Arace and Hankins For Manchester, New Jersey

 

My Choice for Manchester Mayor and Councilman:

Robert Arace & Joseph Hankins

Here, in Manchester, we were fortunate. We had an honorable elected mayor, Ken Palmer, for more than six years. The Palmer era was genuinely an era of Competent, Responsive Government for the residents and taxpayers of Manchester. On June 24th, Mayor Palmer resigned his office to become a Superior Court judge. Manchester’s loss is the judiciary’s gain, and I wish him well in his new position serving all the people of Ocean County, and New Jersey.

Immediately following Mr. Palmer’s departure, the Township Council appointed one of their fellow Councilmen, Robert Hudak to serve as Interim Mayor until the November 2, 2021, General Election. Mr. Hudak was appointed (not elected) to Council in June of 2019 (then, elected in 2020). He has since announced his intention to run in this election to complete former Mayor Palmer’s unexpired term, which ends December 31, 2022. As a government employee and taxpayer funded contractor for more than 20 years, Mr. Hudak has derived virtually all of his income from us; The Taxpayers. He’s currently employed, full-time as a Planner for neighboring Toms River Township, approving numerous development projects, subdivisions and high-rise buildings.

While I do not begrudge anyone earning a living—provided it’s an honest living—I do question the honesty of a politician who claims to work for all the residents, but seems to place the needs of developers over those of his neighbors.

Mr. Hudak’s campaign slogan is: “Continued Good Government”.

Well, ‘good government’ is subjective, at best. A sitting mayor can claim he oversees a ‘good government’ simply because many (but not all) of the town’s departments function at what HE considers to be optimal. I mean, let’s face it: a 1997 Pickup with 245,000 miles might still “run good”—but it’s likely to have some rust spots, and fogged headlights, and need to be replaced.  Don’t we deserve more than what he calls ‘good’?  For all our tax dollars we spend, don’t we deserve a Great Government? Can’t we strive for Better, rather than be comfortable with just “good”?  Of course, the answer is yes. We can and Must do Better.

Rob Arace and Joe Hankins have a plan that’s Better For Manchester. They will work with the Council to improve our land use process and zoning, and curb over development.

They will continue to listen, and respond to the concerns of our residents. They will be accessible and available.

They will work to improve services for our Seniors and families, and  recreation for our younger residents.

They will look at an issue of concern and say “let’s find a solution”, rather than the usual “it can’t be done” response from the current mayor.

They will monitor and enforce Pay-For-Play laws.

They will support our men and women in our Police Department and Emergency Services Division—and they won’t ignore and forget our Volunteer Firefighters, as has happened recently.

They will work with our representatives in Trenton and Washington, DC to enhance and improve services for our thousands of military Veterans.

Rob Arace is employed as a Principal Consultant for a firm which works with Fortune 500 corporations on many logistical, technical and financial issues. You might say he’s a Professional Problem Solver. He’s also an entrepreneur and small business owner. He’ll bring intelligence, experience, honesty, determination, new ideas, and a heart for public service to the Mayor’s Office.

Joe Hankins is a retired Manchester Police Sergeant, and a volunteer Fire Fighter for more than 40 years. He’s also the Vice President of the New Jersey State Fireman’s Association.

Joe’s decades of service to our town have made Manchester a Safer place to live. As a Councilman, Joe will work with his fellow Councilmembers and Mayor Arace to make Manchester an even Better place to live.

For our family and friends, for our small businesses, for our children and grandchildren, I ask you to join me in this right and noble endeavor to elect Robert Arace and Joseph Hankins..and make Manchester Township Better for ALL of us.

Thank you.

Frank J Nicolato

Frank J Nicolato, President

Manchester Regular Republican Club

Vice Chairman

Manchester Republican Organization