Message from Councilman Matt Adams | December 20, 2023
The Year in Review and a Look Ahead
This holiday season, I am grateful for the faith that the residents of Scotch Plains have placed in my colleagues and me on the Township Council to guide Scotch Plains on its path forward.
Together, with our Township Manager’s office, the various chiefs and department leaders, our citizen boards, commissions, and committees, and all of our partners from both the public and private sectors, each and every day we are working hard to carry out the people’s business.
Your trust, engagement, and continuous stream of positive ideas are greatly appreciated.
In this community, every opinion counts, and every resident has an opportunity to voice his or her thoughts. I can assure you that your elected representatives are always listening and that you are being heard. From the little things to the big, transformative things, there is a lot in store as we turn the page on the calendar once more.
There is an undeniable burst of activity on many of the issues that, for too long, seemed to be stalled in our community. Everywhere we turn, positive momentum is evident: the long-awaited revitalization of our downtown is underway, we are reimagining our parks and recreation spaces after decades of unfortunate de-prioritization, creating a culture where small businesses prosper, finding creative ways to eliminate the disproportionate tax burden on residential property owners, and ensuring that all people, regardless of their background, feel welcomed and supported in Scotch Plains, to name a few priorities.
Residents likely know that our Township Council breaks up the responsibilities of local government by assigning liaisons from the elected governing body to the various departments and boards that make our community run effectively and with the input of all stakeholders. I am proud to serve as liaison from the Council to the Scotch Plains Police Department, Recreation Department, and Environmental Commission. When the governing body reorganizes next year, I will continue in those liaison roles.
Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to comment publicly on what I see as priorities for those divisions of local government in the year ahead.
Police Department
Public safety is the number one priority of our local government. Everything else that we strive to achieve is only possible with it. We are truly blessed in Scotch Plains with exceptional first responders, and as I have said before, as a son of a retired Police Chief, serving as liaison from the governing body to the Police Department is a particularly special privilege. As we continue planning for a new, state-of-the-art emergency services headquarters in town, I am especially grateful to have a front row seat to the process of giving the men and women who serve and protect us a 21st century facility from which to carry out their critical function for our community.
Last week, I enjoyed a holiday lunch with the leadership of our Police Department to discuss the budgetary priorities of the department for the year ahead. This has grown into a tradition during my time on the Council. I listened intently as the department’s leadership outlined for me the ways that we can further harness technology to combat crime and make our community even safer. I also heard the need to increase our department’s ranks, as retirements and long-term leaves of absence because of such things as illness and military service risk increasing overtime payments and could ultimately decrease the number of officers on the street if not addressed through the hiring process.
Accordingly, in the year ahead, I am calling upon the Council to continue hiring new police officers. In just the last couple of months, we have added a new officer from the alternative route program, and we currently have another officer finishing up his training at the Union County Police Academy. There are plans to hire more officers, and I will enthusiastically support that effort with my vote.
In speaking with Police Department leadership, I have learned that the best way to fill our ranks is through lateral transfer from other agencies and through the so-called alternative route program, where candidates desiring to be a police officer fund their own training as a continuation of their education. Our community then does not have to bear the expense of sending that officer to the academy. Such officers are also immediately available to begin patrol upon hiring, rather than waiting several months to allow the officer to obtain his or her training.
Police Chief Jeffrey Briel and Deputy Police Chief Al Sellinger are constantly monitoring available lateral and alternative route candidates wishing to work as police officers in Scotch Plains, and residents should expect that these will continue as preferred methods of growing the Police Department’s ranks because of the efficiencies they create. I have the upmost confidence in our Chief and Deputy Chief, who bring decades of experience to their roles and an intimate knowledge of our town.
Scotch Plains is an incredibly safe place to live and work. The public should also know that the Council closely monitors when crime does occur in our community and works closely with the Police Department to deploy additional resources to address specific issues that arise. Members of the Council receive weekly briefings of police activity, and in the case of significant incidents, when they occur, real time information. This allows us to assess and deploy resources within our control to the Police Department and other divisions of local government to address issues when they arise.
In speaking with Police Department leadership, one of the best ways to tackle the type of trends that the Police Department does see in our community – trends similar to other upscale communities in New Jersey (like auto theft) – is through crime prevention and deterrence technology.
In this year’s budgetary process, I expect the Police Department to request funding to significantly scale up the already robust crime prevention and deterrence technology deployed throughout town. I enthusiastically support such measures.
The public should know that while even one auto theft is something we want to avoid, Scotch Plains enjoys one of the lowest auto theft rates in Union County based, in large measure, on the investments that the Council and Police Department have made in crime prevention and deterrence technologies over the course of the past several years. Some of these technologies are seen, and some of them are unseen. The public should be rest assured that we continue to remain on the cutting edge to combat crime, vigilant against new threats, and that safety – again – is our number one priority.
Recreation
2023 was a banner year for parks and recreation in Scotch Plains. Dreams became a reality as the Council’s re-prioritization of our aging parks portfolio came into full focus with projects like Greenside Playground and Green Forest Park materializing in a very real way. While there are some finishing touches that still need to be made at each site, it is unmistakable that both parks have been dramatically transformed in a positive way. I hope that the balance of the already approved 2022 parks and recreation capital projects can be finished in the coming months so that we can build the momentum, and bring our parks and recreation portfolio in town to even higher heights.
Scotch Plains has also continued to partner with Union County to create a new park at the entrance to the trails into the Reservation off Glenside Avenue, and to advance the planning for the comprehensive rehabilitation of the playing fields at the Vo-Tech Campus off Raritan Road. Look for updates on those projects from the county soon.
Mayor Josh Losardo said it best at a recent Council meeting when he noted that seeing families flock to places like Greenside on a Fall afternoon reaffirms the Council’s belief that we must continue to refresh, renew, and revitalize our parks portfolio, as well as partner with Union County and the Board of Education to allow these places of public accommodation to reach their fullest potential. Now is not the time to pump the breaks on these projects; it is time to move full speed ahead.
As part of the 2024 capital budget, I am calling on the Recreation Commission and Recreation Department to make recommendations to the Council for further large-scale park overhauls like the ones already underway. In particular, Haven Park and Kramer Manor Park are in need of significant attention. I would also like to see plans that continue the enhancements at Green Forest Park now that the new Pickleball, Tennis, and Roller Hockey/ Futsal Courts are set to open in early Spring. One park at a time, we will bring our parks and recreation portfolio in line with the type of amenities that our community deserves.
Environmental Commission
For those unaware, the primary task of the Scotch Plains Environmental Commission is to review land use applications to the town’s Zoning Board and Planning Board to ensure that our community continues to engage in smart growth and always prioritizes the elimination of negative environmental impacts. The Commission’s dedicated volunteers review all facets of land use applications before the boards, such as impervious soil cover, stormwater management, and tree preservation, to ensure that our beautiful natural environment in Scotch Plains is preserved and protected for generations.
As Scotch Plains experiences a renaissance of smart growth and the revitalization of our downtown central business district, the work of the Environmental Commission is more important than ever. Every time a land use application is filed, the Environmental Commission diligently pours over it to ensure that it properly accounts for environmental impact. Where applications contain deficiencies in the area of environmental impact, the Environmental Commission writes detailed memos to the land use boards to ensure that their approvals are made conditional upon the appropriate level of environmental stewardship expected for development in Scotch Plains or rejected altogether.
The community should be rest assured that the Environmental Commission leaves no stone unturned in its mission to ensure that only smart, environmentally responsible growth takes place in Scotch Plains. The Environmental Commission will continue to represent the gold standard for environmental stewardship in our state.
In the year ahead, I expect that the Environmental Commission will play a critical role in ensuring that the master plan process to be undertaken by the Planning Board – a legal requirement that will kick off in Scotch Plains in 2024 – ensures that green technology and other indispensable components of environmental stewardship are engrained in the roadmap set out for the next decade and beyond in our town.
The Environmental Commission, working alongside such partners as the Green Team, also spearheads environmental cleanups and other opportunities to educate the community about how to achieve a more environmentally conscious lifestyle. From stream cleanups to Earth Day activities, the Environmental Commission has always and will continue to ensure that Scotch Plains remains among the most environmentally friendly communities in New Jersey. Faced with realities like the challenges presented by climate change to municipalities like ours, the work of the Environmental Commission is more important than ever.
I sincerely wish all Scotch Plains residents a joyous and safe holiday season, and a healthy and prosperous new year. As a reminder, the Township Council will publicly reorganize for 2024 on January ___, 2024 at ____ p.m. in Council Chambers at the Municipal Building.
