We don’t need logging or overdevelopment along Route 15. We don’t need more gas stations. We don’t need more medical buildings. Lake Hopatcong needs a supermarket. Jefferson Township needs some kind of a downtown. With 80% of our land in the Highlands Protection area, smart strategic development is so important. In us, you’ll have council members who advocate for the businesses we need, where appropriate.

Why are forested patches in parks and residential areas disappearing without consequence? Why is there logging along Route 15? Why is there so much business for forest destruction under this administration that we’re seeing “Stump Grinding” signs go out along roadways? Did you know that the town forester approved logging in Mahlon Dickerson reservation? Enough. We support ecotourism and smart development to boost revenue, not unmitigated forest destruction.

The former Environmental Commission was disbanded and consolidated with the Planning Board into a Land Use Board. The point of having different boards is checks and balances. We used to have an Open Space Committee, which one of our candidates served on. Without a check on the Land Use Board’s hearings with developers, we risk overdevelopment. We support separating them and allocating membership based on service, not politics, and creating a separate Shade Tree Commission with enforcement power to protect us.

Other towns nearby live stream meetings so that residents can listen along remotely. Why doesn’t Jefferson Township? We support all town council meetings and board meetings being accessibly live streamed so that residents can participate and learn what their local government is doing. We pay a technology staffer; let’s have the use of technology to access important meetings.

Town council meeting minutes shouldn’t be posted months after the meetings happen. It delays and even discourages public engagement for those who can’t make it to town council meetings or have access issues. Residents shouldn’t have to wait months after decisions are made to know what those decisions are, and what transpired in the meetings where they were discussed.

We support overturning the ordinance that limits public input from individual residents to five minutes or less, without transfer of minutes to other speakers if time isn’t fully used. Limiting public input is a public disservice. The job of the council is to hear and work for its residents, not the other way around. Residents who need more time should have it.

We deserve a council that seeks to keep costs down and minimize tax increases while increasing the value we get on each dollar. We support exploring shared services with other towns and creating intermunicipal agreements as needed in order to maximize efficiency and stretch tax dollars farther.

We believe the public deserves access to local elected officials at times outside of limited town council meetings as well. We would commit to holding regular office hours at local businesses in town, including on the Oak Ridge side of town and not just Lake Hopatcong, so you have a regular time when you can sit with us if council meetings don’t fit your schedule.

We admire Parsippany’s Green Team that actively goes out and does important work educating residents, business owners and elected officials about ways in which we can reduce our carbon footprint and be ecologically responsible. In partnership with the Lake Hopatcong Foundation and Commission, we would love to help Jefferson build a Green Team to lead in similar ways.