for my kids to stay, hopefully,” Richmond said.
Russo is an attorney and a lifelong Howell resident. He graduated law school in 2015 and has served on the Howell Planning Board since January 2016. Russo said the politics bug first bit him when he was president of his law school class. He said he believes his law school education helped prepare him for this kind of work.
“Simply put, I love my hometown. I am a lifetime resident of Howell and a product of our public school system. After graduating law school in 2015, my plan was to move back home after the bar exam and that is exactly what I did. I currently reside in town with my wife, Amanda, and plan to raise my family here. I practice law at a local law firm in Howell, where many of my clients also reside and work,” Russo said.
“Taxes and development are my two biggest concerns surrounding our town. With regard to the former, as someone with a significant amount of student loan debt and as someone who lives on a budget, I also feel the financial strain of being a New Jersey resident.
“One of my goals is to push back against the disastrous policies of Phil Murphy that have made their way into Howell by working directly with our sate representatives to create practical solutions to decrease the existing tax burden.
“At the local level, I will fight to reduce property taxes by looking into every possible avenue, including, among other things, the implementation of additional shared services,” Russo said.
Russo said his goal is to protect the town where he grew up.
“With regard to development, my primary goal is to protect the rural character of our town by strengthening existing zoning laws and advocating for the purchase of green space, parks and farmland. As most of us know by now, court ordered housing forced by Trenton affects most municipalities in Monmouth County, including Howell.
“I am against this big government policy and will work alongside our state officials to promote alternative solutions like the re-institution of regional contribution agreements (which can transfer affordable housing units from one town to another) and other policies that decrease the burden of court mandated building in our town,” Russo said.
Walsh has served residents as a member of the governing body for more than a decade. He and his family have lived in Howell for more than 25 years.
“My wife and I raised our daughters and son in Howell. It is our home and I am proud to live here,” Walsh said. “I am proud I have had the opportunity to serve the community and when I look back on the things we have done, I am proud of many things, so I can’t just isolate it to one.
“I am proud we changed zoning laws to prevent high-density housing. I am proud we preserved 22 farms. I am proud we created the 170-acre Soldier Memorial Park. I am proud we secured the new town hall on Route 9, saving taxpayers millions. I am proud we fought big developers and I am especially proud we cut the municipal tax rate by 15 percent in the last five years.
“I am looking forward to continuing to move the town in the right direction and putting people over politics. I am looking forward to ensuring we hold the line on taxes and stop more development, but more than anything, I am looking forward to helping, to always make Howell a better place for working families,” Walsh said.