Candidate Profile: Seth Ptasiewicz

To keep things fair and balanced, Patch has asked each of the four candidates running for the two, three year terms on the Manalapan Township Committee to answer the same questions.

Name: Seth Ptasiewicz

Party: Democratic Party

Why are you running for Township Committee?  

Like my neighbors, I read the newspapers and see what has been going on at Town Hall.  There appears to be less openness and candor with the public by some of our elected officials. There is also a tremendous amount of personal attacks and political gamesmanship going on which only diverts from our public serving their constituents. 

It appears that some of our township officials have also forgotten that they were voted in to represent the people of this town and not solely to serve their own or their party's own self interests.  The only way to change such a culture is from within. That is why I decided to run for office. 

What is your previous experience? 

For over 20 years I have been a practicing attorney in the fields of labor and employment law primarily representing employers including many small businesses.  I am admitted to practice law in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.  As an attorney I am called upon on a daily basis by clients to come up with cost efficient and effective solutions to their legal problems. I will utilize those same problem solving skills to address the issues facing our community. I will also utilize experience negotiating with unions in negotiations with the unions on wage, benefit and other mandatory subjects of collective bargaining.  

I also was appointed by the New Jersey Supreme Court to serve as a District Ethics Secretary for three ethics committees. I performed this assignment for ten years without any financial compensation. While in this position I became especially sensitive to the need of an attorney and by extension a government representative, to listen to and communicate with his or her client/constituents so that their concerns are addressed on a timely basis. Finally, as an attorney I have provided pro bono services to individuals including women  and children who are the victims of domestic abuse.  

Name the three most important issues in Manalapan Township right now, and why? Name a possible solution for each.  

1. The failure of some of our elected officials to remember that they represent the entire community not just themselves or members. As an attorney when a client comes to me for advice my obligation is to give that client my 100% undivided attention and loyalty and work to obtain their goals within the ethical parameters set by the law.  As such, I am ethically not permitted to give priority to my own personal interests or gains over that of the client.  I view the role of a township committeemember the same.  The public votes you in to exclusively represent their interests and not your self interests or the interests of your political party only.  Although I am running as a Democrat, I will make it my committment to represent every citizen of the township, Independent, Democrat, Republican or Independent, regardless of that person's political affiliation.  To that end, I will make it a point to make myself available both by email and at open meetings that I will hold for the public to attend to listen to my neighbors concerns and address them to the best of my ability.  I also pledge that like I do in my law practice, if a member of the public comes to me with a question or concern that if I do not have an answer right then and there that I will respond to that concern within 24 hours.  Finally, as a lawyer, I represent people from all walks of life, no different from anyone in the community.  Many of my clients are either individuals or small businesses.  My clients come to me to help them with their problems and come up with solutions.  As such, most of my time as a lawyer is spent as a problem solver for my clients coming up with solutions to their needs that are both practical, cost efficient and effective in resolving the problem.  I pledge to bring the same problem solving skills to my job as a committeemember.
 
2. The unnecessary namecalling and gamesmanship.  I frankly do not like the recent nasty trend in politics where the political parties engage in unnecessary spin tactics and namecalling solely in an effort to embarrass the other side.  Quite frankly, I thought name calling was suppose to end in junior high school(or perhaps earlier) but that does not seem to be the case. Honest and intelligent debate has been replaced in our society by talking points that say nothing.  While this may serve some politiicians (which I am not and will never be) in their efforts for career advancement, again by doing so they lose track of the reason they were placed into office by the voters.  It is bad enough that we see such name calling on a national and state level but now on a local level is most disturbing. All of our representatives on the township committee should be working together to solve the problems this town faces now and in the future.  As a committeemember, I pledge to work with everyone on the committee regardless of their political affiiliation. If elected I will listen to and debate in a professional manner without the unnecessary namecalling and bitterness my colleagues as to why the committee should vote one way or the other. I would expect that my colleagues will do likewise.  Cooperation however is a two way street.  It simply cannot be tolerated that the majority on the committee simply gives lip service to cooperating and listening to dissenting opinion and fairly addressing those concerns. That is not representing your consituents if your view of representing them is by saying it is "my way or the highway".  As a lawyer, I do not always agree with statements made by my opponent. But, I will listen and respectfully disagree and state my client's position.  As a committeemember, I may not at first agree with the opinion of one of my colleagues at first.  However, I will listen and perhaps they might convince me otherwise.  I just ask, and the public should expect that similarly all opinions will be fairly considered.
 
3. Ethics and the appearance of impropriety.  If there is one thing that my ten years of service on three ethics committeees have taught me it is not enough to act within the parameters of the law and strictly comply with the rules of ethics, but also a lawyer must appear to his client, to other members of the bar, judges and the public at large to appear to be acting ethically.  While a lawyer may have dotted all his "I's" and crossed every "T" in his or her legal practice, the lawyer must also ensure that when an outsider looks at his or her actions, that they appear to be ethical as well. Such concerns for the appearance of acting ethically also equally apply to individuals who hold public office. While they may state they are complying with the law, if to the public it does not appear that they are doing so or if it looks that they are using their position of power to reap financial rewards.  If elected my sole loyalty will be to the public. As such, even where there is the remote possiblity that a vote by me or action taken has the appearance of impropriety I will refrain from voting.

Why should Manalapan Township residents vote for you?   

I bring to the Committee an outside fresh nonpolitician perspective to the position free from the usual party politics that stifles the ability of our government representatives from governing.  I also bring to the position a strong dislike for labeling people based solely on their political affiliation.  Regardless of whether you are a Democrat, Independent or Republican if you are willing to work together with me to find cost efficient and effective solutions to the problems facing Manalapan then I am more than willing to work with you.  I also will reach out across party lines to listen to anyone in our community willing to discuss ideas that will help our community.  I will not be dragged into the namecalling and gamesmanship that has been going on recently.    I also bring my skills as an experienced labor and employment attorney and negotiator which I will use to address the budget to find ways to obtain cost savings for the community while maintaiing the services our community expects.  I will speak with each head of every department of the town to inquire of them how we can work more efficiently and in what ways their budgets can be streamlined.   Finally, my only agenda is to work for the people of the town to keep Manalapan one of the best places to live in the State.  That is what the people of Manalapan should expect of their elected representatives and this is my commitment.