Hillsborough Needs Leaders Committed to Hillsborough's Future

Hillsborough is at a crossroads. A perfect storm of failed federal policies, changes to state education funding, and decades of stale local leadership have left our community reeling with exploding property tax bills that can't be reconciled with the state of our infrastructure or the services we receive. Catherine Payne and the long-time township committee majority have pointed their fingers everywhere they can without ever taking responsibility for the two areas that are the sole responsibility of the township committee alone: managing development and generating revenue.

Sustainable, responsible development that brings in more tax revenue than it costs in services is key to Hillsborough's future. But instead of focusing on Hillsborough, Ms. Payne ran for Assembly in 2025 while her majority doubled-down on two decades of policies that led to Hillsborough's over-reliance on residential property taxes. When the current majority has allowed new construction to proceed, it's been done irresponsibly without proper consideration for environmental concerns - just ask the folks in Green Hills about Ida. These decisions and other factors have resulted in Hillsborough's current reality: a bedroom community in the strangest economy of our lifetimes, almost entirely reliant on taxes paid by residents with more paper wealth than cash. Committeewoman Samantha Hand has already challenged this stale approach to development by calling for the replacement of long-time planning board and affordable housing attorney (and majority political donor), Eric Bernstein, who has billed the township over $2,000,000 over recent years fighting development for little change in outcome!

Meanwhile, Catherine Payne has always had her eye on political ambitions beyond Hillsborough. She unsuccessfully ran for Assembly in 2025, a mere two years after first running for township committee. Now, she's running for re-election in Hillsborough while also planning another Assembly run in 2027. Let's be clear about what this means: if Ms. Payne has her way, she would resign her township committee seat after less than a year. The township committee majority would fill the empty seat without input from the public. A vote for Catherine Payne isn't a three year vote for her or her record; it's an explicit endorsement of more of the same from the current majority who would love to handpick her successor.

Tip O'Neill famously said "All politics is local." Township committee isn't a convenient springboard to higher office; it's where the decisions that most impact our daily lives are made. More than ever, we need leaders who won't cling to the status quo while claiming “only we have the solutions to the problems we created.” Doing the same thing and expecting different results never works. Hillsborough's future depends on forward-looking and reliable leaders working for residents, not their political careers.

Hillsborough needs Samantha Hand and Meghann Valeo, and they need your vote on or before November 3!