By Stephen Appezzato
FAIR HAVEN – In this year’s municipal election, four candidates are vying for two council seats. Two Republicans are running for reelection to fulfill long-term projects and address new matters, while two Democrats look to bring new voices, transparency and political balance to the dais.
For incumbents Elizabeth “Betsy” Koch and Tracy Cole, preserving Fair Haven’s quality of life while holding down taxes is the priority.
“Over the past year, we’ve initiated several projects, and the advantage of running for reelection is that we get to see those projects through to the end,” said Koch, the current council president, noting the construction of the new police department, DPW facility and community center. A retired teacher who taught science at Knollwood School for 23 years, Koch is currently serving her seventh year on the borough council. Throughout her terms, she has been on Fair Haven’s Planning and Zoning boards, the Parks and Recreation and Fair Share Housing committees and more.
“Continuity of government helps to carry through and maintain a focus, a collective focus,” said Cole, Koch’s running mate. Cole is serving her third year on the dais and has also sat on committees including Engineering and DPW, Fair Share Housing, Outreach and Communication and Grants, bringing a background in community planning, design and real estate to the table. Outside of the governing body, she helped resurrect and serves as a trustee for the nonprofit Historic Association of Fair Haven, and is a member of the Garden Club of Fair Haven and the Monmouth Conservation Foundation board of trustees.
In the past year the borough council zeroed in on policies like overhauling the town’s brush and leaf collection, establishing committees to address declining conditions at the Harding Bird Sanctuary and McCarter Pond, securing grants to acquire the property at 21 Fair Haven Road to create a passive park abutting the municipal dock and more.
“We have several ordinances that are pending that I would like to see follow through, which probably won’t happen until after the first of the year or until after the election. I’m invested in our town, in maintaining the quality of life, the character that our town represents to neighboring communities, and I think that’s important,” Koch said.
Challenging Koch and Cole for the two council seats are planning board and brush and leaf committee member Neil Blecher and political newcomer Paul Frissora, who pledge to uphold community traditions while bringing fresh thinking, transparency and balance to the council. Council member Michal DiMiceli is currently the only Democrat on the dais.
Blecher, an attorney by trade, said he is running to “make sure that our governing body remains balanced, reflects our community and takes into account the disparate voices that make our council vibrant and (Fair Haven) such a wonderful, wonderful place to live.”
“As a candidate and hopefully soon-to-be councilman, I really do pledge to uphold Fair Haven’s traditions while bringing fresh thinking and transparency to our community,” Blecher said.
Frissora, a geospatial analyst, lifelong resident, former DPW seasonal employee and frequent volunteer in the town, pledges to bring his experiences growing up in Fair Haven to the council, hearing all voices in the community, “whether they have lived here for five months or 50 years.”
“I’ve lived in this town pretty much all my life, besides for a few years at college and living in different towns for work, but for most of my life, I’ve been here in Fair Haven, either working remotely, growing up going to Sickles, Knollwood, RFH. This town has given a lot to me and I would love to be able to give back to it,” he said.
Discussing future plans, the Democrats noted a couple of initiatives they want to tackle.
“We really need to rethink, retool and re-engineer our approach as to how we govern our community, and just simply relying on past practices won’t allow Fair Haven to move forward,” Blecher said. He noted matters like the renegotiated trash, recycling and bulk pickup contract “where, in fact, services were reduced and the cost of the contract went up significantly,” he said. “As a member of the council, I’ll lead the effort to avoid these situations by providing better planning, more transparency, more due diligence and most important, fresh thinking for Fair Haven.”
For Frissora, listening to constituents’ feedback and communicating decisions more effectively are priorities.
“I see a whole lot of stuff, a lot of people who are either confused or frustrated that maybe they missed their recycling day, or maybe they don’t understand why they have to buy two of those small gray cans to put all their brush in when before they were just able to put it on the street and have it get picked up,” he said.
Frissora, Cole and Koch all said improving the health of McCarter Pond and other natural areas is also key.
For Cole, who has experience in downtown revitalization, directing attention toward Fair Haven’s business district will be a future goal.
“We love our business district,” but there can be improvements to make it easier to invest in and welcome new business,” she said.
“We have to manage the development that occurs along River Road so it stays calm,” maintaining river access for residents south of the road, and access to schools, parks and other amenities for those on the north side, she said.
Cole also emphasized the importance of historic preservation in Fair Haven, which matters to the community and is a “wise economic development.”
Both Republican candidates also discussed the importance of creating a comprehensive master plan, which the borough will soon begin updating. Under state law towns must reexamine their master plan at least every 10 years.
“It directs everything we do right now,” Koch said.
“It’s our roadmap as a governing body, and it is informed by our residents, which is the best tool government has to understand what matters most to our residents,” Cole added.
One item that may appear in the plan is updating regulations related to accessory structures. As many residents now work from remote of fices located outside of their homes, building regulations may be revisited to make the development of accessory structures easier, in cases like installing bathrooms.
Another point Koch raised was working with state legislators to help revise New Jersey’s appropriations cap law, which limits the amount towns can increase spending each year, with certain exceptions.
“We have a lot of money in reserves, we just can’t access it,” Koch explained. The appropriations cap posed a particular challenge when it came to signing a new trash and recycling contract this year.
Each candidate shared an appreciation for the town, noting what they think makes it special.
“Growing up here, you just kind of get to know everybody. You know everyone’s parents, everyone’s parents know you, and that’s a really special thing,” Frissora said.
Blecher said the town’s tight-knit community – as well as its “plethora of amazing amenities” like open spaces and waterfront – makes it special.
Cole and Koch agreed and highlighted Fair Haven’s public school system.
“I love the fact that we help each other,” Cole said. “I don’t think there’s a person in Fair Haven that isn’t doing some type of volunteer work,” she said. “It brings us together.”
The article originally appeared in the September 26 – October 2, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
