Hillsborough Township Committee Election 2024: Hermes Vallejo

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Hillsborough Township's general election on Nov. 5 has four candidates running for two open seats for the Township Committee.

Democrat Hermes Vallejo is running along with James Vander Vliet against incumbents Robert Britting and Shawn Lipani.

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

Hermes Vallejo

• Age: 51
• Town of residence: Hillsborough
• Position sought: Township Committee
• Party Affiliation: Democrat
• Family: Married (Penny) 2 Children Zoe and Jessie (both currently attending Hillsborough Public Schools)
• Education: N/A
• Occupation: Executive, Med Tech Industry
• Previous elected/appointed office: N/A
• Campaign website: N/A

Why are you seeking election for Township Committee?

I’m a first-time candidate for the Township Committee who has lived here for 38 years. And have seen the positive and negative changes in the community in which I grew up and chose to raise my family in. When I graduated from Hillsborough High School, I didn’t give a lot of thought to the sense of comfort it gives a person to have such deep roots in one place and the need to ensure that our children will be able to afford to stay here and have that same sense of "place" throughout their lives that I had. Now with my growing concern that the increasing costs, increased pressure on our infrastructure, reduced quality of services, and an unclear plan for how to make Hillsborough a destination of choice I am motivated to engage as a candidate for Township Committee and try to give even more back to the community I love. I am passionately committed to leading and building a path to a better, stronger Township.

The state's Route 206 project has caused issues and delays throughout town. How do you propose addressing this issue?

The 206 project is a state project that has been in the works for several years and we at the municipal level are limited in what we can do to address the issues and delays despite the direct effect that the increase in traffic and pressure has on our road infrastructure and our community. Having said this, I believe that a stronger, more effective partnership with the state(which is responsible for the 206 project) will create focus and speed in addressing the challenges. I also believe that we need to more effectively lobby the state to convey our forecasted growth rate along with the impact any further delay will have to both our town and the residents of other towns using 206 to generate the needed urgency and focus by the state that this project deserves.

Warehouse applications are still a concern for residents. How do you plan to address this?

Many of today’s challenges are a result of bad planning by Township officials that will now cost taxpayers even more because warehouse applications made before township policy changes will need to be battled one at a time. There is a reason why every town is required to have a regular Master Plan review. If someone owns property and wants to use it in accordance with the Master Plan you can’t stop them. However, the town has every right, through the Master Plan, to limit if so desired, zones that don’t fit into the long-term goals of what the community supports. This all starts with appointing officials to the Planning Board who consider not only what today’s residents of Hillsborough find desirable, but also what Hillsborough residents’ years from now will also find as an attractive place to live, and to raise their families. Ultimately, we need to define a plan that will attract the type of businesses we want that aligns to our envisioned future and target revenue stream.

Affordable housing. How do you feel about this state mandate and its impact on Hillsborough?

This is one of those tough issues because the "state mandate" is exactly that, a mandate. We all want to have housing opportunities available to people who are not just at the very top of the income scale otherwise, even for those people who grow up here, at some point, they will not be able to afford to continue to live here. At the same time, we must ensure that the developers are not favored at the expense of overburdening communities so that they become difficult to sustain from the perspective of overcrowding, congestion and cost of services. Some of this can be achieved through our Master Plan but at the same time, with some of these issues currently in the courts, the final chapter hasn’t been written on this yet.

As work on the Master Plan gets underway, is there anything you feel the town should focus on?

The Master Plan isn’t about today, it’s about 10, 20, 50 years from now. What we need is a balance where residential and commercial zones complement each other’s ability to thrive within our community. We need to have a vision for how we see our town evolving… are we a town known for a small-town feel with walkable retail, or known for our open space and community centers, or known for more industrial and professional businesses. We then need to use data to really drive where our investments go to achieve that vision. We have had explosive growth and underforecasting and investing in our infrastructure is a challenge we have faced because our historical Master Plan and roadmap lacks those considerations. The impact of both residential and commercial growth is increased pressure on our infrastructure, services and roads, creating flooding, traffic and reduced quality of services.

What sets you apart from the challenging candidates?

As I said before, I’m a 38-year resident and member of our community, giving me a unique perspective and demonstration of my personal commitment to our town. I have seen the changes, both positive and negative, and believe my knowledge and passion for our community, growing up in town and raising my children in town, combined with my professional experience provide a fresh perspective. Professionally, I am proud of a long history of successfully leading and driving global programs that have helped to transform the Fortune 500 companies I have worked for. I believe that the experience of leading through change and adversity and being both planful and fiscally responsible are transferable capabilities from my professional life. Most people would agree that bringing new ideas and new energy into government is needed to drive evolution and change. I am committed to bringing that fresh thinking and a well-rounded perspective reflective of our communities’ points of view, and a high energy for improvement.

Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself or your campaign?

My running mate Jim Vander Vliet and I are out there talking and listening with people every day so that we can make this as broadly an inclusive campaign as possible. If elected, we will continue to bring that same perspective of reaching out to the community as much as possible so that our Municipal Government is one people can be proud of and that effectively addresses those issues which matter most to our residents.