Nov 2012 - Nassau Journals

12 THE JOURNAL NOVEMBER 2012
DAVID COOK AND JAY TAYLOR SEEK RE-ELECTION
By Pravin J. Philip, Biz4NJ
Dave Cook, Cranbury’s mayor, and Jay Taylor, incumbent
township committee member, are hoping the voters will reelect
them to another term on the Cranbury Township
Committee.
Cook was elected to the mayor position unanimously by his
Democratic and Republican peers. Jay Taylor was first elected as a Republican
and now stands for re-election on the Democratic ticket.
Over the last term, he has served as liaison to a variety of departments,
which, according to him, accounted for 33 percent of Cranbury’s
budget. Jay recently had to retire as the township’s liaison to the Fire
Department after joining the Fire Department.
Mayor Cook: 2012 Version
A financial advisor by trade, Cook had a baptism by fire, when
first elected to the township committee in 2009. In his first year as
mayor, Cranbury’s ratable had shrunk by a sixth. The $300 million in
reduced ratable that fell off the town’s books was a rude awakening.
Given these difficult circumstances and the need for bipartisan
management, Mayor Cook says that he “created an environment for
decision making” that shaved $500,000 off Cranbury’s operating expenses
in three years. He said he did this by looking at fiscal policy,
capital projects, as well as expanding the town’s commercial zones,
and diversifying beyond warehouses, within the framework of Cranbury’s
Master Plan as last updated in 2010. The township committee
he led was also able to preserve 250 acres of open space. The mayor
points out that “open space reduces the need for infrastructure” even
as it “improves quality of life.”
His advice to Cranburians was to “attend budget meetings” even
if it seems like “watching paint dry.” While presiding over two consecutive
budgets that gradually raised taxes, the mayor was, in his words,
Re-elect DAVE COOK
and JAY TAYLOR
Cranbury Township Committee
Success and Experience
• 247 acres of farmland preserved with the
town paying only 17.6 % of the purchase
price
• Decreased budget by half a million dollars
since 2009
• $2 million in debt reduction since 2009
• Sponsored purchase of traffic safety
equipment providing additional driver
and pedestrian safety for residents
Paid for by the Cranbury Democratic Committee
We Will Never Forget
forced to look at the “sacred cows,” looking for savings through attrition
in the Police Department as well as reductions in the Municipal
Alliance budget.
In response to charges that taxes were still too high, Cook points
out, “our job is not to come in with a machete and start hacking.”
Jay Taylor Looks to the Political Middle
Like David Cook, Jay Taylor grew up in Cranbury. Unlike the
mayor, however, Jay was elected to township committee on the Republican
ticket. Jay soon developed a bi-partisan view that prompted
him to change party alliances.
“I had some philosophical differences with the Republican Party,”
recounted Jay. “They moved away from me,” not the other way
around. Moving across the aisle, in Jay’s words, was not easy, as his
family had been traditionally Republican. Jay’s father served in the
90’s served on Cranbury’s Township Committee as a Republican.
Cook and Taylor cite other measures they’ve taken to reduce
costs, like merging the positions of Township Administrator and
CFO, renegotiating police contracts, and putting together a 911 contract
with Hightstown that purportedly saved $80,000 per year. Jay
and David also assert that they have achieved even more savings by
reducing an employee in the construction department, removing
medical benefits for future township employees who retire, and consolidating
suppliers.
Both men have taken heat for approving the construction of a
shed, budgeted at over $300,000, to house Public Works Department
vehicles. This is making it harder for future administrations to merge
PWD functions with nearby townships or outsource them to for-profit
providers. Their defense is that the shed will extend the life of expensive
vehicles and allow the township to purchase and store supplies
in greater bulk. It is worth noting that the decision to construct the
shed was opposed by township committee member Dan Mulligan, a
Republican.
Unlike their challengers, both Democratic candidates are not in
favor of outsourcing any more functions of the Public Works Department.
They point out that two Public Works employees currently volunteer
with the Fire Department for an extra dollar per hour added to
their wages. This is especially useful because the township is, according
to them, saving an estimated $125,000 for each employee they would
need to hire to address a recurrent shortage of Fire Department volunteers.
Candidates on both sides have paid lip service to the need to
encourage residents to stay on after their children are educated. The
Republicans talk about reducing costs, and the Democrats have
talked about finding ways to provide more services to seniors. Township
Committee Member Glenn Johnson and Dan Mulligan, the
township committee’s liaison to the Human Services Commission,
are into adding some of the administrative services needed by seniors
to the Recreation Department, which has a part-time employee
who can help.
The inexplicable disconnect here is that while it is the older more
long-term citizens of Cranbury who vote in higher numbers, the township
seems to spend far more of its resources on a school system that
increasingly serves a younger, more transient population. One step in
the right direction is an emerging effort by Cranbury School to engage
more seniors as mentors.
The people of Cranbury, the School Board, and both parties need
to find ways to incentivize families who have benefited from Cranbury’s
schools to put down deeper roots despite the higher taxes.
As Mayor David Cook said, “at the end of the day we’re all Cranburians.”