MILLTOWN – Four candidates will vie for the two, three-year Borough Council seats open in November’s election in Milltown.
Republican incumbent Doriann Kerber is seeking her third term while Republican Kyle A. Livingstone and Democrats Phil Zambrana and Anna M. Neubauer are seeking their first terms.
Kerber, 55, has lived in Milltown for more than 16 years. She is married with one rescue dog and is a member of the United Methodist Church.
She is an entrepreneur and earned her degree in management science and business from Kean University.
“As a leader, I enjoy learning new programs from the county, state or local nonprofits to collaborate with borough staff, the Board of Education and the community to introduce these outreach services,” Kerber said. “This has allowed us to obtain awards from Keep Middlesex Moving for Safe Places to Work in 2018 and in 2019 plus Safe Routes to School in 2019. In addition, we have a NJ Clean Communities cleanup twice per year through the Public Works department, which sometimes includes planting projects to beautify Milltown in our parks and open space.”
Kerber said through collaboration with staff, the community and the county, Milltown has been able to implement a complete streets project on Main Street at two intersections with the help of a grant from the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority and Sustainable Jersey.
Further, Kerber received training from Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Association as a Green Infrastructure Champion for Middlesex County to benefit Milltown and municipalities for stormwater flooding solutions.
“As a public servant serving six years, having the ability for our community to collaborate with the borough staff and other local agencies, we need more green infrastructure projects, more complete streets implementation and educational outreach programs which benefit our residents and local businesses,” she said. “We need to evaluate our programs, share with the community plus get feedback to make our town progress.”
Kerber said completing the Rutgers Green Infrastructure program allows her to complete projects for Middlesex County in Milltown and surrounding towns. She said connecting with people and bringing their services to Milltown will allow the borough to grow into new endeavors.
If re-elected, Kerber said she will advocate borough staff to build more relationships with local towns plus outside agencies to increase shared services for savings to our residents and businesses.
“We need input from our residents, local businesses and nonprofits to build a community relationship to keep people informed,” she said. “We adapt to life changes each day; however, change is very slow in Milltown. We need to move Milltown in a forward direction to attract new businesses, evaluate our programs for improvement and seek cost-effective measures for all departments.”
Livingstone, 28, is a lifelong resident of Milltown. He is engaged.
Livingstone is an attorney. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from York College of Pennsylvania and his law degree from Rutgers Law School.
Livingstone said he has been involved in the Milltown community for most of his life: first, as an Eagle Scout from Boy Scout Troop 33, and now as a member of area associations and the municipal Green Team for the environment.
“I am running for Borough Council because I love the character and community that this town offers to the families that live here, including my own,” he said. “My intention is to bring my legal experience and fresh perspective to preserve those characteristics, while also making the necessary changes that need to be made to keep them sustainable for future generations. This includes making critical improvements to our infrastructure, in addition to smarter government and budgetary management at the municipal level.”
If elected, Livingstone said he will advocate for forward-thinking leadership.
“For the past several decades, the town has been governed with short-term thinking in mind,” he said. “I am beginning to start my own family here in town, but recognize that we cannot continue this mindset and still maintain the town we love for future generations.”
Livingstone said he will advocate using available state funding to study shared and/or consolidated services with neighboring towns.
“Meanwhile, we need to begin to make long-awaited improvements to our water and sewer system, while considering what, if any, role our borough should play in the delivery of utility services going forward,” he said.
Neubauer, 28, has lived in Milltown for 16 years. She is married with two dogs.
She is a data analyst in nursing education at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. She earned her liberal art, general education associate’s degree from Middlesex County College. She currently is working toward a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Rutgers University.
In the community, Neubauer is a member of the Board of Health and Milltown Cable TV Committee and had served for five years on the Milltown Rescue Squad.
“I originally became involved in town when my husband Joe and I bought our house on Washington in the end of 2016,” she said “My parents, my grandmother, most of my family, and a lot of my friends all live here in town, so I wanted to protect what makes Milltown special. Somewhere along the line I started helping film the council meetings, other meetings and events in town. As I watched [the meetings], I realized that the town had opportunities for improvement and I was confident that I could provide fresh outlooks and hopefully make some positive changes.”
If elected, Neubauer said communication is the first thing she would like to concentrate on.
“The hardest part about getting involved in town was finding out about what was going on,” she said. “A lot of meetings happen behind closed doors, and only the council meetings are filmed usually. Sometimes people don’t know about upcoming meetings or, even if they do know, they can’t make them. There needs to be a serious look into how we communicate with the citizens. Messaging apps, e-mail notifications, fliers, anything really would help get people informed and hopefully more involved in town.”
Zambrana, 57, has lived in Milltown for 15 years. He is married with two adult daughters.
He is a business manager for the Human Genetics Institute at Rutgers University. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from The City University of New York-Baruch College.
In the community, Zambrana had served on the Milltown Board of Education from 2011-16. During the last three years of his term, he served as the chair of the Finance Committee and as the board liaison between Milltown and Spotswood, where Milltown children attend high school.
He currently serves on Milltown’s Planning Board, Department of Health, Environmental Commission and 4th of July Committee.
“I am running for council again so that the residents of Milltown can be assured that I will work to provide accountability, clear communication and transparency behind every decision that is made by the council,” he said.
Zambrana said he will work to provide better communication with the residents of Milltown on the financial decisions that are made and how those decisions affect their tax dollars.
Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 5.