Take Five With Chatham Township Committee Candidate Tracy Ness

CHATHAM, NJ - Patch asked Chatham Township Committee Candidate Tracy Ness to take five with us and share some thoughts on the city, the campaign and beyond. Her answers are below, with minor courtesy edits for style.

1. Why are you running for office?

I am running because we need moderate, balanced representation for all of our residents. People are getting left out because they are not the right party and I don't see how this serves our community. We need to put our community first, re-engage volunteers, ask tough questions and make sure all decisions are being discussed publicly. We have lost services and yet our taxes went up this year. And that trend can't continue or the Township will end up getting left behind.

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

We have three!
1. Taxes -- During the public budget discussion I asked each committee member to speak about what we can and can't afford and what their opinion of the budget was given taxes were going up. Not one was willing to answer. So I would like to see a deep dive into the budget, a five year fiscal plan developed to ensure we can absorb the 2 percent cost increase in labor and up to 10 percent cost in benefits.
2. Development -- we have potential development at the Dixiedale Farm property and affordable housing at property next to our DPW and skatepark. And we are facing a lawsuit from the fair share housing center.
We also may need to rezone additional land for multi family homes to meet our new affordable housing requirement. I would like to look at Dixidale in more depth, speak with the developers, add in the 24 affordable units to that site and look at the impact to our traffic patterns. And determine if we will lose our skate park should the affordable housing be built on Southern blvd.
3. Clean up of the Rolling Knolls superfund site - we need to have committee members involved in this decision making and they are not. While the township could end up bearing some cost, it doesn't mean they can't attend the EPA meetings to stay informed. We need to have a preference for the clean up, determine what the impact will be for Green Village residents and what the future intended use will be. That is why I joined the Community Advisory Group and am active in the process for our community.

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

I have lived in the Township for 23 years and raised our family here. As a writer/editor for the Chatham Independent Press, I covered the committee for 11 years which gives ne a great historical perspective. I have volunteered, fundraised for community projects and led our Chatham Athletic Booster club that brought back $80,000 a year into the budget and off the tax role.
In all of my roles in the community, I worked closely with residents, engaged and asked questions and built consensus to reach - not my decision - but the best decision for all involved. And we need new ideas to keep the township moving forward. That is what is missing on the committee and what i can bring to the table

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

My early career with Fortune 100 companies was in both internal and external marketing communications. I would start by restructuring our communications committee, so all the decisions are not concentrated in one person. I would refocus to publicize our services, promote enrollment in our camps and let residents know when we have an important decision coming up so we can seek their input.

Telling residents to find the agenda on the webpage and show up isn't the friendliest.

I would reset how residents are treated asking all on the committee to refrain from mocking people or being disrespectful. We don't have to agree with everyone but we do need to create a positive space for discourse.
I would hold dedicated public sessions and get the right people in the room to discuss our postal issues and power issues. And i would survey residents on their opinions to see how we are doing and solicit ideas.

5. What inspires you?

Being a part of this community inspires me.
I live here and I work here as a realtor inviting people to move to our town. I don't believe partisanship belongs at this level of government nor serves our community well when all are not represented. And I dislike the feeling that we are falling behind other towns. I am a "get it done" type of person. We needed an additional revenue stream for the boosters. It took two years and buy-in to make it happen but we were able to get approval for local advertising on our score boards. That money makes a difference in expanding opportunities for student athletes. I enjoy coming up with ideas, creative funding solutions, public/private partnerships and bettering our community. And as a committee member, i will work to bring the same energy. I am asking for your vote on Nov. 6 so that we can refocus on our community and plan for a stronger future.

(Photo courtesy of Tracy Ness)

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