Bridgewater General Election 2023: Dan Hayes

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Bridgewater's general election on Nov. 7 has two candidates running for Mayor and four other candidates running for seats on the Township Council.

Democrat Dan Hayes is running for Mayor against incumbent Republican Matthew Moench.

Additionally, there are four candidates running for two, three-year seats on the Township Council including Democrats Saad Toor and Marguerite Baranowski and Republican incumbents Timothy Ring and Michael Kirsh.

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

Dan Hayes

Age: 66

Town of residence: Bridgewater Township

Position sought: Mayor

Party affiliation: Democrat

Family: Wife, 3 Children

Education: M.B.A. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Rhode Island

Occupation: Retired, 30+ years accomplished business executive, 10+ years in education

Previous or current elected appointed office: I had the privilege to serve as Bridgewater Township Mayor for eight years. I also served as a councilman from 2010 to 2012 and prior to that, volunteered on numerous Township boards including the Planning Board, Economic Development Committee and Library Advisory Board. I served as the President of the Somerset County Governing Officials Association. I am also a graduate of Leadership Somerset, and I served on the executive committee of the Conference of Mayors. I am currently serving as Commissioner, Somerset County Parks, and Board Member of the Heritage Trail Association.

Campaign website: BestforBridgewater.org

Why are you seeking election as Mayor in Bridgewater?

I believe Bridgewater should be a place where all residents can see a bright future for themselves, their children, and grandchildren. My wife Diana and I have been proud to raise our three daughters in Bridgewater, a wonderful place to live, and we want that same experience for all residents, for generations to come. In my eight years as mayor, I worked to ensure Bridgewater would be a great place to live, leading Bridgewater through crises like Hurricane Sandy and bringing a philosophy of fiscal responsibility to our local government that led to economic growth, quality township programs, and well-managed tax levels. But in recent years, I have seen our positive trajectory derailed. I am running today because I can no longer sit on the sidelines.

Over the past four years, I have seen our taxes and debt skyrocket. I have seen our Township’s good standing squandered. Essential services such as permit support, plan review, snow plowing and housing support have degraded. Popular programs like the Farmer’s Market and Eco-Blast are no more. I have seen wasteful cronyism and opportunistic pursuit of warehouses and billboards. I have seen the current administration behave badly toward governing agencies, our school system and even our residents who speak out at town council meetings. And most troublingly of all, I have seen our residents grow more nervous about our future. I am running for Mayor so that our residents have a leader with integrity, competence, and the genuine desire to make Bridgewater quality of life a top priority – a leader capable of bringing us together.

Manufacturing buildings or warehouse applications are becoming more common in NJ. How do you feel about proposals to bring this type of development to Bridgewater Township? And how do you propose to limit it?

Warehouses and warehouses disguised as light manufacturing have been recently approved on sites that were once destined for much higher-value use. These decisions are deeply troubling, as they cost the residents financially, they do not fit the aesthetics of our town, and they are out of
sync with a vision of Bridgewater as a great place to live, work, and play.

If you ask me where warehouses should be located in Bridgewater, I say – nowhere!

Warehouses take large tracts of land, create unwanted truck traffic, provide few employment opportunities, and offer relatively low tax revenue. Bringing them to Bridgewater will cost residents millions in forgone property taxes and millions more in forfeited traffic improvement.

With our ideal location and high-income, highly-educated workforce and consumer base, Bridgewater is a community that can afford to be selective in which development opportunities we pursue. Our leadership has the responsibility to seek out only those opportunities that return maximum value for residents – and that is the standard I will bring us back to. I will return to the common-sense practices of economic development that characterized my administration in order to limit the proliferation of warehouses and billboards that threaten the quality of life of Bridgewater residents today.

During my administration, I dedicated time and resources to ensuring residents got the most from our commercial neighbors. This included frequent visits to businesses, one-on-one time with leadership to foster ongoing communication, and regular meetings of the Economic Development Committee, a group of resident and commercial volunteers that met monthly to exchange perspectives on attracting and retaining high-value business presence. My administration also employed an Economic Development Officer who worked as the staff liaison to the business community.

As a result, under my leadership Bridgewater successfully attracted employers in sectors spanning technology, leisure, dining and retail, bringing highly desirable businesses to grow in our township. These employers, including Nestle, Linde Gas, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Sunrise Assisted Living, Sanofi, and more, enhance the stability of the commercial tax base and the quality of life for Bridgwater residents.

A key difference between my administration and the current one is that I prioritize only those developments that will enhance residents’ quality of life. I also value preservation and open space as critical to making Bridgewater a great place to live for generations to come. This is why as mayor, I led the purchase of the 100-acre Camp Cromwell property, delivering Bridgewater premier recreation space.

In a dramatic reversal of course, Mr. Moench’s administration has taken a hostile approach to the business community, resulting in severe damage to our economy, while simultaneously pursuing warehouse and billboard development opportunities that are out of sync with what residents want. Mr. Moench’s firing of the Economic Development Officer, refusal to hold meetings of the Economic Advisory Board, and avoidance of communication with local businesses has directly led to Sanofi’s departure. Recently, the Fortune 500 employer announced that it is moving its entire Bridgewater operation to Morristown, vacating the campus on 55 Corporate Drive. This will leave 1 million square feet of class A office space empty, and relocate approximately 1,600 employees. The economic impact of losing one of the largest taxpayers in our Township will be felt for many years to come. Instead of working to preserve high-value jobs in healthcare and pharmaceuticals, Mr. Moench has allowed warehouses to take over.

I am running for Mayor so that our residents will once again have a leader who will make
Bridgewater quality of life a top priority.

Having trust and transparency in the township government and police department is important to residents. Do you feel the township is doing a good job of being transparent? How would you improve this?

Trust in government is one of the essential pillars of our democracy, and transparency is the foundation upon which trust is built. The current administration’s lack of transparency and its
failure to provide explanation or take accountability for its decisions has brought trust in our local government to new lows. This administration seems to prefer secrecy rather than open, honest and timely communication. Here are just a few examples:

• The Monument Billboard: The attempt to erect an eyesore of an electronic billboard in a rushed, sweetheart deal is concerning enough. Worse still, when faced with pressure, Mr. Moench has chosen to postpone the development application rather than withdrawing it completely, hiding from resident questions and petitions. Source Link, Source Link2
• The Mall Incident: Mr. Moench has still failed to release the Attorney General’s report of the incident, against the Attorney General’s own public urging. Source Link
• Failure to Comply with the State Comptroller’s Corrective Action Plan: State Comptroller Kevin D. Walsh states that Bridgewater is “failing in its most basic responsibilities: To act as a fiduciary of taxpayer funds and to be transparent about how these funds are used.” Source Link
• Mayor Moench’s failure to file campaign disclosures required by the Election Law Enforcement Commission for 2 years: For two years, campaign contribution amounts, the contributors, and how campaign money was handed out have been hidden from residents, in a flagrant violation of the public trust. Mr. Moench is a campaign lawyer himself. This is worse than oversight: this is unacceptable. Source Link
• Breakdown in communications with our Schools: For reasons seemingly more related to political power moves than students or parents, the current administration is unable to engage in a constructive dialogue with the school administration regarding child safety.
• Misplaced priorities or unethical hiring practices: In 2019 the budget for the Department Township Administrator was $195,000. It is now $593,000! Instead of seeking an engineer as required by law for Director of Municipal Services, Mr. Moench removed all education and license requirements for the six-figure position, clearing the way to hire his developer friend and campaign supporter. An outside engineer was hired at $120,000 annually to actually fill the job requirements, costing our Township twice as much as before.

Rebuilding trust will require commitment, and will require a leadership team with a genuine dedication to public service. This is why I am running today. If I am elected mayor, there will be no billboard on municipal property, and I will oppose any applications for billboards on commercial property appearing before our land use boards. As your mayor, I will ensure that the public sees the mall incident report in the interests of transparency and accountability. I will immediately require compliance with the Comptroller’s CAP. I will immediately pick up the phone and begin a dialogue with our school superintendent. And, I will put an end to unqualified and unneeded hires.

What other issues do you feel need to be tackled in the township?

In addition to addressing the items that are limiting public trust in government, there are three key areas where I hope to focus: first, curbing skyrocketing taxes and debt; second, adequately staffing to ensure timely delivery of resident services, and third, re-engaging residents in township government to make sure that leadership efforts are addressing resident needs in an ongoing way.

Today, taxes and debt are skyrocketing. Because of wasteful cronyism and poor fiscal controls, our Township was given a downgraded financial outlook by Standard & Poor’s. This means that our taxes will continue to rise if our leadership continues in the direction it’s going.

Today, township staffing is out of sync with residents’ needs. Instead, current staffing reflects the current administration’s personal campaign priorities. I absolutely do not agree with the current administration’s decision to lay off public works employees, who maintain our roads and sewers, while hiring a new and highly-compensated public relations department to run the township Facebook page and field resident phone calls. In my administration, calls were fielded either personally by me, or directly by the relevant department. Additionally, we need to examine our police staffing and ensure we are at the correct level to provide timely responses to our community needs. Once elected, I will review positions and budgets and ensure personnel have necessary qualifications and focus to deliver our residents the government we deserve.

Today, residents are disengaged from the municipal government. We need to reopen avenues of conversation that have been closed off. Important committees that have been deemphasized or no longer meet need to be re-energized. During my administration, the non-partisan staffing of these committees was essential to adding resident voice to township decisions, emergency preparedness, planning programs like the Farmer’s Market and Eco-blast, as well as purchasing open space and planning our parks.

These excesses of the current administration simply did not exist when I was Mayor. They cannot continue. I am committed to stabilizing our currently out-of-control fiscal situation, staffing appropriately and reestablishing our once vibrant resident committee system.

What sets you apart from the challenging candidates?

The contrast in candidates in this election could not be greater, and I encourage residents to compare our records as they select our next mayor. In my opinion, the comparison comes down to two questions: which candidate is better equipped to lead a town government you can be proud of? And, who would you prefer at the helm in a time of crisis? During my tenure as mayor, my only and constant priority was the welfare of our community and our residents. I am
a seasoned leader – a uniter, not a divider.

I see Bridgewater as an exemplary community with a bright future. Bridgewater is a large town with a special small-town community feel. Sustaining the balance of ongoing growth with community feel takes effort and seasoned leadership. It requires building open and honest relationships with residents, employees, the school administration, businesses, our neighboring townships, the county and state. My life experience, education and most importantly, my record demonstrate that I have the competence and integrity required. My approach to leadership has shown that I am dedicated to public service, not self-service. I am dedicated to an inclusive, unifying leadership style, relying on input: from committees, from conversations about town, at events, and through an open-door policy.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign?

My goal is to make Bridgewater a place where all residents see a bright future for ourselves and our children. I see Bridgewater as a community that sets the standard for our neighbors for generations to come. A community that appreciates, but is not stuck in its past.

My record demonstrates that I have the competence and integrity required to lead our township. To be an effective leader, regardless of party affiliation, any mayor must understand resident concerns, share ideas, face criticism, and move forward together. The current administration has not delivered on these imperatives. Bridgewater deserves better.

The Hayes, Toor and Baranowski ticket will always put resident concerns before politics, unlike the Moench administration. That means no ugly electronic billboards or unsightly warehouses.

No unqualified political hires. Support for our schools and families. And, we’ll take every action possible to restore our town’s good financial standing to ensure that your taxes don’t go up because of government waste and corruption.

I want Bridgewater to be a place where your kids and grandkids can find a job, afford a home, raise a family, and enjoy beautiful open space. The Moench administration threatens the progress we’ve made, but together, we can get Bridgewater back on track. Visit our website and follow bestforbridgewater on Facebook and Instagram.