Kim Turner - Lead

Sara Chobert - Supporting

Lawrence Town Council

Democrats in Lawrence take both council seats

LAWRENCE, N.J. — After reigning for 16 years, former Lawrence

Councilman Rick Miller, 46, was unseated Tuesday as Democratic Councilman

Greg Puliti, 51, out-polled his opponent in the election results.

In the final vote tally by Lawrence Township, Miller and running mate

Ginny Bigley received 8,512 votes — not enough to counter Puliti and running

mate James Kownacki’s 9,827 votes.

Miller, a life-long Lawrence resident, said that even though that their

campaign was issue-based and factual, there were circumstances — such as

voter registration in Lawrence and the incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine’s campaign

targeting the town with paid street workers — that could not be overcome.

“Republicans were outnumbered by Democrats by a two to one margin,”

Miller said. “It is like running a 100-yard dash with your opponent starting on the

50-yard line; no matter how hard you run, it’s hard to make up the distance.”

Puliti, also a life-long Lawrence resident, and Kownacki, a resident of

South Lawrence, believed there were other factors that created their victorious

results.

“We knocked on doors weeknights and weekends since the middle of

August whenever we could,” Puliti said. “We kept statistics and one in 3.5

households were home when we knocked and one out of every 15 households

was a positive guaranteed vote.”

 Miller and Bigley, a school board member of Lawrence Township, focused

their campaign on fiscal responsibility, openness in the government and a

common sense approach.

Countering that, Puliti and Kownacki based their campaign on what they

deemed to be community concerns.

“There were no issues per se. My running mate and I chose taxes and

ethics,” Puliti said.

For the Miller/ Bigley campaign, being fiscally responsible was important

because it would be essential in order to cut the spending of residents’ tax

dollars, as Miller had done in the past.

“The year I served as mayor, our tax rate for municipal purposes was

$0.43. Since the current majority took control the following year, the tax rate has

jumped by more than 65 percent,” Miller said. “This tax and spend approach to

local government has got to stop.”

Bigley, a founding chairperson of the Community Relations Committee,

added that even though the cost has been rising in mandate spending

categories, tough decisions would need to be made to keep the budget flat.

“My hope is that Lawrence remains an affordable place where young

people can afford to raise their families and where our senior citizens can

continue to enjoy the community they helped build,” Bigley said. “It’s time to bring

fiscal responsibility and accountability back to our local government.”

According to Miller, a plan was also proposed to attract new businesses to

the Lawrence community to keep its vibrant appeal.

 “The days of sitting back and waiting for new businesses to come to

Lawrence are over,” Miller said. “We have to be much more aggressive in

attracting new businesses to our community. New businesses create jobs and

help keep our tax rate down.”

For Puliti and Kownacki, saving tax payers money was important to them

as well. However, Puliti took a different view on how to reduce costs — change

the current waste collection system.

“I am always trying to find new and better ways to save residents money

and provide better services,” Puliti said. “This new system will build on the cost-

saving measures we implemented in 2001.”

Puliti proposed the township shift to an “in-house” collection process,

rather than hiring a private contractor to do the bidding. Additionally, he proposed

saving money by establishing a shared service with neighboring towns.

“We must look for ways to reduce costs in order to provide the taxpayers

with savings; exploring these new partnerships only makes sense,” said Puliti.

“By working to cut costs without sacrificing services, the residents will see results

in their tax bill.”

The Republican candidates felt openness to government was an important

issue for the community of Lawrence.

“Local government is closest to the people. It should also be the most

open in all its dealings,” Miller said. “The current majority took control of the town

council in 1995. It has been growing less and less transparent about the way it

does things ever since.”

 Miller saw that transparency cloud with the failure of the council to agree

on a procedure to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of former Mayor

Mark Holmes last year. The Democrats wanted to interview the possible

replacements behind closed doors for only 15 minutes each.

“I called for an open process, with interviews conducted in public, so the

people could hear from the candidates firsthand,” said Miller.

Bigley added that openness of an appointment is the process of the

school board, and should be the process everywhere.

“I was shocked that the current majority fought Rick on what seemed to

be a simple request for an open process,” said Bigley.

Puliti and Kownacki responded to this issue in the campaign by agreeing

Lawrence Township needs openness in government. They stated that the best

way to do this is to establish an Ethics Advisory Committee, a committee that

would provide every elected township official with adequate ethics training.

“This committee would ensure that all our officials keep up with changes to

the laws and would serve as an advisory board should any questions arise,” Puliti

said. “This is just one more step to make our government more open and

honest.”

The last issue for the Miller/Bigley campaign was a common sense

approach to government. This past summer Miller, with council colleague

Republican Bob Bostock, negotiated with the trustees of the Lawrence Township

First Aid Squad to turn over their headquarters to the town for $1.00, to house

the new 24/7 township Emergency Medical Service. This full-time EMS service
was created so that no one in Lawrence Township would ever have to worry

about whether they could afford an ambulance when they needed one.

However, to Bigley’s disbelief, when the deal was presented to the

council, they objected to it.

“Didn’t these people understand they were being given, for just a dollar, a

building it would cost as much as $750,000 to build new?” Bigley said.

According to a local paper at the time of the proposal, the reason for

objecting was additional demands of adding two extra vacant lots to the proposal

and if the volunteer squad was going to change its name or disband.

“They could have jeopardized the entire deal,” Miller said.

However, the results boiled down to a Republican defeat on Tuesday.

Miller, Bigley, Puliti and Kownacki anxiously awaited the results. Through

the red, white and blue balloon decorations, each pair was informed that the

votes were in the Democrats’ favor. Puliti and Kownacki rejoiced, as the

Democrats now hold five seats out of the six on the council.

“I am proud of my service to Lawrence and I can hold my head up high,”

said Miller after the results came in. “I wish Councilman Bob Bostock [the only

remaining Republican] all the best, as he will fill a role that I had for six years.”