Where the Scotch Plains Candidates Stand: The Special Improvement District(SID)

On Oct. 25, The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times held a debate at the Scotch Plains Municipal building between council candidates, Colleen Gialanella(D) and Edward Saridaki® and Mayoral Candidates, Mary DePaola® and Kevin Glover(D).

Moderator, Fred Rossi of the Times, asked both sets of candidates if the believe the Special Improvement District(SID) works?

Glover answered the questions by saying, "In the words of Mary… it's(SID) been a failure." 

Referencing the Candidates Forum held by the Tea Party earlier in the election.

Glover added that he believes in the downtown and that it has so much promise, saying a good downtown is essential. He also pointed out that he is the only person on the current council who has owned several successful business.

He called upon what works in the current downtown, such as the Farmers Market which draws in residents from nearby towns, saying the event is successful under great leadership by Apple Blossom owner, Lisa Mohn.

What Glover said the downtown needs is leadership.

DePaola Claified that what she said at the past candidates forum was that the SID was "floundering" due to the poor economy. 

"The SID definitely needs some works and businesses are divided as to where they want to go," DePaola said. 

She added that the former Mayor, Councilman Glover and Bratti wanted to halt spending in the past which is another reason why the downtown redevelopment has been delayed. 

"I don't think that government should ever impose its will on business," DePaola said.

According to DePaola, the township is receiving $100,000 from the  Shackamaxon settlement, money she hopes to use to come up with better solutions.

Following the candidates' responses, Rossi provided a follow-up question as to where they believe the $100,000 would be best spent.

Glover pointed out that with the money they need to pay $100,000 in legal fees for not working together with the people who bought Shackamaxon. 

DePaola said the idea for the $100,000 is to sit down with SID business for what some of their options are. One of her ideas is to have the businesses sit with a planner and choose a more unified look for downtown storefronts.

The council candidates were also asked the same question about the Special Improvement District(SID).

Gialanella said that during her campaign a lot of time has been spent discussing this. 

She said if you speak to business owners there is not a consensus either way on how the SID is doing. Gialanella said she did not want to sound too traditional, but the role of government never to impede business.

The question, she said, should be left up to business owners if they feel this has been successful or not.

Agreeing with DePaola, Saridaki said the funds from Shackamaxon will help to improve the downtowns. He also agreed that the township should not be steering businesses in any direction.

Check back with scotchplains.patch.com for how the candidates responded to the Sewer Utility Fee.

Previously, Patch published a story on where the Scotch Plains candidates stand on consolidation and shared services.