FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – Democrat Hassan Shehadeh is making his first bid to win a three-year term on the Township Committee in Freehold Township in the 2020 election.
There are two three-year committee terms on the ballot. Incumbent Republicans Lester Preston and Alan Walker are also seeking the terms and they are profiled in a separate article.
Shehadeh has been a resident of Freehold Township for more than 14 years and said, “This is a great town. However, we have mismanagement at multiple levels. I am running to bring efficiency and new ideas to help improve our town.
“My years of work experience have prepared me for this task. I have a chemical engineering degree and an MBA in finance. I worked in the industrial setting, banking, wholesale and pharmaceutical.
“My combined experience in all of these fields allowed me to gain a well rounded understanding of best operational practices, process improvements and management. That is what our town needs – a fresh look at how things are run,” he said.
Shehadeh said if he wins a seat on the governing body he intends to address electric disruption from storms, responsible spending and ensuring that safety guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic are enforced.
“We need to address the issue of constant electric disruption whenever we have a storm and provide solutions,” the candidate said. “The solutions start with the trimming of branches from between wires and not waiting for outages to take action, fixing the leaning electric poles, and holding the township and Jersey Central Power & Light responsible for their lack of initiative to address the issue.
“We need to have responsible spending, especially during this pandemic, as I am sure our revenues will not meet the projections set in the budget. We need to enforce social distancing and face covering requirements,” he said.
Shehadeh said he also intends to address the planned development of affordable housing at the site of the Freehold Mall shopping center on Route 9 (not to be confused with the Freehold Raceway Mall property).
“Having the affordable housing at the Freehold Mall property will have an impact on the businesses that occupy the space (i.e., Burlington, Terrace Bagels and Cafe, Firestone Complete Auto Care).
“Besides the disruption of business continuity when we are in a bad economic situation, these businesses would have to find new locations with more or less the same rent, foot traffic and accessibility.
“If the township acted in a timely manner when the (affordable housing) legislation came from the state, we would not have to be cornered and obliged to relinquish the Freehold Mall in order to accommodate the affordable housing plan. Freehold Township has some empty lots which fulfill the requirements for the housing project.
“The current committee members treated this issue nonchalantly until we reached the point of no return. That is why it is time to put an end to the current way of managing the town and start with new, more efficient and proactive leadership,” Shehadeh said.