Mayoral Candidates Differ on Chester Twp. Budget, Services

It’s no easy task to be a small-town mayor, and two men are fighting for that large responsibility on Tuesday in what has become the most hotly-contested race in the area.

Chester Township Mayor Bill Cogger is running for re-election to a three-year seat. A win would make him mayor for the third straight term. Opposing him is 10-year resident Michael Colannino, who is making his first foray into elected office.

In separate interviews with Patch, both candidates agreed on some issues, or some aspects of issues, while differing on others.

Cogger has spent a total of 15 years in elected office, the last six of them as mayor. He’s not ready to throw in the towel yet because, as he said, “there are some things not yet done.”

Having led the town during three natural disasters in 14 months between 2011 and 2012, Cogger has spearheaded the transformation of the township’s emergency management center, and wants to see it to completion.

“I have a great concern about the township’s parks,” he said. “We also have some town employees close to or nearing retirement, and I’d like to be part of the process when we bring in new hires.”

While Cogger looks to extend projects in motion, Colannino said he jumped into the fray because Chester Township needed change.

“It’s time for a fresh perspective,” he said. “This town needs another choice.”

Touting 48.8-percent of preserved land in the township, the candidates were asked to weigh in how much open space there should be, and if any development should be done going forward.

“I moved here 10 years ago because of the way Chester Township looks,” Colannino said. “I wouldn’t be in favor of any kind of development. I enjoy the town as it is and truly love how it looks.”

Cogger’s aim is to preserve a total of 50-percent of land in the township, but isn’t opposed to building on any of the 140 currently open lots of land in town. “We’re in the Highlands preservation area, and we plan to opt-in to the master plan,” he said. “Reaching that 50-percent mark would be a benefit to the taxpayer.”

Regarding shared services, the candidates looked at the issue differently.

Part of Colannino’s platform is to improve township services and to deliver them in a tax-effective manor, he said.

“Government should be run like a business,” he said. “We can bring more efficiencies in the form of sharing essential services. I would analyze every department the township has – department of public works, building, department and so on – to see what can be more efficient.”

Cogger went the other route, and said the township doesn’t have much left to share or receive.

“We have inter-local agreements with the schools and some informal agreements with surrounding towns. Small towns like ours do better (with shared services) than the bigger towns,” Cogger said. “We’ve looked into sharing our department of public works and there just wasn’t much savings. We can certainly examine ways to do more, but there just isn’t much left.”

Cogger mentioned that during his time in office, Chester Township and Chester Borough were on the cusp of combining police departments, which would have saved the township approximately $100,000 per year. The borough decided to not enter into an agreement.

Under Governor Chris Christie, a 2-percent tax levy cap was mandated for municipalities and school districts during the formulation of respective budgets. If a town or school board went above that, voters would decide to approve or deny the budget.

In working to realize an annual budget that falls under the cap, one candidate said more analysis is needed to find solutions, while the other looked toward the future.

“As mayor we’ve reduced our annual budget by $1 million,” Cogger said. “To be most efficient, you need to stay ahead of the curve. Make investments in equipment and resources that will get the job done most efficiently. Chester Township has a very talented electorate; we need to use more resources in the community.

“I’m not fearful of the 2-percent cap,” Cogger continued. “You accomplish that by starting with what you have, not what you want.”

Colannino said he would prefer to look at all expenses to see what could make a budget work better.

“We need to do a thorough exam of all expenses, salaries, benefits, while still providing happiness to our ‘customers,’” Colannino said. “Let’s make efficiencies out of the budget and reallocate resources if needed. How can we change expenses without impacting service levels?

“The current attitude is ‘things are good enough,’” he continued. “We need to strive for excellence.”

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. Chester Township polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.