Meet The Second Ward Candidates

Note: The political campaigning is coming down to the wire for tomorrow's Bloomfield township council primary election. There are two contested races for the Democratic seat in the Second and Third Ward, between incumbents Nicholas Joanow and Robert Ruane and challengers Paul Halligan and Carlos Bernard.

The Republican primary races are uncontested as well as the Democratic election in the First Ward to fill the seat of Councilwoman Janice Maly. All the candidates are running for a three-year term on the township council with a $7,000 annual salary. Election polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

Below are short profiles of the Second Ward candidates:

Democrats

Nicholas Joanow:  65 years-old, retired guidance counselor for the East Orange school district, incumbent

Top three goals if re-elected:

1. Stabilizing taxation.

2. Improving quality of life in the Second Ward, such as traffic and zoning enforcement.

3. Improving and increasing revenues within the township. 

Why should people vote for you?

"I have been contributing to this township for seven and a half years. I'm a retired guidance counselor and, as such, performing my duties as a council person on a full-time basis. As councilman for the Second Ward, I assume my duties on a full-time basis. I'm a retired educator who will be accessible to the constituents on a full-time basis, available and accessible. (I've spent) ten years of service, seven and a half years in the community and two and a half years on the council." 

Campaign Website: www.nickjoanow.org


Paul Halligan: 44 years-old, attorney and Newark's public defender, first time running for office

Top three goals if elected:

1. Control taxes, keep taxes from rising.

 
2. To be accessible to the community and I plan to do that by holding quarterly meetings, "Councilman on your Corner," and distribute annual report cards to Second Ward residents showing what I have accomplished and not accomplished for feedback from residents.

3. Accountability, which is basically be accountable for what I've done. I'm not going to just say I vote against spending or tax increases. I'll be accountable to voters by distributing annual report cards and "Councilman on your Corner" meetings. 

Why should people vote for you?

"People should vote for me because I'm going to vote against tax increase. That's the bottom line ... I'm experienced administrator, chief public defender of Newark. I manage 15 attorneys and five support staff and a budget of approximately $1 million. I'm used to dealing with making people accountable for what they do, myself included. I'm used to managing a budget and making do with less because Newark has suffered like every other municipality with a shortage of resources. Basically, I can make tough choices, whereas Mr. Joanow doesn't make tough choices. He wants to be liked by everybody. He's a nice guy but he's not willing to make tough choices." 

Campaign Website: www.halliganforbloomfield.com

Sharon Soon: 28 years-old, senior associate in the independent group of risk management for KPMG LLP, second time running for office 

Top three goals if elected:

1. Bring some kind of unity and harmony back into Township Council. 

2. Lower property taxes, if at all possible and make our property tax rate more comparable to neighboring towns and neighboring counties because we have one of the highest property tax rates in Essex County. In order to prevent people from moving out of town, we have to be more competitive in that area. 

3. It's really important to redevelop the downtown center. Everyone who has been in Bloomfield more than several years knows we once had a thriving downtown center that helped bring in tax revenue to the township. Bloomfield's image has suffered greatly because of the crime in our downtown center. As far as people outside Bloomfield view this town as a place to live and work, but not to spend money in. I hope that we can build up our downtown and if we can market Bloomfield the right way and promote all the potential that we have properly. 

Why should people vote for you?

"I’ve heard a lot from people that they will vote for me because I'm hard-working or I'm a fresh face or unique face. As much as I appreciate that support, the most important thing I would like people to take away from speaking to me or getting to know me (is) I'm going to act in the best interest of Bloomfield's residents and going to do what I believe is the right thing for the town because I'm going to always keep an open ear to everybody who lives in Bloomfield and do my best to represent them and be their voice. That's more important than someone who is going to be hardworking, or I am a young or new face to town."

Campaign Website: twitter.com/sharonsoon