Toms River Council Election 2023: Paul C. Williams

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Election Day 2023 is near, and Toms River voters will be going to the polls to cast their ballots for candidates at the local, county and state levels.

In Toms River, there are eight candidates for the three available four-year terms on the Township Council.

Patch sent a questionnaire to all eight candidates seeking their responses. Here are the replies from Paul C. Williams, who is running as a write-in candidate.

Your Name: Paul C. Williams

Age (as of Election Day): 53

Campaign Website: www.paulcwilliamsfortomsriver.org

Party Affiliation: Democratic

Family: I have a 19-year-old daughter, Alexis Williams

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? This includes any relatives who work in the government you're running for. No.

Education: Completed high school and some college; attended Toms River High School East

Occupation: Legal assistant, freelance, since 2011; photographer and videographer at pcwImages, since 2015; DJ service at pcwMusic, since 2021.

Previous or current elected or appointed office: Ocean County Democratic Committee member, since 2018

Why are you seeking elective office?

I am seeking election to the office of council because, as a county committee member for Toms River and going into this election cycle, I realized that my political party leadership had not done anything of any substance to recruit people to be our candidates for mayor and council and I know, from having worked behind the scenes for many years, that this failure is a common theme that always results in our party grasping and settling at the last minute for whoever is willing to let themselves be used as a placeholder candidate. This practice often results in embarrassment for Democrats and losses of elections over and over; so, I attempted to be the example of the change I want to see, a legitimate candidate who actually is involved with and cares about our community and government, and sought the Democratic nomination during the June primary. I am currently seeking election as a write-in candidate because the candidates for council who appear on the ballot as both Democrats and Republicans concern me much more than the mayoral candidates … the mayor does not get to actually vote on anything, the council members vote. We desperately need council members who are intelligent enough to know what is best for the people and businesses in Toms River and who will be guided more by that than being beholden to partisan political leadership.

Drawing more activity to the downtown area has been a topic for years. The proposed downtown development on the former Red Carpet Inn property was unpopular. What would you propose to bring more activity to the downtown area?

Having lived downtown since 2012 and donated my services to numerous downtown events and businesses for many years, I have heard and been a part of many discussions about improving and developing downtown. It is an extremely complex topic and there are no simple answers but, ideally, I would propose that we first keep in the forefront of our minds that the downtown area, as well as all of Toms River, is not a city and proceed accordingly. Beyond that, I do not currently have enough information at this time to provide a substantive and meaningful answer.

Downtown traffic has been a source of complaints for years. There was a proposal for a downtown loop and Toms River was awarded a $5.6 million grant for the project, which the New Jersey Highway Authority has proposed tying into for a Garden State Parkway project. What would you propose to address downtown traffic issues?

This is another complex topic and there are no simple answers to this either. I do not currently have enough information at this time to provide a substantive and meaningful answer.

The state Department of Education has contended that Toms River is not paying its fair share of property taxes to support its schools and that has been a critical piece of the school funding cuts the Toms River Regional School District has faced. How would you address this issue?

For me, this issue should be addressed by asking and exploring what are the facts and the law. I would want to see and consider whatever basis the state DOE may have for its contention and how it justifies the school funding cuts. If the DOE is correct, Toms River needs to pay its fair share; it's that simple. If the DOE is incorrect or does not produce an adequate basis for its contention, Toms River must pursue recourse from the court.