Bernards Committee Election 2021: Andrew McNally

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Bernards Township's general election on Nov. 2 has four candidates running for two open seats on the Township Committee.

Incumbent Andrew McNally is one of two Republican candidates running for re-election. The other candidates include:

• Jennifer Asay - Republican
• Jessica Simpson-Cook - Democrat
• Sophia Chadda - Democrat

All of the candidates are running for the two, three-year seats on the township committee.

Are you running for office in Basking Ridge? Contact Alexis Tarrazi at alexis.tarrazi@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Basking Ridge Patch.

Andrew McNally

Name: Andrew McNally

Age: 43

Town of residence: Bernards Township

Position sought: Bernards Township Committee

Party affiliation: Republican

Family:

• Keri McNally – spouse. Married since 2011.
• Hannah McNally – daughter, age 7
• Alexander McNally – son, age 5

Education:

• Boston College (2000), B.A. Economics
• Seton Hall Law School (2005), J.D., magna cum laude

Occupation: I have been a licensed attorney for 15 years. After graduating from law school, I worked as a litigator at two prestigious law firms in northern New Jersey. In 2013, I joined the administration of then-Governor Chris Christie, where I served until 2018. During my time in government, I served as Senior Deputy Chief Counsel to the Governor and Chief Counsel to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. Since leaving state government service, I continued to leverage and grow my public utilities experience by serving as a regulatory attorney for an electric utility. Today, I am the Government Affairs Director for a natural gas utility company.

Campaign website: asaymcnally.com, facebook.com/ForBernardsForYou

Previous or current elected appointed office:

• Township Committeeperson, Bernards Township (2021-Present)
• Planning Board Member, Bernards Township (2018-Present)
• Township Liaison, Bernards Township Library Board of Trustees (2021-Present)
• Township Liaison, Basking Ridge Fire Company No. 1 (2021-Present)
• Member, Bernards Township Sewerage Authority (2021-Present)
• Member, Somerset County Solid Waste Advisory Council (2021-Present)
• Trustee, Raritan Valley Community College Board of Trustees, (2018-2021)
• Member, New Jersey Clean Air Council (2018-2021)
• Trustee, Garden State Preservation Trust (2018-2020)
• Member, Bernards Township Republican Municipal Committee (2021-Present)
• Member, Environmental Commission (2018)

Why are you seeking to run for township committee? Our goal is to ensure that we continue to put our residents first and keep Bernards Township the strong, safe, and welcoming community that we have all chosen to call home. We intend to keep Bernards debt-free and we strongly oppose overdevelopment. Protecting and preserving our quality of life and continuing Bernards’ history of good governance is central to our philosophy and core principles.

What issues do you feel must be tackled in town? Overdevelopment has the potential to seriously affect our quality of life and have serious adverse impacts on schools, traffic, emergency services and finances. In our view, the courts should not be deciding how our local zoning works. The solution lies in Trenton with the State Assembly, the State Senate and the Governor’s Office. This will require working collaboratively on a bipartisan basis with local and state officials to find sensible solutions on affordable housing. My prior service and experience in State government will be helpful in this regard.

In addition, we are committed to prudent fiscally conservative government and keeping our town 100 percent debt free. Our governing philosophy is careful spending and following a "pay-as-you-go" approach to expenditures. We are also committed to exploring ways to efficiently reduce government spending without sacrificing the high quality of municipal services our residents have come to expect and are entitled to.

Jennifer Asay and I are running as a team. It is noteworthy that Jennifer and I have a long history of community service and are currently actively involved with various boards and commissions serving the public. We are fiscal conservatives devoted to promoting efficient, responsive, transparent and community-focused government. We are committed to keeping Bernards Township the safe and welcoming community our residents have chosen to call home. We believe all of our residents deserve to be treated equally with respect and dignity. We want all residents and our families to have the same positive experiences we have had living in and raising our families in Bernards Township. Our campaign motto "For Bernards, for You" epitomizes our governing principles.

What sets you apart from the challenging candidates? Jennifer and I are the best-qualified candidates to ensure that Bernards remains rated as one of the safest and "Best Places to Live" in New Jersey. Our combined experience and expertise will enable us to continue and improve upon Bernards’ efficient, responsive, transparent, and community-focused government. Our actions and our words demonstrate that we have the leadership experience and actual expertise to continue Bernard’s efficient, responsive, transparent and community-focused government.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign? I will continue to support policies that have guided the Township to where it is today, including: keeping the municipal tax levy as low as possible, remaining 100 percent debt-free, working with law enforcement and first responders to keep our community as one of the safest in New Jersey, supporting substance abuse prevention and mental health services, fighting overdevelopment, and working collaboratively with local and state officials to find sensible solutions on affordable housing. In addition, I will continue to promote volunteerism as a means to engage residents to make our town a better place to live, and to ensure that our local government remains limited, efficient, responsive, compassionate, and community-focused.

One of the many great things about Bernards is the high level of engagement by many of our citizens. Their service is a testament to their commitment to the community and its improvement. For example, volunteers have undertaken many laudable and successful initiatives to help our community, including our senior citizens and businesses, cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. There are numerous ways for residents to initiate, sponsor, or otherwise support a variety of community service-related activities. We will encourage all residents to become engaged and we will support opportunities for engagement. Similarly, we will continue to recognize those who have dedicated their time and resources as volunteers to make our town the great place that it is.

Community engagement and transparency go hand in hand. We believe that openness, accountability and honesty define transparency in government. We will encourage our residents to follow the issues, attend public meetings, and become engaged. We will listen to our residents and their concerns with an open mind, encourage honest and candid discussion and respond to questions, to the best of our ability. In particular, we will ensure that proposed municipal budgets are published well in advance with ample opportunity for review and discussion by the public prior to any approval. We fully understand and appreciate that such transparency is the hallmark of good government.

As a lawyer, I worked for many years counseling a variety of clients, finding practical and efficient solutions to the problems confronting them. Through this experience, I learned how to anticipate potential roadblocks and account for them in developing solutions. I intend to apply the skills I acquired as a lawyer to address the needs of our residents. I am also well-versed in how government works, owing to my time working in key positions of State government. Among other things, my work in government taught me how to build consensus, and how to execute on actions that improve the lives of residents. Closer to home, my work on the Planning Board in particular has afforded me key insights into the challenges and opportunities facing our town.

Having held positions of great trust and responsibility before, both inside and outside of government, I understand what service on the Township Committee entails. It involves hard work, more listening than talking, and responsiveness to the needs of residents. I intend to approach the position with humility, respect for others, and with enthusiasm for serving the public good.

We stand for government that is transparent and makes sense. We will keep Bernards debt-free and maintain its excellent credit rating. We will support prudent expenditures to maintain and improve our parks and infrastructure. We will continue to support our local police and first responders who do such an excellent job of keeping us safe. We will oppose overdevelopment that threatens the quality-of-life Bernards enjoys, while maintaining the Township’s long-standing, business-friendly environment. In addition, we will support volunteerism and community programs that enrich our Township’s residents.

Please vote for Jennifer Asay and Andrew McNally for Bernards Township Committee.