COLTS NECK – Tara Torchia Buss is looking forward to starting her first three-year term on the Township Committee in January.
Buss and incumbent Michael Viola ran unopposed for two seats on Colts Neck’s governing body in the Nov. 3 municipal election. Viola won his second term on the committee, which will continue to have a 5-0 Republican majority in 2021.
“I want to thank all of the residents for their support and confidence,” Buss said. “I will work very hard on the Township Committee to ensure people are proud to continue their confidence and support in me throughout my term.
“I am looking to keep Colts Neck a great town in which to live and raise a family. I will continue to push for preserving open space, keeping taxes flat and maintaining a strong emergency services organization to keep our residents safe,” she said.
Buss is a strategic business account development executive with T-Mobile. Prior to joining T-Mobile she was a director and professor of public health at the University of Maryland.
As she prepares to join the governing body in January, Buss said, “I want to ensure and assure that the town keeps the character I grew up with here; the character it currently possesses in which I now live, and for my, and our, children into the future.
“We are at a pivotal time in Colts Neck in regard to affordable housing and business development. … I have spent many years involved with a variety of groups and people in Colts Neck, including the Colts Neck PTO, the Colts Neck Sports Foundation and the Colts Neck Business Association, which has been a wonderful way to meet people in our town, create friendships for myself and my children that will last a lifetime, and learn a tremendous amount about different aspects of the town. I want to take this knowledge with me to the table to make sure our town’s voice is heard.
“Communication is important. I intend to keep a dialogue open with the people of Colts Neck and make sure decisions are made that reflect the community and our priorities, and maintain the wonderful rural nature of the town, while understanding and respecting the need to evolve it.
“I think it is important to represent the people and to be able to articulate and communicate their preferences and priorities. We need to have respect with how the town has evolved into one of the most cherished places to live, while allowing it to evolve to accommodate the people who have raised generations here and welcome those who want to call it home,” Buss said.
