Meet Robert Manduca: Fanwood Republican Council Candidate

As part of our series on Election '09, today we bring you a profile of Fanwood Republican Council Candidate Robert Manduca. Along with Michael Szuch, the two Republicans are up against Democratic incumbents Donna Dolce and David Valian.

Name: Robert Manduca

Age: 53

Address: 59 Arlene Court, Fanwood

Years lived in town: 20

Family info: Wife, Victoria, and daughter, Aly

Educational background: Bachelor's in Economics from College of NJ

Occupation:  VP, Liberty Information

Community/political background:  20-Year Resident, Second Run for Town Council

What do you think are the three biggest issues facing Fanwood this election?

• Livingston Wilbur  (Polluted Property purchased by Council)
• Taxes ( Budgetary/Financial)  
• Public Safety 

Please explain where you stand on each issue.

Livingston-Wilbur Property: Over the objections of Republicans and Democrats alike, Democrat Council Members purchased the Livingston-Wilbur Property in downtown for over $1,200,000. This has had many catastrophic consequences for Fanwood.

Fanwood has lost tens of thousands of dollars in tax revenue this property was paying. The Democratic Council Members borrowed $2,000,000 on a three month revolving note for the purchase of this property. (Oh yes, they agreed to relocate his business too (generous with our money aren’t they). Interest costs are now 10 percent of our town’s budget.
 
Property owner left Fanwood a wealthy man with only a possible $135,000 liability for cleaning up his polluted property. This needs to be investigated. Who was the council trying to protect? Certainly not Fanwood taxpayers.
 
The purchase contract was written so poorly. Fanwood taxpayers are now solely on the hook for pollution clean-up. The Democrat council members naively thought $135,000 would be sufficient to clean-up the site. This was a dangerous gamble that has blown-up in our tax payers’ face.

The State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection now classifies the site as contaminated. This is a more severe designation than the Dean Oil site, which we have struggled to clean up for years! Cleanup of sites classed contaminated routinely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. A gift to taxpayers from our Democrat Council members. They call this “Vision and Leadership.”
Even if the purchase of the Livingston-Wilbur building was a great, once-in-a-lifetime deal, the council’s secretive dealings and unwillingness to allow Fanwood residents to vote on of such a major purchase shows both a contempt for the democratic process and gross insensitivity to the future obligations they are creating for Fanwood homeowners who will ultimately pick up the tab through increased property tax bills.

I was only one of many who warned the Democrat Council against this foolish purchase before it was too late. I don’t think the Fanwood Town Council should be in the real estate development business. They have shown they are terrible at it. If extraordinary circumstances presented themselves, I’d seek the approval of the Fanwood voters before I’d risk millions of their hard earned dollars. 

Taxes: In the past two years, our municipal taxes are up over 20 percent. Our taxes have doubled in the past five years. Fanwood can’t afford another term of Democrat dominance on the Town Council. They make no apology for past spending and are busily making plans to spend more.

Councilwomen Dolce recently boasted about holding expense increases to 1.9 percent, but she voted to raise our taxes 3.9 percent. That’s almost a million dollars extra over and above the increase in expenses. What’s all the extra money for? All towns need a small surplus for emergencies, but to needlessly squeeze additional million dollars out of Fanwood homeowners during difficult economic times is unconscionable. As Councilman, I would be a voice for smaller taxes would seek to keep Fanwood an affordable community.        
 
Public Safety: The one area the Democrats on Fanwood Town Council have tried to economize is public safety. They’ve laid off three police officers, one of the few direct services we get for our municipal taxes. This is but one more case of fiscal mismanagement. By laying off police officers, the number of traffic tickets has plummeted. In other words, revenues from speeding and other motor vehicle fines is way down. Laid off officers don’t write many tickets. Tax payers are making up for this revenue shortfall, to say nothing of the effect on public safety as our town loses its reputation as a town vigilant against speeders. Not that the error of this move is clear, once again the Fanwood Town Council is getting it wrong. As I write this they are currently considering raising traffic fines! 

Is Fanwood better off than where it was 3 or 4 years ago?

By no empirical measure can you say the Fanwood is in better shape than it was 4 years ago. Taxes are way up, revenues from business are down,  the inventory of unsold homes has more than doubled with average time on the market approaching a year. People and business are leaving town, Sovereign Bank, and the Chipwichery to name a few. I promise to be a voice for the return of common sense and fiscal responsibility should I be so fortunate enough to serve on the town council.   .