Get To Know Springfield's Township Committee Candidate Jeff Rosenberg

SPRINGFIELD, NJ — The election is Tuesday, Nov, 7 and Jeff Rosenberg, 57, is running for three-year seat on the Township Committee as an Independent.

Rosenberg has lived in Springfield for nearly 28 years and had two children go through the school system. He has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a minor in Marketing from SUNY (State University of NY) at Oswego.

Rosenberg spent 28 years in corporate senior management in Media Marketing. Now he currently helps his wife run two local real estate companies, the primary being Century 21 Norma Altman Realtors (based in Millburn). He also teaches at the Professional School of Business in Millburn, and volunteers on various Boards and venues.

• Why are you running?

"Throughout the years I have seen what party politics has done to Springfield. There have been petty squabbles and disagreements, for no other reason than siding with party masters. Good ideas get delayed and the public gets annoyed.

I am running as an Independent with a slogan of “No Party Politics.” On the local level, political parties are not necessary, like it may be at the state or federal levels.The issues we deal with are downtown redevelopment, turf fields, traffic patterns, property taxes, recreational facilities. etc. - not abortion, immigration, healthcare and social security. With two Republicans and two Democrats on the Committee, if I win, no political party will have a majority (as they usually do). That in itself would be quite an accomplishment! As an Independent, I do not accept any private donations, nor do I have any support from any political parties (that's also why you won't see any Rosenberg campaign signs littering the town). I don't owe anything to anyone, or any party - other than the people of the town and my own conscience.

But more importantly, is my frustration that the Township Committee often takes a "stick your head in the sand” attitude. When issues are brought front and center, they will often get a responses like, "that's up to the County, not us," or "we've already looked into that and it can't be done," or "that's just the way it's always been done." Those responses go against my grain. My style is to question, re-analyze and try again. I will never promise that I can magically make things happen, but I won't back-burner an issue just because it's too hard (or politically incorrect) to deal with."

• What type of experience do you have for this position?

"My corporate background has given me a ton of experience in supervising large staffs, managing multi-million dollar budgets and using my business acumen and creativity to revise, rebrand and retool entire departments and companies overall.

What do you feel is the most important topic right now in Springfield? Different issues are important to different people. Many say that we have diminishing services with rising taxes. I think we have a great town and I also understand the monetary constraints; considering, of course, that only a third of our property taxes actually go to run the Township (the majority going to the BOE and the rest to the County). While I make no promises about lowering taxes, I do have experience with line-item zero based budgeting and would seize the opportunity to put a fresh eye on the financial review process.

The single biggest issue that everyone talks about is Downtown Redevelopment. While that is a work already in progress, my focus would be to help facilitate growth moving forward (the right retail/restaurant presence) and keeping any excesses in check (making sure Township services can accommodate growth). "

• If elected, what would you change/do for Springfield?

"I'd like to help with changes here and there to make this a better town for everyone. But if I had to pick two specific changes that I would champion, the first would be moving our Township into the 21st century; from its ability to communicate to residents to implementing more effective processes in its behind-the-scenes administration. This has never been a focus of the Committee, whereas it has always been left to Township employees to handle business as usual.

The other thing is to not permit "that's the County's responsibility, there's nothing we can do" to ever be used again as an excuse for not pursuing solutions. From flood mitigation to traffic patterns - it may be a tough row to hoe, but that's a fight that should be stepped up, and not backed away from."

For more information on Rosenberg www.facebook.com/JeffRosenbergforSpringfieldTownCouncil.

(Image via Rosenberg)

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