All of the men running for Borough Council in this election have done good things for our town. I’m voting for Norman Goldfarb and George Bachar, and asking you to vote for them too, because they have exactly the skills we need at this time for the challenges we face: managing budgets, building up business, dealing effectively and fairly with unions, and managing people. I’ve gotten to know each of them as colleagues in the past four months, and they do what they say they will do. They’ve both had successful careers — Norman Goldfarb in law enforcement and municipal administration retiring as a police captain from the third largest municipality in New Jersey, and George Bachar in international business, retiring as partner in a successful business he founded and built. They’re pros; they’ve both had to manage large budgets and groups of people, work under pressure, and find the balance between competing interests. They are also intelligent, humane, family men, who care about people more than they care about status. They do things quietly, behind the scenes, to make the town better for the people who live here.

They work to solve problems positively — by building people up, and looking for better options. We definitely don’t agree on everything, but we work together to find the best answer, rather than drag each other through the mud. They are both unafraid to voice their opinions, and to tell me when they think I’m wrong. And they have convinced me to change my position on a couple of issues, because they had the better idea. And by the same token, I’ve seen each of them modify his position when confronted with new evidence. They are intelligent, flexible when it’s warranted, and firm when that is needed. Good men who are doing a good job, and generously putting in the time, day after day. They’ve worked harder, campaigned harder, knocked on more doors than their opponents, all while still working hard as councilmen. They’ve raised the level of debate, they’ve added more professional management experience to the council, complementing the management skills our other sitting council people have, and I think the town would be lucky to have Norman and George on the job for as long they are willing to serve. I am happy to have the chance to vote for them in this election, and I hope you’ll vote for them too.