Politics & Government

Cranbury Township Committee Candidate Profile: Susan Goetz

Patch posed a series of questions to each candidate.

Name: Susan Goetz
Party:
 Democrat 

Why are you running for Township Council? 
Cranbury has been my home for over 30 years. I have raised my children here and now my son and his family live here. I moved here because of the small town charm and the agricultural character. I stayed here because of the terrific schools, the friendly and safe neighborhoods in which to raise my children and the obvious commitment to maintaining the charm of the town. My children are grown and my career is established and I have both the time and the desire to contribute. I believe my background and experience in the technical/environmental field is well suited to the critical issues we are going to be facing in the next few years and I welcome the chance to contribute in a meaningful way.


2. What are three issues most important to you and why?  

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  1. Taxes/Budget control -  All candidates will say they support a fiscal integrity that recognizes the need to keep taxes under control. I also make that commitment. I am a home owner and do not wish to see taxes rise. I am committing to a line by line evaluation of the budgets of each department in Cranbury to look for ways to control costs and commit resources to the areas most critical to essential services. At the same time, as we are facing a significant capital expenditure (Brainer Lake Dam repair) we have to make budget decisions for the long term and must therefore be certain to maintain proper surplus to allow issuance of high quality bonds based on a Triple A credit rating. We must also be careful to provide adequate funding to our first responders and other essential service providers in order to allow the people of Cranbury to continue to receive the services they should be able to expect. Finding these balances will be critical in the coming years. 
  2. Dam/Lake/Flooding Concerns -  Main Street in Cranbury is in fact an earthen dam. The NJDEP inspected and reported that our dam fails to meet basic safety requirements of the State. While we are not looking at an imminent failure of the dam, we are under obligation to repair the dam now. In addition, impacts from the flooding after Hurricane Irene proved how vulnerable many of our residents on Main Street are to severe flooding.  Watching the lake over recent years has also indicated an environmental impact from excess vegetation and siltation which is impacting the overall health of the lake ecosystem, and may further exacerbate flooding  and erosion concerns. Each of these issues are interrelated and will require a careful evaluation of remedial options. My 25 years of environmental consulting as well as an education in  Biology and Environemntal Science will be an added asset to the talent on the Township Committee and will facilitate the dialogue with the engineers and the regulators as we move forward on these essential but costly efforts. Calling on the resources we have within our community to solve these and other problems may allow us to minimize the need for outside paid experts. I look forward to an interactive relationship with the Boards and Commissions as well as maximizing the brain power of the Cranbury community to help solve these problems. 
  3. Revenue Enhancement-  Decisions made by prior Committee and Boards in Cranbury have brought us to a point where we have general control over growth and development within our Township. We have active agricultural land, open space recreation and warehousing that allowed us to maintain the size of our schools and the integrity of our Village,  Yet, as I canvassed the community, I heard often a desire  for enhancements in  the retail opportunities in the Village commercial district and  suggestions to maximize the opportunities that the Route 130 corridor can provide . With the completion of our Master Plan, we have made a commitment to look for ways to increase revenues.,  potentially alleviating a burden on the homeowners to pay for essential services. As a candidate,  at the suggestion of a resident , I met with  the mayor of Haddonfield , NJ to discuss ways they were able to recharge their downtown community. I have met with commercial real estate agents to understand the issues applicable to our particular situation. I also worked for a period for one of the largest international industrial real estate/warehousing  companies.  I  would commit to continuing those dialogues to research ways to enhance our retail growth and revenue enhancement. I believe we need to reach out to as many resources as we can to learn from their success and understand their obstacles so that we can improve our retail/commercial/industrial climate. On a local level we need to look for ways to be more business friendly. While they may or may not be voters,  our business owners are tax payers and I look forward to working with our busness community to understand their issues and look for ways to work for their success. 

Why should residents vote for you?
I have run this entire campaign on a message of "One community with Shared Goals". I love this town and I am ready to take what I know about Cranbury's history and combine it with my professional experience to make certain we move forward with a focus on decisions critical to a sustainable future environmentally, socially and economically. I have walked through nearly all of the neighborhoods in this town and will continue to do this door to door reaching out between now and the election. I have been welcomed by and chatted with hundreds of people, learning much about the various "Cranbury expereinces"  and the desires for the short and long term future of our community.  I have been described as "collaborative person" and believe this style will be beneficial to allowing the Committee to function well.  Throughout this campaign I have attempted to get my message out to the voters through these personal meetings, my web site (www.susangoetz.com) a Facebook page (Susan Goetz for Township Committee) as well as direct mailings to all voters.  Those efforts, combined with the door to door canvassing nearly every weekend since the campaign began has, I believe,  allowed the voters to get to know who I am and what I can give to the town. Finally, my experience in both business management and environmental resource management and redevelopment will be valuable in addressing the critical issues facing our community. 


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