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Laurel for Council 2002
106 North Sixth Avenue, Highland Park, NJ 08904
Phone: (732) 985-6878
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On this page, I have included issues which I believe are of vital interest to the community members. I welcome you to contact me regarding your thoughts on these and any other issues that are important to you. I also encourage you to research these and other issues facing our community and our nation. |
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Important issues for my campaign:
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Open Space
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I support the creation of an open space plan to designate all properties the borough owns or could potentially purchase as open space. I want to work at obtaining grant money for the county to purchase the Buck Woods (on South Sixth Avenue) and then rezone the property permanently for conservation. To further protect our land, I favor revisiting our zoning ordinances and Master Plan to make them more environmentally friendly. I would like to see our other tracts of open land such as Red's Marina, the South Sixth Avenue landfill, and the borough-owned portion of the Rutgers Ecological Preserve rezoned for conservation. I also support the enactment of a stream corridor protection ordinance, which would provide protection to many environmentally sensitive parcels of land in the borough, possibly including Buck Woods. More than half a year after the Planning Board turned down the Buck Woods application for 22 homes, the borough has still not taken any steps to permanently protect this land. We must take advantage of the current window of opportunity to enact protective ordinances before another environmentally harmful site plan is submitted. Additionally, we need to get going on building the Environmental Education Center by going back to the architect and getting specs for a building of $350,000. We can always add onto this building later. The building of this Center should be a priority with the goal of providing hands on environmental education--including programs in meterology and astronomy--for all borough populations. The Environmental Commission is currently doing a biosurvey of the area below the South Sixth Avenue landfill to study the potential for restoration of this area to its natural state. Such restoration should take place as a follow up to this study, not only for this area, but also for the riverfront throughout Highland Park. The borough should use money it already has in trail grants to create a greenway, or network of trails, from Johnson through Donaldson Park. Native species of trees and plants could be tagged along the trail--as they are now at the Native Plant Reserve--to provide residents with a genuine appreciation of the natural treasures we have in the borough. |
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Affordability
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We need a constant, concerted effort to keep tax increases as minimal as possible while maintaining a high level of services. This can be done through shared service programs with the county and other municipalities, more vigorous searches for grant money, and active lobbying in Trenton for a restoration of our pre-Whitman state aid. We should join with other municipalities to form a joint lobbying effort in this regard. We should also join with the Highland Park Board of Education in seeking a restoration of pre-Whitman levels of state aid to our schools and to the borough, in lobbying for alternative means of funding public schools, and in opposing undue expenses imposed by the state such as charter schools. All potential tax increases should be considered in light of the 60% of our residents who live in apartments, many of whom are on fixed incomes. No one should be forced out of town because of exorbitant tax rates or ridiculously high rents occurring as a result of property tax increases. It is the responsibility of the Governing Body to enact budgets that are as fiscally responsible as possible and that avoid excessive spending and tax increases that are not absolutely necessary. For the year 2001, the borough has a $2.2 million surplus, and there should therefore be no need for any tax increase at all. The budget presented by the Council has room for cuts in the following areas: a)$350,000 is budgeted for a new fire engine which we do not need since the state of NJ has deemed our fire equipment already sufficient; b)$100,000 is budgeted for computer networking of Borough Hall when this can be accomplished for only $20,000; c) funding for the Police Department is increased by $250,000 when the cost of salary increases and new hirings should realistically total no more than $110,000. |
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Disabilities Access
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All public buildings and borough sidewalks must be made accessible for people with disabilities, including the proper curb cuts and ramps. We need this town to become ADA compliant and completely accessible. A foremost priority is building a wheelchair ramp in the front of Borough Hall. |
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Diversity Education
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The Governing Body should promote improved race relations and foster diversity education through community dialogues and forums, town meetings, study circles, celebrations of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and regular meetings between the Borough Council and various minority groups at which grievances can be aired. We should also hold events commemorating African-American History Month, Women's History Month, Disabilities Awareness Month, etc. Last year's forum on hate crimes was a good beginning of such dialogue. We also need to address whether racial profiling is occurring in town and how to address the issue if it is occurring. There should be sensitivity training for all public employees and law enforcement officials and for all interested citizens. |
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Inclusion
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As a public official, I will wholeheartedly oppose any cliques, factions, or groups that seek to exclude people who do not conform to a specific demographic profile. Anyone who wants to work as a volunteer for the borough or for the Democratic Party will be welcomed and encouraged to participate to the fullest extent possible. No one should ever be ostracized or excluded based on race, income level, employment, presence of disability, marital status, presence or absence of children in the household, use or nonuse of public schools, religion, lifestyle, gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, political viewpoints, party affiliation, or any other distinguishing characteristics. I will work to assure that active participation in borough activities through boards and commissions is available to all interested residents and that active participation in the municipal Democratic Party is open to all Democrats regardless of their political allegiances. I will vigorously fight any attempts to divide the community in any way. As for the Democratic Party, I welcome diversity of opinions and a multiplicity of party "wings," as long as participation is open to all who are interested and debate is conducted in a respectful and civil manner. |
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Community Building
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Highland Park already has a high degree of community-building events such as the Street Fair, July 4th Celebration, Farmers' Market, and Townwide Garage Sale. I favor expanding the opportunities to bring our diverse populations together through adding an annual First Night New Year's Eve celebration, an ethnic food festival, a community play every two to three years, an annual photography contest, an annual children's puppet show, promotion of local artists through concerts and exhibits, a literary magazine by borough writers, a monthly borough newsletter, a performing group to produce shows and workshops for our cable TV station, a townwide Earth Day cleanup, and establishment of an official borough Website and email list. I would also like the Environmental Education Center to become a central focus for nature studies, workshops, and presentations dealing with various environmental topics. These would be available for residents of all ages and possibly for outside groups as well. We also need to create additional activities for teenagers, if possible through the establishment of a Teen Center within the Senior/Youth Center building or in one of the schools. Teens should have a regular place where they can "hang out," and spend time with their friends, a place equipped with computers, TV and VCR, and board and video games. Such a Center could work in conjunction with the Board of Education to provide counseling, referrals, teen support groups, and smoking cessation courses. |
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