Election 2023: Barnegat Township Committee Candidate Charles Cunliffe

BARNEGAT, NJ — Election Day is nearing, and Barnegat voters will head to the polls to cast their votes for two Township Committee seats.

Patch sent questionnaires to all candidates seeking their responses. Here is the response from Democratic candidate Charles Cunliffe.

Editor's Note: Patch sent out emails to all candidates to the email addresses listed for their campaign provided to the office of the clerk. The responses received will be published between now and the Nov. 7 general election. These responses will be published edited only for style. Candidates who would like to participate but did not receive one (for whatever reason) can contact veronica.flesher@patch.com.

Charles J Cunliffe. I am 70 years old. I have been married for 45 years. I have 5 children and 8 Grandchildren.

I have a BA in English and Communications and training in HVACR technology.

I am an HVACR application engineer for the MicroThermo division of Parker. I have employed there for the last 32 years.

I am running for Township Committee in Barnegat for the same reasons for which I have previously served.

I am concerned about quality of life issues and overdevelopment. I am running with my colleague Ron Naples on the Democratic line. I am fiscally conservative and socially moderate.

I have served previously in Lakewood Township for 12 years. I was elected to 4 terms on the Committee and also served as Mayor.

I served on the Planning Board, Environmental Commission, Traffic and Safety Commission, and Community School Board.

I also served as liaison to the Police Department for 8 years.

There are 2 issues of of great concern to me. The Municipal Budget and the status of our EMS response.

The Budget has increased $7.4Million over the last 5 years...$3Million this year alone. Municipal Budget increases of this magnitude are unsustainable.

Our EMS service has been outsourced to a private Ambulance company. We hear major concerns from Barnegat residents, especially those west of the Parkway.

Barnegat residents are concerned about response times that average 20 minutes and have been as long as 45 minutes. This is a life-safety issue which much be urgently addressed.

My colleague Ron and I hope to bring these issues, and others, to the fore and insist that they be addressed by the Committee with practical and sensible solutions.

I would like the voters to know that I will bring both passion and commitment to service if elected.

My colleague Ron and I would be a formidable team on the Township Committee, dedicated to serving ALL the people; in every neighborhood of Barnegat.