Election 2022: Lacey Township Committee Candidate Barry Bendar

LACEY, NJ — Next month, Lacey voters will head to the polls to elect local and state officials. Patch has reached out to candidates to answer profiles on their campaigns.

Editor's Note: Patch sent out emails to all candidates to the email addresses listed for their campaign provided to the office of the clerk. The responses received will be published between now and the Nov. 8 general election. These responses will be published edited only for style. Candidates who would like to participate but did not receive one (for whatever reason) can contact veronica.flesher@patch.com.

Party

Green Party

Name

Barry Bendar

Age

65

Education

BA Political Science - William Paterson College 1979

Occupation

Database Administrator

Family

Wife, Judy Two Children (Hailey & Jarrad) age 29 (twins) both graduates of Lacey Township Schools

Previous public office experience

None, but have regularly attended Township Committee meetings since 2001.
Why are you running for this position?

To give a voice to Lacey Residents who are not amongst the connected few.

What separates you from the other candidates?

I've lived in Lacey Township for 34 years and have seen drastic change in the complexation of our town under single party leadership. We've gone from a nice quiet town, to one that is trying to compete with Toms River and Brick for most development possible. The problem is, unlike Brick and Toms River, our infrastructure (Route 9) cannot handle the traffic brought on by the overdevelopment that is going on. None of the incumbent candidates think this is an issue. I would guess they don't drive much on Route 9. The traffic is reaching the unbearable point.

What do you think is the most pressing issue in the town and how do you intend to address it?

There are a number of pressing issues, but number one on my list is overdevelopment. As everyone knows, our main throughfare, Route 9, will never be widened, and adding more developments and retail stores along the highway will only worsen the bad traffic situation that already exists there. We need to put the brakes on now, and hopefully find an alternate solution to lessen the traffic on Route 9. That is my intention.

If elected, what do you hope to accomplish?

To look out for the welfare of ALL Lacey residents, no matter their political affiliation or outlook. The voices and issues of all those many residents who don't have "connections" need to be heard, and I plan on addressing that.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know?

Our current Township leadership has ignored one of the most important issues facing many residents. All those folks who live down Beach Blvd., Sunrise Blvd. and Laurel Blvd. face the daunting threat of the rising tides of Barnegat Bay, and have gotten little or no help or sympathy from our existing committee. The time will come, sooner than later because of the lack of action by our elected Township officials, when this will become a crisis. It needs to be addressed and it needs to be addressed now. I have been working with the residents of Beach Blvd. on a project to address this issue, but more needs to be done by our Township leadership. Also, the plan to sell the property that Town Hall now sits on so that we can collect property taxes on it, and then build a 40 million dollar plus new Town Hall in the future is absurd. The only winners on that one is the developers.