Take Five: Chatham Council Candidate Stacey Ewald

CHATHAM, NJ - There are seats opening up on the Chatham Township governing body and Patch caught up with the candidates ahead of the general election this November.

Questionnaires were sent out out to all candidates registered with the County Clerk's Office in the 2019 general election using the email addresses they went on file with. The responses will be posted on the site by those who submitted in the order in which they were received. They will also be included in an election preview wrap.

This Take Five features Stacey Ewald. Her responses to the questions are below and unedited.

1. Why are you running for office?

We need to end the partisan dysfunction and start planning for our future. We need moderate voices who will listen to ALL residents and look out for the best interests of everyone in the community, not just a small group who are politically connected. We face some very big decisions in dealing with affordable housing, deteriorating facilities and contracting ratables. I have the experience, professionally, to help effectively manage these challenges and I have a successful track record of leading community organizations for the benefit of the Township.

2. What is the biggest challenge you see facing your community and how will you address it?

The main challenge I hear from residents is overdevelopment. They’re concerned about the impact of the 100 units of affordable housing coming to Chatham Township in the next couple of years, the 53 townhomes at Dixiedale, and the Borough’s plans for redevelopment on River Road and at Post Office Plaza. Many also take issue with unchecked development that has reduced our tree population, changed the character of our community and, in some cases, created flooding problems.

Our other big challenge is an anticipated increase in taxes due to the lack of strategic and financial planning around several known matters. These include an estimated $3mm to $4mm in upcoming affordable housing costs, a large balloon interest payment that’s coming due, and several million to fix deteriorating facilities and to comply with State requirements for our police station. To date, the Township Committee has been the beneficiary of a windfall surplus from the knock-downs and rebuilds in our town. That cushion is diminishing as ratables and the related tax revenue are contracting, and we’ve lost non-recurring revenues like the temporary cell tower rental income.

In addressing development, we need to find a good balance to ensure we maintain our beautiful community and protect homeowners while allowing residents to build their homes to suit their needs. It’s important we update the Master Plan, we take developers and the utilities to task for replanting lost trees in a suitable location and we evaluate the adequacy of our infrastructure. On affordable housing, the deal for the 24 skate park units and another 74 municipally sponsored units has been agreed to by Fair Share Housing, by last year’s Township Committee and by the courts. We cannot relitigate the court settlement without incurring significant expense and subjecting the Township to large scale development by exposing us to builder’s remedy.

Regarding the financials, as a former auditor, I am stunned at the lack of planning for these challenges. I would work closely with the Committee and the Administrator to create a financial plan, to cost out infrastructure and facility repairs, to run comparative analytics on affordable housing sites and to look for opportunities for shared services. I’m in agreement with Township Committee members, on both sides of the aisle, that limiting the developer fee to new construction and knock downs/rebuilds is a viable option for relieving the burden of affordable housing costs on residents.

3. What makes you the right person to vote for as opposed to the other candidate(s)?

I have lived and worked in the Township for 22 years raising my family and volunteering for the benefit of our community. I was a past president at Southern Blvd PTO and the Chatham Education Foundation. I volunteer for both the Municipal Alliance Committee of the Chathams and the Madison-Chatham Coalition and, over the years, have brought many character education programs to our community. My opponents do not have a history of working to better our community.

I am a former Senior Audit Manager for a fortune 100 financial-services firm and served as a Chief Administrative Officer for a 200+ person Internal Audit Department. My audit, management and CAO experience has been an asset in my volunteer work in the community and it will help us get on the best fiscal path going forward. My opponents both have a legal background and they have strong opinions about affordable housing but, other than election season, they have been largely absent from Township business.

Like many, I am tired of the dysfunction caused by hyper-partisan politics. I am supported across party lines and have worked successfully for years with residents who have differing, strong opinions, I value the input of ALL our residents because I know it will result in the best outcome.

4. What will you do to facilitate communication with the community?

I am a big believer in providing information in a user-friendly way and in getting input from community members. I would be happy to have open office hours and I’m a supporter of digitizing open public records to simplify the request and delivery process. I would like to see our website updated so that it’s easier for residents to easily zoom in on the information they need and our financials need to be in a true user-friendly format, not the statutory version of “user-friendly” that’s burdensome to most.

5. What inspires you?

Our community and its volunteers have been an amazing inspiration over the years. Whether teaching our children to play ice hockey, building a community garden, fundraising for our schools, or serving as a firefighter or EMT, volunteers in our community have always impressed and inspired me. They’re hard-working, dedicated, super-smart and have the best interests of the community at heart. I have had the privilege of working with many volunteers with impressive backgrounds. I learn from them and they inspire me to do the best job I can for our community. I can only hope I have done the same for them.

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