Bridgewater Primary Election 2023: Saad Toor

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Bridgewater's primary election on June 6 has two candidates running for Mayor and four candidates running for two open seats on the Township Council.

Saad Toor is one of three Democratic candidates running in the uncontested primary. Toor is running for Mayor along with Marguerite Baranowski and Gigi Ksalak who are running for Council.

Additionally, there are three incumbent Republican candidates Matthew Moench who is running for re-election as Mayor along with Michael Kirsh and Timothy Ring who are running for council in the uncontested primary.

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.

Saad Toor

Age: 31

Town of residence: Bridgewater Township

Position sought: Mayor of Bridgewater

Party affiliation: Democrat

Family: Single

Education:

• UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences* / Neag School of Education**
B.A. Political Science, Concentration: International Relations, Minors: History / Middle Eastern Studies*

M.A. Education: Curriculum and Instruction**

• OXFORD UNIVERSITY (England, United Kingdom)

St. Antony’s College / Oxford School of Global and Area Studies***
M.Sc. Modern South Asian Studies, Concentration: International Relations, History, and Politics***

Linguistics: Fluent in English, Urdu / Hindi, and Punjabi

Occupation:

TEACHER / COACH / FORM DEAN: The Pingry School*, Basking Ridge, NJ
PROFESSOR OF GLOBAL STUDIES: Sacred Heart University**, Fairfield, CT
Former Instructor for Stanford University (BING) and Lecturer for University of Connecticut (OLLI)
*UPPER SCHOOL
**DEPT OF GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Previous or current elected appointed office: None. Note: Legislative Intern at CT General Assembly for President of CT State Senate, D. Williams

Campaign website: Coming soon!

Why are you seeking election as Mayor?

Prior to becoming a mayoral candidate in Bridgewater this year, I ran for Township Council in 2021. I was actively engaged and involved in canvassing, campaigning, and learning about the needs of the community. Our residents expressed concerns with respect to infrastructure, the environment, safety, amongst other local issues. I saw that many residents did not feel Bridgewater municipal elected leaders were truly representing them. I also saw clearly the way in which the Mayor fills seats on critical boards and committees. He hand-picks people predominantly from one political party, some of whom are his social media mouthpieces, who at times, project and promote toxic rhetoric.

Enough is Enough! Bridgewater deserves better than a Mayor who rarely gives voice to residents outside his political party. If elected, I will seek to bring balance and bipartisan cooperation to the municipal government which will cultivate a healthy discourse for the future of our township.

Balancing the township budget becomes more difficult each year with inflation and the loss of revenue since COVID. How do you plan to address this?

Proposing a balanced budget that responsibly meets the requirements of our residents with the lowest possible tax burden is one of the primary and most challenging functions of the Mayor. This Mayor, who proposes the budget, and the Council, who ultimately adopts the budget, have failed in their responsibilities to Bridgewater residents in favor of unqualified patronage hires, replacing dedicated personnel with contracted cronies, and in general, pursuing costly policies of self-promotion and self-interest. We are all impacted by the empty and underutilized buildings throughout the Township. With our commercial tax base shrinking, it shifts more burden onto residents. The loss of high value employers further reduces our long-term commitment to preserving Bridgewater’s quality.

The Mayor believes you are fooled by a "flat tax rate," when many of us know we are paying more each year. With his current approach to governance, our taxes are going to continue to go up to cover unprecedented increases in our current debt, in our forecasted debt, and the additional salaries supporting the Mayor’s political hires. There are many red flags in the 2023 Introduced Budget. For example, an Administrator’s budget of $547,000 when it was $195,406 in 2019. Most of that increase is derived from the Office of Constituent Relations, an absolutely unnecessary expense, especially for a municipality of our size, created by the current Mayor and filled with partisan cronies. As Bridgewater’s new Mayor, I will find the most qualified Township Administrator to replace the one-term congressman who is now campaigning for a state senate seat. This is a political appointment that does not serve Bridgewater.

I will work hard to replace corporations that have made the decision to leave Bridgewater during this administration's tenure. My vision is to create projects that will positively impact Bridgewater’s future while bringing more revenue to the Township. I will not sacrifice our safety, beautiful landscape, and character of Bridgewater. Bridgewater deserves more than long term contracts for monstrous and distracting electronic billboards, with dubious origins, little to do with our township’s character and ridiculously low long-term tax benefits to the community.

Having trust and transparency in the township government is important to residents. How has the township improved on this or how would you improve this?

Both trust and transparency in our local government and policing collapsed within our community after the February 2022 Bridgewater Commons Mall incident made it to the national press. This was a bad look for our Township, as it questioned whether the two officers on our force legitimately lacked the training and professional development that they needed to be fully supported in handling the challenges that come in this line of work. I admire our law enforcement for putting their lives on the line, as first responders, however, the responsibility of this duty and its complexities must be continuously supported by us with up-to-date training for our officers.

I witnessed the protests that took place at the Bridgewater Municipal Complex after the Mall Incident and I understood the gravity of the divide within our Township when I drove past a banner with hateful language hung along Route 22. I felt compelled to express what I was thinking during that time and I encourage you to read my words here.

The current Mayor is failing every resident by his refusal to release the Attorney General’s report. This report, blocked by the Mayor, is an obstacle that must be addressed in the context of re-establishing trust and transparency. This is not a blind spot, rather, it is an overt action that is inhibiting the much-needed recovery that our community seeks to move forward. Programs like SHIELD may be a step in the right direction, however, it falls short of providing healing to a community traumatized by the Mall Incident which the Mayor continues to evade addressing.

As Mayor, I will be committed to holding several town hall-style meetings to speak to the residents and hear concerns. Finally, I would make it easy for people to know what I and the Council Members are discussing by posting recordings of all meetings on the home page of the website.

How do you feel about the current state of the township's parks and playgrounds, such as KidStreet? Is there anything you would like to improve and how would you propose doing that?

The vast range of parks we have serve so many of our residents. When I resided in the Finderne section of our township, I witnessed first-hand the disrepair, lack of maintenance, and a rundown Police substation at the Harry Ally Memorial Park. In 2021, our parks maintenance budget was slashed by 17 percent from the prior year. Today, the budget is 30 percent lower than before the Mayor was elected. I now reside in the Green Knoll area where I can see the unique architecture of Kid Street is at risk of deteriorating, the lumber is in desperate need of repair and refinishing. If elected, I will find ways to ensure our parks and recreation budgets protect our investments, are brought in alignment with our needs, and are kept in great shape across the township while placing an emphasis on the safety of our residents.

How do you feel about the current status of township roadways and the current road improvement plan?

I feel the same way I did when I wrote about this two years ago. Roads in New Jersey are difficult to maintain as a result of both our harsh winters and the volume of traffic. The current administration has demonstrated short sightedness when it comes to road maintenance via laying off several employees from Public Works and outsourcing snow removal. They have fancy graphics to promote their plans, but in reality, they have been far too slow in repaving and repairing Bridgewater streets. There are still too many streets that are crumbling and full of potholes, and the temporary pothole-filling material doesn’t hold up. On top of that, our debt continues to balloon to fund road projects, exemplified by yet another $8 Mil loan approved for paving in February. Let me remind you that in his Oct. 2019 Bridgewater Patch Candidate Statement, the Mayor wrote that he wants a road plan that does not rely upon debt as the main source of funding.

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

We need smart development and redevelopment that includes filling empty warehouse space, office space, and retail space in the Mall. We need to recognize that a large portion of our tax revenue is derived from Bridgewater’s small businesses. We need to ensure their health. We also need to attract new corporate partners to improve our tax base.

What sets you apart from the challenging candidates?

For one, I will only be working for the people of Bridgewater, not for my own political interests and aspirations.

I will inspire a larger and more diverse group of people to be involved in local government from both political parties.

I would treat every individual, no matter what their political affiliation is, with respect and I would never lash out at residents after they spoke at a council meeting.

Unlike the current Mayor, I would not interfere with our school districts' affairs by inserting partisan politics into Board of Education elections or by hijacking the School Superintendent’s responsibilities concerning school safety and security. It is inappropriate to use graphics and Township Facebook posts created by the tax-payer-funded Office of Constituent Relations to showcase the Mayor’s overreach regarding school security. It was appalling and abhorrent to see the Mayor use a mailed public notice about our sewer bills last summer that included his attack on the school district’s security plans to advance his personal agenda.

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

I sought to get involved locally, beyond being a registered voter. Being a teacher of American History, I understand that democracy requires active civic engagement that exceeds just participating in elections by voting. Our campaign endeavors to encourage all residents to understand the issues and become involved in the democratic process. I hope to see our residents engage in discussions with family and friends as a means of making more than your one vote count in this November’s important local election for Bridgewater’s future.