Little Silver Council Candidate Profile: Jennifer Pardee

Name:  Jennifer Pardee
Party: Independent

Why are you running for council?

I am running for Borough Council to do my part in making a difference for Little Silver.  My only goal is to see Little Silver run as smoothly, efficiently and sustainably as possible.  To this end, I would like to take part in more brainstorming, tapping into the knowledge base of our residents and completing “homework” diligently and thoroughly on every issue.

What makes you an Independent?

I am a registered Independent as are 46 percent of registered voters in Little Silver.  On the State & Federal level I do not agree on every issue with either of the main two parties so I have opted to support candidates on their own, individual merits, not by party affiliation.  On the municipal level (Little Silver) I don’t see any reason why a political affiliation should influence a decision.  As an Independent, I will make decisions based on the information at hand and how it affects Little Silver and its residents.

What's your specialty? How can it help the borough?

I work from home for a local architect (making me extremely available to residents & their concerns).  Prior to having children, two in the Little Silver School District, I was a Project Manager for a Corporate Design Firm in NYC (I understand construction issues, infrastructure, budgets, accountability, etc.).  I have a Masters Degree in Business Administration and I sit on the Board of a co-op building in NYC, giving me some of the varied “tools” required to be a Council Member.

What do you believe is the #1 issue in Little Silver right now, and what should be done about it?

Reducing taxes.  Through long and short term methods such as: shared services (including a new review into consolidating our court with others), review of costs of outside consultants, personnel, equipment, Borough owned properties, and a comprehensive review of each and every budget line item, to name a few.  We should look to neighboring towns for ideas & brainstorm for new and creative solutions - everything should be on the table.

(Sent in from a Patch reader) Candidates: What would you do to slow down traffic (especially large truck traffic) that passes through the center of town? What about the issue of making traffic stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk-specifically the dangerous crosswalk in front of the Wells Fargo Bank? 

As a member of the Traffic & Safety Committee for 4 years I have been urging action on pedestrian & crosswalk safety on a monthly basis & I would love to see speed limits dropped on many streets in our town. Unfortunately, most of our main roads are County roads (including the Prospect & Church) and therefore not completely under our jurisdiction. I am very much in favor of Little Silver following the lead of our neighbors (Oceanport & Red Bank most recently) .  It is my sincere hope that with a change in leadership at Borough Hall a pro-active approach to these and other Borough traffic & safety issues will be seriously addressed. 

(Sent in from a Patch reader... this is a three-parter) As we approach the municipal elections, I'd like to see more coverage of the Little Silver candidates. Specifically, their views on:

Consolidation of services with nearby towns?

Yes, absolutely.  This is a great way to continue providing the services the residents expect without bearing the entire financial burden by ourselves.  It certainly can not hurt to look into absolutely every avenue for sharing possibilities!

Having council meeting minutes available sooner than 2 months after the meeting? 

I couldn’t agree more, it is extremely frustrating. Since taking over the meeting minute duties in January 2011 for the Traffic & Safety Committee I have begun putting our (approved) minutes on the Borough web-site. Currently, all minutes are approved at the following meeting (two weeks to one month later) then printed and/or put on-line.  Whether legally the town could put new minutes under an “unapproved” section should definitely be looked into.  It is difficult to expect our residents to be involved, educated about or even aware of events in town when the stream of information is so dramatically delayed.  

A requirement for residents to shovel sidewalks in the winter?

I am in favor of (although it must be noted that I do not have sidewalks).  The current Council majority has no intentions of bringing this topic up again and has asked the Traffic & Safety Committee to review the situation. 

The Traffic & Safety Committee is recommending adding +/- 6 sidewalks associated with both school’s drop-off and pick-up logistics to the current list of sidewalks near the schools that the Dept. of Public Works already shovels. The Committee has also submitted a notice to the newsletter & will have the same notice on the Borough web-site asking residents to be considerate and shovel their sidewalks, because it’s the “neighborly thing to do” and a flyer will be sent home in school back-packs. 

Additionally, the Committee is recommending a Two River Alert message be sent out at the first major snowfall.  I am concerned about the "mixed message” being sent from the Borough, though. 

There is an ordinance for businesses to shovel sidewalks (this should help with commuters by the train station) and an ordinance for residents to “maintain” their sidewalks, but the Borough continues to “own” the sidewalks and pay to have them replaced as required. In the past, the Borough shoveled all the main sidewalks in town, apparently as part of an agreement to have the sidewalks installed in the first place.

(Sent in from a Patch reader) I would like to know where the candidates stand on the recycling program in Little Silver? 

 I understand Little Silver follows the Monmouth County guidelines for recycling.  I believe when those guidelines change, our policy changes as well.  Whether the concern is what and how the Borough recycles or pertaining to educating our residents of the virtues of recycling, I’m not sure.  Personally, I recycle everything I possibly can. I am against the waste in packaging found in every consumer segment these days and as a family we do quite well in limiting our garbage. I will make it a point of reviewing our recycling alliances and review the pros & cons of our current system and the penalties, if any, for those who do not comply.

(Sent in from a Patch reader) I'd like to ask the candidates what can be done to make sure COAH doesn't destroy our beautiful town? 

I am assuming your reader is referring to   Under the circumstances of the +/-14 acre site where only 4 acres are actually developable (but with a project density allowed for 14 acres), approved by the Borough in 2007, our hands are tied. 

During the most recent rounds of hearings the new developers of the property stated the COAH units would sell for between $180,000 and $250,000 (1 floor, 2 & 3 bedrooms units).  Aside from the actual development not being of the size and density we would ever like to see in Little Silver, I would find it difficult to consider anyone paying those prices as “low-income”. 

I am not opposed to low-income housing in theory.  I do feel the Borough may have missed an opportunity to fulfill even more of our outstanding commitment through this decidedly too large (density, height, etc.) project.  It will also be interesting to see what changes, at our local level, come with the effective elimination of the COAH department recently, being “rolled it into” another state department.

Anything else you'd like to share for the good of the borough?

I would like to see an initiative to get more people on to the Two River Alert system.  A large segment of our residents, mainly older residents, have told me they are not currently on this system.  Many do not own computers or cell phones and think the “reverse 911” is still being used.  We could possibly hold sign-up events at the Library, every 3-6 months or so, where volunteers can help them register and have recorded messages sent to their home phones through the current system.  These folks quite possibly need the system the most and many are currently excluded.