Hightstown Candidate Profile: Lynne Woods

LYNNE WOODS CANDIDATE PROFILE

Name: Lynne Woods
Age: 51
Education: Two Master Degrees:  One in Education and One in Educational Leadership
Occupation: Teacher with Hightstown High School 

1. Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your background and why you should be elected.

I became interested in local government when I heard that Hightstown was going to Out Source our police department.  The figures didn't add up and I was concerned about how it would affect public safety. As I attended Council Meetings it appeared that out local government was not being transparent with what they were doing.  Since then Mayor Kirson has stated publicly on more than one occasion that the Outsourcing of our Police Department would not have been a good deal for Hightstown. I was determined to not just complain about what was going on; but rather be a part of the solution.  There is so much going on behind the scenes that people have no idea about.  Untruths and inaccuracies are being printed as truths.  I have discovered a handful of men in this town want to make decisions for the town and circumvent the governing body.  I believe this is wrong and will continue to fight for the residents of Highststown and for governing of this Borough the right way, through a Governing body.


2. What do you think distinguishes you from other candidates? What do you bring to the table? 

I am not afraid to stand up and tell the truth. This can be very uncomfortable and even a little scary at times.  However, I was raised to stand up for what is right and do my best to fight wrong when I see it.  I have courage, integrity and determination to fight for the Borough residents.  As a member of this current Council I have been able to work on a bi-partisan team and we have accomplished many positive things for Hightstown.


3. What are the most pressing issues facing the community today? How would you approach and resolve these issues?  

The most pressing issues are not unique for Hightstown.  High property taxes are a problem throughout NJ.  This current Council has reduced local property tax by 1.1% according to the NJ Department of Taxation data.  Considering EW went up 7.4 % in the same time period.  We need to stabilize local property taxes, by working with our County and State representatives.  The school tax is the majority of our tax bill.  We need to examine ways to lower that aspect of our property tax bill.  We also need to work on trying to get a cap on allowing anymore tax exempt property in Hightstown. We can explore consolidation openly. The first step is to talk about  the publics concerns on the issue. Local consolidation  is not a magic bullet some would like us to believe.  For example,  it is reported in August 2013 that the municipal tax rate in the consolidated Princeton was only reduced by 1.7 cents per $100 assessed property value.  This is an annually savings of $126.00 for the average homeowner.  Their Police patrolling force was reduced by 20%.  I would think that Publically safety alone is worth $126.00 a year to most people. Perhaps we should be looking at consolidation and more shared services on a county level.  I think that is where the real savings are.