Aberdeen Candidates for Council Talk Taxes, Redevelopment

The Nov. 8 election is quickly approaching and Aberdeen residents will have to select four of the eight candidates for council on the ballot next week. With Deputy Mayor Vincent Vinci, Councilman Owen Drapkin and Councilwoman Wilhelmina Gumbs retiring, there is only one incumbent on the ballot. We gave each candidate a chance to share their views and what they would like to accomplish if elected.

Kenneth Aitken (R)

Ken Aitken has lived in Aberdeen with his family since 1992 and currently serves on the Matawan-Aberdeen Board of Education. He works as the Principal Member of the Technical Staff for AT&T in Middletown and has volunteered for youth baseball, served as VP of Pop Warner / AYF football, and been a member and officer of Cliffwood Guadalcanal VFW Post 4745 for over eight years.

Aitken decided to run for council, he said, because he does not feel that Aberdeen is heading in the right direction. He believes that the current council has done a great job updating meeting agendas and minutes online and that the Department of Public Works did an "outstanding job" during the blizzard last winter.
 
However, Aitken said he is concerned with property taxes, small business viability and redevelopment projects in Aberdeen.

Aitken sees high property taxes as the most important issue facing Aberdeen and believes that taxes are high due to development choices made by the current council. In order to address this issue, he plans to look into shared services with neighboring towns and the school district.

"Responsible development and encouragement of business ratables will also tie in to provide tax relief for our citizens," he said.

Aitken said the current plan on the table for a senior center on Church Street (LINK) needs to reexamined.

"A good, well designed, affordable and safe senior housing will be a cornerstone to any development plan that I will support," Aitken said via email. "I want real quality senior housing, not a project that has wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars in environmental studies for over a decade to try and fix up a contaminated factory site that no one would want their mom or dad to live on."

Sheilah Balavram (R)

Sheilah Balavram said she decided to run because she is unhappy with the way Aberdeen has been run in the past few years. She feels that the taxes have gotten too high and that Aberdeen should have had a better response plan for Hurricane Irene.

"The old addage is that if you want to change things, you have to be involved in them," Balavram said. "What went on with Irene was unacceptable. Instead of blaming JCP&L they (the current council) should have had a plan; it seemed they were poorly prepared. The people in Cliffwood Beach were left out in the dark, so to speak."

A resident of Aberdeen since 1991, Balavram was a volunteer police officer in Old Bridge for ten years and also volunteered with the Emergency Medical Services in both Old Bridge and Aberdeen.

Balavram also feels that local government needs to be more transparent and public comment should carry more weight in the decision making process.

"I would like to see that our meetings are held with some sunshine on them. It seems like a lot is decided behind closed doors. By the time you get to the public portion of the meeting, they've already made up their mind," Balavram said.

Harvey Brenner (D)

Harvey Brenner, an Aberdeen resident for 35 years, currently serves on the Aberdeen Zoning Board. He has thirty years experience in business management and budgeting and was previously a chairman of the board at Temple Bath Ahm.

"I've been a volunteer on the Zoning Board of 15 years, 12 as chairman," Brenner said via email. "I've also coached local sports as well as being on the board of my local synagoge. I believe I understand the community and its needs."

Brenner plans to control municipal spending and work forward with redevelopment projects that he believes will offset taxes for Aberdeen residents.

Brenner also advocates continuing to move forward with developing the train station and the Anchor Glass property with mixed use properties in order to create ratables for the town.

Gregory Cannon (D)

Greg Cannon, the only incumbent on the ballot, has served on the council for two years. He coaches the St. Clements boys basketball team and practices law at Bressler, Amery & Ross in Florham Park.

Cannon joined the council two years ago when another member resigned. Having grown up in Aberdeen, he had recently moved with his family back after becoming a lawyer. He wanted to give back to the community and decided that municipal government would be the best way to do that, he said.

"A lot of people I grew up with tried to move back to the area but were having trouble finding affordable housing," Cannon said. "The economy is really tough right now and people still need their vital services."

Cannon is proud of helping to run a lean government with few full time employees and said he has brought in grants from the county and federal level to complete projects. According to Cannon, municipal taxes only increased by eight dollars.

With three large redevelopment projects in Aberdeen - Anchor Glass, Church Street Senior Center and the Train Station - Cannon said it is important to coordinate the three in a way that will make sense economically.

Debra Delaney (R)

Debra Delaney, a Republican, has been a middle school teacher in Perth Amboy for ten years and also works as the site coordinator for the 21st Century After School Program. Locally, she is a member of the Parents of Special People and the PTO. A resident of Aberdeen for 27 years, Delaney has had three children go through the public school system here and during those years was an active participant in the PTO, Girl Scouts and the Boy Scouts.

Delaney said she decided to run for council because she believes federal funding for local projects, such as beach restoration, were neglected.

"Perth Amboy, South Amboy, Keyport and Union Beach have all transformed their worn out beach properties into attractive, safe places for families to spend the day. Cliffwood Beach is an eyesore - unsafe for swimming and continually washing across the street. The park is frequently under water, as is the street that serves as a major access to families who live there," Delaney said via email.

She also advocates improving parks and roads, creating affordable senior housing, generating community activities for teens and families and attracting businesses to increase tax revenue in Aberdeen. She said she feels the council spends more time studying new projects than completing them.

"I am running for Town Council because I'm tired of it. I'm tired of always paying more, but not getting more. If I were on the Council, I would vote against further tax hikes," she said.

Concetta "Connie" Kelley (D)

Connie Kelley is a member of the Aberdeen Planning Board and works as an adjunct professor at Brookdale Community College. She is the former mathematics department chair at Matawan Regional High School and currently tutors students and is the treasurer of Pop Warner football and cheerleading.  A resident of 28 years, Kelley now has two grandchildren in the school district and has coached the girls' track and cheerleading teams and was the student government advisor.

Kelley decided to run so she can help the council to continue funding projects in ways that do not burden tax payers.

"A lot of people who I thought were good are retiring (from the council) and so I decided it was my time to run," Kelley said. "The council has been doing infrastructure repairs and we need to keep doing that and we need to find creative ways to fund that."

Kelley also hopes to increase volunteerism for essential services such as the emergency medical service and the fire department.

Robert "Bob" Swindle (D)

Bob Swindle, who is currently the vice chairman of the Aberdeen Planning Board, has lived in Aberdeen for forty years and raised three children here with his wife. Swindle is involved with local churches as a past master at Masonic Temple and the past president of the men's ministry.

Swindle said he wants to focus on making sure Aberdeen continues to be an affordable place to live for families and find ways to streamline municipal services.

To do this, he plans to focus on the redevelopment of properties such as the Anchor Glass property in order to create ratables that would benefit tax payers. On a smaller scale, Swindle plans to work toward acquiring state funding to build sidewalks on Route 34 in order to make it more accessible to residents who are walking.

Augustine "Gus" Toomey, III (R)

Gus Toomey III previously served on the Aberdeen Township Council from 1996 to 2000 and works as the Manager Corporate Insurance / Risk for Agfa Corporation. He has lived in Aberdeen with his wife and children since 1996 and is currently working toward his MBA at Salve Regina College.

He has previously volunteered as a Little League coach, a youth soccer coach and as a past Grand Knight in the Knights of Columbus.

Toomey hopes to address property taxes, which he said have risen each year for the past ten years and a lack of recreational facilities for local children. He believes redevelopment of unused areas will benefit Aberdeen.

"We are the only town in Monmouth County without a sports complex with a parking lot, bathrooms, lights, snack stand playground and multiple fields, yet we are in the top three of highest taxes in Monmouth County," Toomey said via email.

He wants to see the Anchor Glass property developed as a small sports and entertainment arena with direct Garden State Parkway access and believes the events at night would pay for the facility in addition to providing jobs to local residents. 

Editor's note: Patch previously profiled the and the in Matawan.