Politics & Government

Freehold Township Republicans Tout Municipality as Model of Good Government

David Salkin and Eugene Golub are seeking reelection against Democratic challengers JJ Mistretta and Edward Horigan.

The Republicans seeking reelection to two three-year Freehold Township Committee seats believe the municipality is a model of good government in New Jersey. Mayor David Salkin, 46, and Deputy Mayor Eugene Golub, 71, are running against Democratic challengers Jennie “JJ” Jeannette Mistretta and Edward Horigan in the November election. Salkin and Golub are seeking a sixth term on the governing body.

“The main issue (in a local election) is always taxes. Your taxes are high because you live in New Jersey, but not because you live in Freehold Township. If you have own a house assessed for $400,000 in Freehold Township, you pay $1,096 in taxes. Compare that to neighboring towns: you would pay $1,328 in Manalapan, $1,415 in Howell, and $1,512 in Jackson. And we provide first rate service,” said Salkin, a lifelong Freehold Township resident who is a novelist and co-owner of Salkin’s Jewel Case. He is married with two children.

Salkin and Golub credit the municipality’s focus on long-term planning and fiscal responsibility with the relative stability of Freehold Township’s tax rate.

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“We have a large number of shared services and we were doing this years before there were discussions about it around the state,” said Golub, a 41-year resident of Freehold Township and a professor of civil engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark. He is married and the father of three grown children, all of whom reside in Freehold Township.

The Republican candidates said they are particularly proud of the township’s preservation of 9,000 acres of open space. Salkin noted that he and Golub chaired the Freehold Township Open Space Master Plan Committee, which oversaw the first such plan to be approved in the state.

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“(Freehold Township) had to invent the entire process and do it in such away that it made sense. We rated all open space in the township and prioritized land selection based on what would limit development. Every time Green Acre money was available, we would go to the list. Now 37 percent of the town is open space,” Salkin said.

According to Golub, an all-Republican Township Committee has not prevented debate or new ideas from coming to the forefront, as Democrats contend.

“The way we operate, if there is an important issue, we want to have four votes in favor of it. We do have serious discussions and we will usually come to a consensus,” Golub said. “We have a large number of committees and volunteers and it doesn’t matter is somebody is a Republican or a Democrat. We listen to what the community wants, and we get information and suggestions from a large number of people in the township. If you have a consistent set of people working consistently along, you see projects move forward.”

In the coming years, maintaining a stable tax rate in wake of state aid cuts will remain a challenge, according to Salkin. However, he believes the belt-tightening Freehold Township undertook at the beginning of the economic downtown—including layoffs and the elimination of positions through attrition—has put the township in a better position than other municipalities.

“In the process of making government smaller and doing more with less, and by facing a difficult problem head-on three or four years ago, we’re in a much better position than we would be otherwise. We faced the worst, took it head-on and we’re already starting to reap the benefits,” Salkin said.

Freehold Township is organized under the township form of government. The five-member Township Committee is elected directly by the voters. Partisan elections are held in November. The mayor and deputy mayor are selected by the governing body during its annual reorganization meeting. Committee members serve three-year terms. The members of the 2011 Freehold Township Committee are Mayor David Salkin, Deputy Mayor Eugene Golub, Anthony Ammiano, Robert McGirr and Barbara McMorrow. All are Republicans.


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