ARTICLE: Investing in Garwood

By Vincent Kearney  |  Published in the Union County Hawk, October 19, 2023  

At this time of year, it’s inevitable to see flyers and social media posts decrying “spending”.

But here’s the real question: is our Council “spending”, or is it “investing” in our residents and “funding” our town?  What were taxes spent on this year?  Did we attract or retain qualified professional employees, or pay unionized employees who fairly negotiated contracts?  Did we use tax dollars to maintain our parks and municipal buildings?  Did we repair the roads?  Did we provide our departments with the funds they needed to operate effectively?  That’s not “spending”, it’s the Council doing its legally required job of properly funding our local government with your taxes, and my taxes.

When someone running for office says they intend to lower your taxes, ask them which services they intend to stop funding.  If they say they’re going to raise fees, understand it's raising just taxes by another name.

A Council Member can’t always say “cut”, or “not spend” to every question because those calls affect other things and often cascade into degraded or disrupted public services.  Every Garwood resident pays their property taxes; we deserve quality services in exchange for those dollars.  Council Members must make decisions on the facts in front of them, and consider what’s in the best interest of Garwood, without basing it on their personal feelings or a mistaken belief that the government should run like a private business.

Garwood has a number of infrastructure and equipment needs coming up.  All three major departments (Police, DPW and Fire) require upgrades to equipment which is either in daily use, or directly involved in life safety responses.  We need people on the Council who will meet this challenge head-on, with a commitment to weigh all of the options, who are able to say “yes” when it’s both needed and affordable.

I am running for re-election to the Garwood Borough Council because I know it takes more than empty promises to do the work of serving all the residents of our town.  Please support me, and my team of Karina Boto and Sean Keagan Foley, on Column “A”.