Editorial
For Council: Perkins, Rattner
Greenbaum and Mania
This is a difficult election
year for Republicans in general and to be an incumbent
in the current economy as well, running for reelection,
even for local office, makes it more challenging …. but
not in Morris County, or even more specifically in Mount
Olive.
Because of their many years
of selfless service to the township we believe incumbent
Republican Councilmen Ray Perkins, Steve Rattner and Rob
Greenbaum deserve re-nomination in the June 2nd
Primary Election as well as John Mania, who, though not
holding elective office, has given much of his time
and service to the township over many years.
The Democratic Primary is
straight forward….no contest. Former Councilman Jim
Buell is running with Richard Escobar who made a
respectable run for mayor last year and two political
newcomers John Titus and Garry Mahabir.
Adding to the political
intrigue is Mayor David Scapicchio’s endorsement of just
two of the incumbents, Greenbaum and Perkins as well as
Mania and Pat Walsh. Mania, a long time Democratic
figure ran a close race for the Council last year as a
Democrat and Walsh was a Democratic Assembly candidate
as well. Both changed to being Republicans for this
election.
Mania said it well on his
change of political party allegiance. He took a quote
from a former long time Speaker of the US House of
Representatives Tip O’Neill, “all politics are local.”
He said there was little relationship between national
and local political philosophy and he was comfortable
serving locally in either political party. Walsh said
he was a registered Republican until he was asked to run
as a Democrat for the Assembly and switched parties
then. He says he had no trouble switching back to being
a Republican for this election.
Mayor Scapicchio, in his
statement of endorsement that excluded two fellow
members of the governing body, Rattner and current
Council President Russ Tepper, was not because of a
falling out but rather to kind of shake things up….”to
change the way Mount Olive does business,” he said.
He went on to say that he had
worked closely at one time or another with all the
candidates running for Council and the ones he endorsed
were the ones he felt would better serve the
community….”making the right decisions for the greatest
number of citizens and what is best for you or your own
friends.”
He concluded his statement
saying “your elected officials will be faced with having
to make some very difficult decisions in the coming
years.”
Interestingly there has been
no response from either Rattner or Tepper and in fact
they appear to be running “as a team” with Perkins and
Greenbaum. They announced they were running together
when they announced their candidacies and hundreds of
lawn signs that started appearing in the past week or so
confirms it. Also, Mania and Walsh have their own signs
indicating a “team” type effort.
Steve Rattner
Rattner, who is 58 has
lived in Budd Lake with his wife, Jeanne, since 1975.
They have a daughter, Karlene, who is a special
education teacher.
He has served on the Council
for 21 years and time and again his experience has
helped steer the governing body away from making
mistakes a previous Council may have made. A certified
public accountant, he graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson
University with a degree in Accounting and he holds a
Master’s Degree in Finance from Seton Hall University.
He took early retirement in
2000 from AT&T and has worked as a finance officer for a
credit union and consultant for local non profit
organizations.
He is knowledgeable about every
aspect of government. He has served as President of the
governing body three times, as president of the Board of
Health for six years, a member of the Musconetcong
Sewerage Authority as a commissioner since 1994 and was
secretary-treasurer from 1994 to 2001. He has been the
chairman since 2002. He cut his eye teeth in politics in
the early 1980’s opposing plans for a garbage transfer
station in Mount Olive for the whole county. Eventually
county officials agreed to site two transfer stations,
one in Mount Olive and another one in Parsippany.
Steve has been active in
Kiwanis since its inception and has served as the
director and the Treasurer. In 1999 he was named
Kiwanian of the Year. He also has been a trustee and
treasurer of the Mount Olive Child Care and Learning
Center and secretary of the Morris County Planning Board
since 1997.
Ray Perkins
Perkins, who lives in Budd
Lake, has been a resident here for 23 years. He is an
account manager for the NJ Energy Star Homes Program at
McGrann Associates in Moorestown. He is a Vietnam
combat Marine Corps. veteran, the only veteran on the
Council.
He also was a founding member
of the Mt. Olive Pride Committee as well as a member of
the Knights of Columbus, Kiwanis Club of Mt. Olive and
the Musconetcong Lodge of
Free and Accepted Masons. He was named Kiwanian
of Year in 2003.
He also has served as a
member of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Planning
Board, the Juvenile Conference Committee and was a
member of the Board of Trustees of the Mt. Olive Child
Care & Learning Center. His biography is listed in
"Who's Who In America," 4th Edition, under Science and
Engineering.
As Council President last
year he reduced energy use by changing from four to two
Council meetings a month; converted to a more paperless
work environment throughout the municipal building; set
up online access of all Council Agenda meetings to
include PDF of correspondence, resolutions, ordinances,
etc. and formalized the Public Safety Committee. He
also was instrumental in initiating the effort to
provide a hospital based EMT service for the township
which begins on June 1st.
Taxes always are a major
concern in Mount Olive and as Council President he was a
leading voice in reducing the 2008 local property tax
from approximately 11.7% to under 8.7%. He believes
that under his watch taxes have been maintained at an
acceptable level compared to services absolutely
necessary for the local government to function in an
effective and acceptable manner.
If re-elected he promises to
push for a public/private partnership of clean energy
solutions to reduce energy consumption, using such
vehicles as solar and/or wind turbines; to investigate
the possible sale of the Township’s water utility to a
private company and use the proceeds to offset the
local real estate tax burden. He also promises to
increase the number of Hybrid vehicles including use of
bio-diesel fuels for township government employee needs
and to make a determined effort with the NJDOT for a
“Jersey Barrier” dividing wall to allow safe turning on
Route 46.
Rob Greenbaum
Rob, an attorney, also is a
strong and leadership voice on the Township Council. He
is running for a third term. He served as Council
President through three trying years when a previous
Democratic mayor made governing effectively very
difficult, disagreeing with the rest of the governing
body on almost every issue. Rob rose to the occasion on
every challenge raised by the mayor, yet displayed
leadership, patience, competence, and respect and
allowing no issue to go unanswered. He also has served
on the Planning Board and the Safety Committee
John Mania
John is 74 years old, a
native of the hurly burly of Paterson Democratic
politics. He and his wife, Lillian, moved to Budd Lake
over 25 years ago. They have three sons, John, Michael
and Rob, all graduates of the Mount Olive School
System. Rob is a member and former president of the
Board of Education.
John has been a concrete
salesman for 40 years for Sparta Redi Mix. He is a
member of the Knights of Columbus, is a Eucharistic
Minister in St. Jude’s Roman Catholic Church and was a
strong supporter of the beautiful All Veterans Memorial,
now located in Turkey Brook Park.
John has met the issue of
changing parties straight on. In addition he says he has
shown he is committed to public service and if I can’t
do it as a Democrat I’ll do it as a Republican.
Another contributing factor to Mania’s change in
party, he said, occurred last year when he was a member
of a committee to install a monument commemorating the
“the unborn” (babies) in St. Jude’s Church. He has
been quoted as saying he was always a supporter of the
“Right to Life” cause but his participation in that fund
raising activity got him really thinking more about the
issue and he felt that continuing as a Democrat…a party
in which a “woman’s right to choose” is one of its
defining issues… it would be hypocritical for him, to
continue his Democratic party affiliation.
Mania has served on the
Planning Board for 25 years and was chairman for eight.
He also has chaired the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
He also has been critical of
the NJ Highlands Protection Act as it affects Mount
Olive. There are no more development applications
before the planning board, he said, which he blames on
the Highlands Act goal of reducing development to
preserve water. He has proposed a water usage tax paid
by communities that benefit from it to compensate towns
like Mount Olive for being deprived of growth. He wants
the State Legislature to address the issue.
Richard Johnston
Editor
