Public meets Rockaway Twp. candidates

ROCKAWAY TWP. – Candidates populating one of the more crowded primaries in Morris County met with the public Monday during a candidate’s night event at the White Meadow Lake Country Club.

There were some notable absences — Mayor Michael Dachisen and Councilman Jeremy Jedynak did not attend, nor did the two Democratic entries in the race for three council seats — but Republican mayoral candidate Tucker Kelley and six G.O.P. council hopefuls spoke to about 30 people in attendance. The primary is scheduled for June 2.

Each was given up to 10 minutes to speak, and the speeches were followed by an informal question-and-answer session that veered into debates about disproportionally high taxes in the township compared to other Morris County towns, police and crime issues in the township and at Rockaway Townsquare mall, and other topics.

Two of the council candidates, incumbents Paul Minenna and Max Rogers, are teamed on the ballot with Michael Puzio, a sergeant with the Morris County Sheriff’s Department and former board of education member who is hoping for a seat on the township’s governing body.

Rogers, who spoke last, kept it short. A resident since 1966, he married a local girl in 1974 and said their grandchildren are the ninth generation of his extended family to live on Sanders Road since 1829.

“We have a vested interest in Rockaway Township,” he said.

Minenna, a former Ward 3 councilman and now a councilman at-large, spoke about the budget and taxes.

“The budget has been an issue in this campaign,” Minenna said. “In this past year our budget only went up $470,000. Now to some people, that may seem like a lot of money, but that covers everything to run the town for the entire year. When you do the math, a $300,000 home is assessed about $16.21, times three, it comes out to a little less than a dollar a week to run this community the way you’ve come to expect. I think with the kind of workload we have, there really is no way to cut taxes, and and anyone who comes to your door saying they are going to cut taxes, they are not being honest with you.”

Touching on a topic several candidates mentioned — the potential cost savings of shared services — Puzio said his day job gives him a unique perspective and experience.

“One of the things I have done with Max and Paul is work on shared services,” he said. “I come from the agency that is the epitome of shared services, the sheriff’s department. They’re an assisting agency and in my 20 years, I have watched my agency assist all 39 municipalities when they had a crime, motor-vehicle accidents, bomb calls. That’s what we do.”

Kelley, a lifelong resident who ran unsuccessfully in the Republican mayoral primary in 2011 and 2013, agreed about the need for additional shared services. He spoke of specific potential savings with Wharton and Dover, but said of the current administration, “Nobody seems to approach. Instead we have an argument. That has to stop.”

Regarding the budget, Kelley said “The way things have been going, if you follow the budgets from year to year, we’re almost having a million-dollar-a-year increase on the average. I know Mr. Minenna said there’s only been a $470,000 increase, but there were mandates in there that he wasn’t focusing on, pensions and health costs and things like that. We’re paying almost $950,000 more this year. They’re saying they want to stabilize that. That’s been the common statement for the last 10, 15, 20 years. ... They say we’re not going to promise anything, but we think we can stabilize it. That never happens. Instead we’ve lost about $2 million a year in revenue.”

Kelley also pledged to forgo his benefits package and would donate his salary to the public library. “That will save the township almost $40,000 a year without doing anything.”

Followup questions from the audience about council and mayor compensation led to a later debate about the actual cost of those benefits and who was actually taking them.

The other council hopefuls mostly steered clear of the debates, which the moderators cut short when tempers began to flare.

Patricia Abrahamsen, who retired from the township police force on Dec. 31, said she wants to continue serving the community where her family has been since 1956. She cited her volunteer service (Girl Scout troop leader, officer in the Lake Telemark Women’s Club, CCD teacher at St. Cecelia’s parish), her career as a detective, D.A.R.E. program coordinator, domestic-violence liaison and work with the crisis response team as qualifications for council.

Another newcomer to the field, Doug Brookes, pushed family values and fiscal responsibility. A consulting architect and deacon at the First Baptist Church of Rockaway, he also said working from home would increase his accessibility to constituents.

“When I was growing up here, Rockaway Twp. was a family-friendly community,” said. “If you do not know, there was a recent study out there that states Rockaway Twp. is now the 298th family-friendly town in New Jersey. Denville, which we currently go to high school with and are part of our district, is ranked No. 14. If you were to tell me there’s nothing we can do to make ourselves better, I would have to argue that there is something we can do. Dover is ranked higher than us. Victory Gardens is ranked higher than us. Mendham Twp. was No. 3 on the list. There’s a reason why we have so many foreclosures. There’s a reason why there’s 85 foreclosures in White Meadow Lake alone. Because the family friendliness in our community is gone.”

A vote for him, Brookes said, would be a vote for change.

“If you like change, there’s an opportunity,” the 39-year resident said. “It’s not just me. There are three incumbents and four others. It’s up to you in your heart to decide what’s best for the town.”

Paul Waldek, a retired math educator, also hopes to offer a new voice to the council.

“I know percents, and I know numbers,” he said, noting that of the Morris County freeholders can keep their budget from increasing, then so could Rockaway Twp.

In addition to his memberships in the Knights of Columbus, Freemasons and Lions Club, Waldek cited his 20 years on the Morris County Republican Committee as relevant experience he could bring to the council chambers.

Dachisen and Jedynak both said they could not attend due to previously scheduled commitments. Jedynak said he would attend the next candidate’s night event at 7 p.m. on May 19 at the Fox Hills active-adult community, which is open to the public.

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-428-6627; wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com.