Karen Gaffney for Hillsborough Township Committee (NJ)

Background:

I am an Assistant Professor of English at Raritan Valley Community College in central NJ. I received my PhD in English from the University of Delaware and my BA from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. I am 34 years old and married. I live in Hillsborough, NJ, where I grew up.

Goals:

After going away to college and graduate school, I got a job at RVCC and moved back to Hillsborough, the town in which I grew up. I attended public school here, all the way from kindergarten to high school. I care about this town and feel very attached to it, but the more time I spend here, the more I realize that it is not managed very responsibly. I am concerned that the unsound decisions made now will have a serious negative impact on this town for years to come. I want to help change that by creating a more accountable, responsible government. A lot of people are not aware of these problems because they are not encouraged to get involved. We need to break the cycle of public apathy and instill a greater sense of community identity that will encourage more people to get involved and invest in this town's future.

Issues:

1) Creating greater transparency and accountability in the decision making process. For example, a trans-load facility is being developed at the northern end of town on a VA site. This facility will allow containers from incoming trains to be transferred onto trucks, which would then drive them to their destination. The Township Committee signed a thirty-year agreement with the company running this operation that provides our town with only $300,000 per year in revenue when that land may be worth at least $1.5 million in taxes a year, if not significantly more. Despite the land being federally owned, the use of this property is now private and could be taxed. There should have been much greater accountability in the town's decision to make this agreement. Furthermore, the trucks will add to the existing traffic and pollution problems, so why haven't traffic studies and environmental impact reports been demanded?

2) Maintaining open space. When I grew up in Hillsborough in the 1970s and 80s, this town had vast stretches of farmland. But considering our size and location (we are a 54-square mile township in central NJ), our town was ripe for development. During the late 1980s and 90s, development spread uncontrollably. We must keep development in check and maintain open space. Future development must exist within a responsible master plan. And developers must be held accountable for contributing to the town's appropriate funds.

3) Creating a pedestrian-friendly, community-oriented Town Center. While the development of farmlands and other open space should be limited, redevelopment of some existing commercial areas is needed. Despite the fact that we have a township of almost 40,000 people, we essentially have no town center, no main street. The intersection that one would point to as the center of town includes a series of strip malls. I support and want to help implement the existing plan for a pedestrian-friendly Town Center that would encourage a greater sense of community.

Grassroots Support:

We are already going door to door talking about our campaign, and the more we talk to people, the clearer it is that people want more accountability in local government. We are also working with members of our Democratic organization to go door to door with them in their neighborhood.

DFA Values:

In terms of being socially progressive, I think the people of the town need to be better informed about what's going on and encouraged to participate more in the decision making process. We need to make sure that people who have a concern also have a voice. At school, I advise the Social Justice Club, which focuses on raising awareness and fostering discussion about a variety of current social and political issues, whether it is through film screenings, guest speakers, or other events. In terms of being fiscally responsible, we must figure out ways to cut spending and control taxes. The current Township Committee believes that much of the spending is "fixed costs" that are "beyond our control." We need to investigate those costs and determine which ones are and which ones are not actually "beyond our control." Furthermore, if we received more revenue from rateables and from facilities like the trans-load, the burden of taxes would not rest so heavily on the residents.