Commission Candidate Forum April 14

All15 candidates in the May 12 City Commission election spoke a “Meet the Candidates” night. All of and were allotted three minutes to speak. at the American Legion building on Buck Street on Tuesday evening. They then met individually with the residents for about an hour. More than 100 residents, many of them members of Millville First, packed the Buck Street American Legion hall to hear each of the candidates give short presentations and then discuss the issues over coffee and cakes. As you can see in my photos, folks got to talk each other. This made up for the fact that each candidate had only 3 minutes to talk about what they would do or change about the direction of the city of Millville
The newcomers were Joe Sooy, Mike Wydra, Richard Marshall and Dave Ennis. They had never run before and I knew little about each. Mike Wydra and Richard Marshall were generic, though Mr. Marshall did express enthusiastic support for the UEZ. Joe Sooy complemented Millville First and questioned the RAD. He seems pretty smart but his opposition to the RAD bothers me. Pastor Dave Ennis spoke about the gang problems. Charles Flickinger is a current Board of Education member. He is a 4th generation Millvillian. He states that we all have opinions and he will listen to all opinon and understand the issues. Ian Roberts and Robert McQuade are running for a 2nd time for the City Commission. Mr. Roberts came off as a nice guy and Mr. McQuade listed his accomplishments. Bob Tesoroni and Emil Van Hook are the well-known Millville First candidates. Mr. Tesoroni gave his litney of grievances about the current Commission. He has some pretty patriotic cards(I am looking at one now)
and lawn signs. He opposes the RAD , UEZ, and the pedestrian bridge over the Maurice River.
Emil Van Hook did not look well. I hope he gets some rest.Mayor Quinn gave a rousing review of the accomplishments over the last 12 years. He remembers when the 100 block of High Street had one store open (Howell's Hardware) Commissioner Joe Derella spoke about stabilizing the tax base as head of revenue and finance. Tim Shannon spoke about the renovation of the riverfront and the creation of the NJ Motorsports Park. He spoke about the RAD and how it was awarded a "best practice" award by National Council of Development and Finance Agency. Commissioner Dave Vanaman states that there were not so many boarded up buildings on High Street. He states he opposed the idea of the racetrack and questioned the financing of the Union Lake Crossing. Dale Finch spent his wedding anniversary listing his past govt experience in Millville such as school board, 12 years in City Commission, and the Millville Housing Authority. Jim Hertig explained that he is a hard worker and noted his leadership in the Center City Neighborhood group.
You can listen for yourself on YouTube. I made every effort to include all candidates whether I support them or not. You can hear them but excuse the poor lighting.
I notice that no representative of TrackRacket was present. Ms. Post was not there to ask questions one-one with the candidates even though several brought up the racetrack noise as a viable political issue. Don Farabach was there last night at the forum. I met R. Owens who writes a blog called eCache that is quite good. He also lives in Millville and reads this blog as well.
I am going to respond on the DJ Forums where as of 8:15 am this morning April 15th, insults and nasty comments have started. My motto " I read the DJ Forums so you don't have to!" I feel like I am spelunking in a deep dark cave or cesspool.
Well got to file my taxes, See the new eye Dr and other errands. Lots of news that I have not even covered yet such as the school board election and the highway protest.