Garwood Borough Council 2021: Jeff Jotz

GARWOOD, NJ — Garwood's general election on Nov. 2 has four candidates running for two open seats on the Borough Council.

Jeff Jotz is one of two Democratic candidates running.

The other candidates include:

• Clarissa Nolde - Democrat
• Heather Loffredo - Republican
• Kimberly Salmon - Republican

All of the candidates are running for the two, three-year seats on the council.

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

Jeff Jotz

Name: Jeff Jotz

Age: 51

Town of residence: Garwood

Position sought: Borough Council

Party affiliation: Democrat

Family: One son, 18 years old

Education:

• Bachelor of Arts, University of Notre Dame
• Masters in Public Administration, Rutgers-Newark

Occupation:

• Municipal Clerk, City of Rahway
• U.S. Masters Swim Coach

Previous or current elected appointed office: None

Why are you seeking to run for borough council? With over 25 years working in local, state and county government across New Jersey, I have made public service my career and my passion. Garwood has a new Borough Administrator and Clerk and I would like to bring my experience and my knowledge to help them and all residents navigate the often complex relationship between government, businesses and residents.

What issues do you feel must be tackled in town? Garwood has been transitioning to a robust community while taking advantage of our ever-changing economy. How we capture the potential of redevelopment that is both sustainable and beneficial to Garwood’s taxpayers is essential. As an individual who has worked on redevelopment projects in the area, I will ensure that developers are held accountable to taxpayers and create projects that respect Garwood’s amazing character while looking forward to the future.
Growth doesn’t come without impact, and as a small community, Garwood can’t exist in a vacuum. We need to collaborate with our neighbors in Union County to address issues that start beyond Garwood, but affect our quality of life, such as traffic, public safety, flooding, sustainability and accountability. Putting Garwood at the forefront of environmental and green policy is an important consideration for me. The Borough needs smart, forward-thinking plans to further our sustainability while also boosting our economy.

What sets you apart from the challenging candidates? My running mate Clarissa Nolde and I have proposed concrete plans for prudent spending, investing in our municipal infrastructure, promoting the arts as an economic development tool and preparing Garwood for a sustainable future. In the past the Republican candidates have opposed capital expenses such as new equipment for public works and a new ladder truck for the Garwood Fire Department. Now they are proposing massive spending increases without fully analyzing what Garwood’s actual needs are following flood damage to our DPW building. As a small community with a modest budget, shared services have been promoted as the future for local government by Republicans and Democrats across the state. Our opponents have broken with that trend by proposing to scrap our shared services agreements with neighboring towns and increase the borough payroll by over $130,000 in political hires.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign? Please visit our campaign website at dems4garwood.com to learn more about our platform, our background and what we wish to accomplish for our neighborhoods.