A conversation with Democratic mayoral candidate Jeff Martin inteRVieW By RoB Anthes ranthes@communitynews.org Democrat Jeff Martin has had a quick ascent to the top tiers of Hamilton’s municipal government. Martin won election in November 2017, one of three Democratic councilmen to be elected in a municipal Blue Wave that wiped out a decade-long Republican stranglehold on municipal government. It was Martin’s first run for elected office, as it was for his running mates Anthony Carabelli, Jr. and Rick Tighe. Now in his second year on council, Martin currently serves as council president, and won his party’s nod to run for mayor of Hamilton Township. He faces Republican Kelly Yaede, an incumbent who has served as mayor since November 2012. Martin earned his bachelor’s degree from The College of New Jersey, a juris doctor from Rutgers University School of Law and a master’s of law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. After graduating from law school, Martin served four years in the U.S. Air Force as a lawyer in the Judge Advocate General Corps. After being honorably discharged from the Air Force, Martin worked for Farmers Insurance for five years. He currently works for Borden Perlman Insurance in Ewing. He is an active member of American Legion Post 31. Martin and his wife Scarlett live in the Golden Crest section of Hamilton. Martin sat down with Hamilton Post editor Rob Anthes the afternoon Sept. 17 at the Dunkin on Quakerbridge Road. An abridged transcript of their conversation follows. Hamilton Post: Fire consolidation has been a big issue in the township for years. Last September, council passed an ordinance that would have made consolidation a reality, but the state held it up. The mayor has repeatedly criticized an aspect of that ordinance: a provision that requires a collective bargaining agreement between the fire unions and the township. Looking back a year later, would you have gone about that ordinance differently? How do you plan to complete fire consolidation in the future? Jeff Martin: Absolutely, I would do fire consolidation the same way I have
already done it, which is putting in a requirement that before we submit our plan to the state, there has to be an agreement between the fire unions and the township. It includes how much the firemen will be paid, what their health benefits will be, what the terms and conditions of employment are. I equate it to this: nobody starts a job without knowing at least what their salary’s going to be, whether they’ll have the ability to get health insurance, things like that. To me, fairness here is allowing the town and the unions to collectively bargain. I believe that when you have a fair collective bargained agreement between the union and, here, the township, it’s a win-win for both sides because both sides have been equal participants in negotiating, and you do get a fair agreement between the two sides. Here, unfortunately, you’ve had months and months without any movement seemingly. It still seems like months away from any final resolution. To me, that’s unacceptable. Both sides have collectively bargained before, and so both sides know what they’re doing. I believe that when you have a plan in front of you that could save taxpayers over $900,000 a year, it’s incumbent on the township that gets done and a collective bargaining agreement is reached. HP: Why hasn’t it gotten done then? JM: I think there’s animosity on the mayor’s part towards the union due to a political endorsement that Anthony [Carabelli], Rick [Tighe] and I received back in 2017. She has verbally advocated—if not her, then her administration—for over 20 less firefighters in town. To me, that staffing number isn’t realistic given the drop in volunteers we have. So, you need to make up for that to ensure that our firefighters who are responding
to emergencies are safe themselves, and to be able to appropriately respond to the situation. We see in Princeton for the first time ever having to hire professional firefighters because their volunteer numbers have dropped s i g n i f i c a n t l y. This isn’t an issue just in Hamilton. It’s an issue all over New Jersey and all over the country as well. With the drop in volunteers, to be able to have a fire service that responds in an appropriate manner and a safe manner, you need the staffing levels to do that. I’m comfortable with the staffing as is, which we maintained. We didn’t fire anybody and we didn’t hire anybody. It’s a number that’s safe both for the firemen and for the residents in this town. HP: The animal shelter has been a major topic in the township over the last year. Due to the prosecutor’s investigation, the council subcommittee investigation and the state attempting to revoke the township health officer’s license, the reputation of the animal shelter has been harmed. What would you do to restore the animal shelter to good standing? JM: I think, first of all, we need proactive leadership. What I think many of the residents haven’t seen are any changes in terms of how the animal shelter is run and making sure it’s properly supervised. My understanding is, as we sit here today on Sept. 17, that [business administrator] Dave Kenny is responsible for oversight of the animal shelter. That’s due to not having a current shelter manager and not having a director over that person. Both those positions are currently unfilled. You need to put people in those positions who are going to provide the motivation and the oversight for the employees. The employees at the shelter want to do a good job—I absolutely, 100 percent believe that. But they need the resources, they need
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the support to be able to do that. To me, so much of that is just leadership driven and making them know there are people there who are looking out to make sure the shelter’s run the way it should be and they have the support of the administration to do so. HP: One of the major campaign messages from the Republicans over the last decade, going back to the John Bencivengo administration, is their record on stable taxes. Is that something that you envision continuing? JM: First of all, it’s a farce to believe they have this great record on stabilizing taxes. For two years, the mayor proposed 5-percent tax increases in her budget. Last year, I was part of a council that, by a 5-0 vote, cut that tax increase in half after going line by line over the budget and looking at both our revenues and our spending. I’m proud to be part of a council that did that. I’m also proud to be part of a council this year that cut taxes by 1 percent. I think it’s, again, a farce to believe the Republicans have some great track record in stabilizing taxes. Speaking only for myself and my administration, I’ll commit to do the same things I’ve done in my 20 months on council, which is going over the budget line by line, look both at revenues and at spending, and make sure the town isn’t overspending. One of the things I’m most proud of is, I’ve looked back seven years, and last year was the first year of those seven years that the town’s overall debt decreased. This town was repeatedly under the current mayor, increasing our debt and putting expenses on the town’s credit card. What that entailed and what the effect of that was, was lower spending immediately but a higher spending cost into the future. I’m proud to be part of a council that paid specific attention to that, and lowered the town’s overall debt. HP: There are several large, prominent vacant lots within the township. Congoleum right down the road is one of them. As mayor, what would your administration do to revitalize areas like Congoleum or the strip mall next to Cost Cutters on Whitehorse-Mercerville Road? JM: Again, it comes back to proactive leadership. One of my first votes on counSee MARTIN, Page 18
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