By John Burton
OCEAN TOWNSHIP – It has definitely been a learning curve for freshmen state Assembly members Joann L. Downey and Eric J. Houghtaling, both Democrats, as they get their footing in Trenton and in their district. But at nearly the 100-day mark of their two-year term, they believe they’re on solid ground, working for their constituents.
At this point, “It feels really nice to be part of the process,” Downey said from her legislative offices on Ocean’s West Park Avenue. She did acknowledge, however, “It’s taken a lot longer than we hoped,” learning to maneuver the halls of power.
Taking their seats in January, Houghtaling noted “It was overwhelming…It takes you quite aback,” when you think about the history and responsibility of the role. “It’s really something,” he observed.
“The biggest surprise was winning in the first place,” Houghtaling said, which both would admit.
The two Democrats pulled off a surprise victory last November defeating eight-year Republican incumbents Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande. The campaign got contentious and aggressive toward the end, with the relatively newly formed 11th District, which is seen as somewhat more Democrat-friendly (now including such municipalities as Red Bank, Long Branch, Asbury Park and Neptune), going for the two neophyte Democrats.
In that race, “We were confident we worked as hard as we could,” to win the votes to secure the victory, winning seats for the Democratic majority, in what had been an exclusive Monmouth County Republican legislative block.
The 11th District has 18 municipalities: Allenhurst, Asbury Park, Colts Neck, Deal, Eatontown, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Interlaken, Loch Arbor, Long Branch, Neptune City, Neptune Township, Ocean Township, Red Bank, Shrewsbury Borough, Shrewsbury Township, Tinton Falls and West Long Branch.
As it stands “We have as good a relationship as we can,” with their Monmouth County GOP legislative counterparts, Houghtaling believes.
He is a recently retired 39-year union member electrician who had served as a member of the Neptune Township Committee, including as its mayor. Houghtaling, a father and grandfather, continues to live in Neptune with his wife.
Downey, who is originally from Hudson County, is a trial attorney who grew up mostly in Freehold Township where she still lives with her husband, an Ocean County Community College history professor, and daughters ages 5- and 6–years-old. This is her first elected office.
Downey currently serves on the Financial Institution and Insurance, Regulated Professions and Women and Children committees. Houghtaling sits on the Agriculture and Natural Resources, Labor and Telecommunications and Utilities committees
Now in office, the two share offices in Ocean and Freehold for constituent services and have begun working on some issues that they see as priorities and have begun appreciating the complexity which their district faces.
“It’s been one thing after another,” Houghtaling said. “We’re just jumping in to find out what’s going on before we make any decisions.”
“I think we know one thing for sure,”, Houghtaling discovered in his short time in the Legislature’s lower house, “every aspect of state funding is underfunded.”
That is particularly true of public education, and particularly of two public school districts in the 11th: Red Bank and Freehold Borough, the legislators said.
According to Houghtaling’s and Downey’s office, due to continued flat funding from the state, their district’s schools are underfunded by $18.8 million for the 2015-16 school year on top of the $17.5 million from the prior year.
The state has continually shortchanged those two districts, the legislators say, impacting the districts’ ability to continue to provide a thorough and efficient education.
In Freehold, the issue is literally a concrete one, as the school district looks to address a way to come up with the needed $34 million to renovate an aging and outmoded school structure. Voters in the district have twice rejected a bond referendum for the construction money. And Downey said she appreciates the concerns of already strained taxpayers. Now the issue is to try to find a way to build that school, she said.
“We cannot wait for the school funding to get resolved,” she said, calling the Freehold case “a crisis situation.”
The two have begun looking at the opioid addiction problem rampant throughout the state. Heroin addiction is on the rise, clearly, but what needs to be addressed, as well, is the proliferation of prescription pain medication that is greatly contributing to the epidemic. Downey has been working with colleagues, looking at ways to have doctors and administrators more accountable for those prescriptions.
Here in Monmouth County, horseracing, a long staple of the area economy, has been in tough straights in recent years. The legislators have been in discussions with those who run Freehold Raceway, which is in their district, and Monmouth Park, located in the 13th District, for means of reinvigorating these important businesses.
“Yes, we do have different interests than other parts of the state,” Downey pointed out. “And we’re working hard to make these interests known, and advocate for Monmouth County.”
