Woolwich: Help us help you… by voting.
Residents: last year, you embarked on a journey with us to rid Woolwich of Mayor Alan Schwager and Deputy Mayor Frank Rizzi. Your voice was heard at the polls. You supported us with a large plurality, a mandate for change.
We ask that you recognize the power you have to affect change in your community by voting for Natalie Matthias and Jeremiah Hawkins.
This was always a two-year campaign for change. Maybe you’ve recognized the holdovers of the Schwager administration are alive and well, maybe you haven’t. Between his hand-picked professionals, staff, and three elected members of the Schwager team still in place, former Mayor Schwager has been pulling the strings for the past 11 months – that’s 11 months since you voted him out of office. Despite the fact that we are public servants, having served in local government, we have been stymied at every attempt to bring best practices to Woolwich, practices to improve service to residents. Since it wasn’t Schwager’s goal to provide the residents with transparency and best practices, it’s logical that it’s not the goal of his team and hand-picked successor.
The township committee form of government allows the majority to select a mayor for a one-year term. You might not know you don’t directly elect your mayor. Upon departing, Schwager installed as mayor the weakest of the three left on his team, Jordan Schlump, so that his directives could be carried out. Schlump, disenfranchised in 2017 by his party, told us he wanted to be free of Schwager, to make a difference for the residents, and that he’d work with us. His word was not his bond. He withdrew his support from us and was selected as mayor in January 2018 by two other teammates, not elected by thousands of residents.
We know we’re reaching many more residents by writing a letter to the editor than we could at the twice-monthly Township Committee public meetings. Residents are too busy to attend meetings unless they have a pressing issue. There is a pressing issue – your work is not done until you have rejected the rest of the Schwager team. That includes rejecting this year’s two hopefuls: Beth Sawyer and Craig Frederick.
Thank you in advance for your consideration of Natalie Matthias and Jeremiah Hawkins for Woolwich Township Committee. They desire to serve the public; they’ve done it for years.
With them as our partners in local government, Woolwich can achieve great things, including: transparent, open government; preservation of open space; standing together to demand our fair share of state funding to keep property taxes under control; and implementing smart business growth plans to build our local economy.
You have a big choice to make on Tuesday or when you vote by mail: continue the failed administration of Alan Schwager or vote to improve your community by rejecting his puppets, like you rejected him last year. The choice is yours, the time is now. Thank you in advance for your support of our goals for Woolwich by supporting Natalie Matthias and Jeremiah Hawkins.
Vernon Marino
Committeeman, Elected 2017
Term 2018-2020
Gina Marie Santore
Committeewoman, Elected 2017
Term 2018-2020
