Candidates call for shared services and televised meetings in Morris Township

Morris Township Committeeman Jeff Grayzel and Cathy Wilson as a Democratic team. Grayzel is up for re-election and so is Republican Committeeman Dan Caffrey. Photo courtesy of the Morris Township Democrats.
Morris Township Committeeman Jeff Grayzel and Cathy Wilson as a Democratic team. Grayzel is up for re-election and so is Republican Committeeman Dan Caffrey. Photo courtesy of the Morris Township Democrats.
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Editor’s note: We present this statement for informational purposes; it does not represent a political endorsement by this publication.  The platform of the other candidates in this race is here. You can hear the candidates speak at a League of Women Voters forum on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014, at 7:30 pm in the Alexander Hamilton School, 24 Mills St., Morristown.

Grayzel and Wilson Kick Off Campaign with Call to Build Community Together

Submitted by the Morris County Democrats

Democrats Jeff Grayzel and Cathy Wilson officially kicked off their campaign for Morris Township Committee on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014, at fundraiser held by the Morris Township Democratic Committee at a home in Convent Station.

Speaking to approximately 55 supporters, Grayzel and Wilson emphasized the need to build community together. Specifically, they promised to:
•    Work with all residents to address common concerns about taxes, traffic, speeding, sustainability, land use and other quality of life issues.
•    Open the governing process to public view by televising meetings.
•    Save money through shared services – like the court merger with Madison that Jeff led.
•    Develop a pedestrian-friendly and bike-friendly town to connect our neighborhoods.

 

Morris Township Committeeman Jeff Grayzel and Cathy Wilson as a Democratic team. Grayzel is up for re-election and so is Republican Committeeman Dan Caffrey. Photo courtesy of the Morris Township Democrats.
Morris Township Committeeman Jeff Grayzel and Cathy Wilson are running as a Democratic team. Grayzel is up for re-election and so is Republican Committeeman Dan Caffrey. Photo courtesy of the Morris Township Democrats.

Jeff Grayzel is running as an incumbent for his third term as a member of the Morris Township Committee. In 2007, Grayzel became the first Democrat to be elected to the Morris Township Committee since 1973, and is the only Democrat ever to be elected to two terms.

In his remarks to the group, Grayzel said, “I first ran for office because of my disappointment with local government hearings that affected my family literally where we lived. There was no real listening, dialogue or public participation in the process.”

Grayzel emphasized how his election as a Democrat changed the dynamics on the Township Committee.

“I broke up the monopoly of power in Morris Township when I got elected and I helped open up our local government to our residents,” he said. “I continue to fight today for openness and inclusion of our residents in decisions on quality of life issues and to have them better informed about what their government is doing. Our local government needs to do a better job.”

In regard to development, Grayzel said, “I’m for progress because progress moves our community forward. I’m not against development.  The quality of life of residents is at stake, and they can’t break ties and move away like an impersonal corporation.”

Finally, he stressed why both he and Cathy Wilson should be elected.

“Our local government has made some improvements in communication to residents because I raised the bar and created incentives, he said. “Cathy Wilson and I will bring our community together. We will each need a ‘second’ on the Committee to allow for more ideas to be voted upon.  Cathy Wilson is a woman who will be bringing lots of great ideas to the table when she gets elected.”

Cathy Wilson ran for Morris Township Committee for the first time last year and garnered 42 percent of the vote against the incumbent mayor. She recently graduated with the inaugural class of Emerge New Jersey, the quintessential political leadership training program for Democratic women candidates, and has been featured in their literature.

In her address to the group, Wilson stressed the importance of having a second Democrat on among the group of five on the Township Committee.

“For me, this is not about partisanship.  It’s about fair representation.  It’s about voice.  It’s about collaboration.  It’s about community,” she said.

She mentioned that the lack of representation applies to women as well, since currently no woman serves on the Township governing body.

She also said, “I have a background in conflict resolution.  I’m trained as a mediator.  I know how to work with contentious issues and with people who don’t see eye to eye with each other.”

Wilson strongly supports televising Township Committee meetings, as most of the neighboring towns do, and is currently collecting signatures on a petition that she plans to submit to the Township Committee this month.

About Jeff Grayzel

On the Township Committee, Grayzel currently chairs the municipal court and parking lot sub-committees, and is also a member of the sewer utility, and communications sub-committees. He was also a planning board member for two years, 2008-2009, and is currently a member of the trails committee.

He has improved communication about Township government affairs through publication of his own Morris Township Update e-newsletter since 2007.

Grayzel is a long-time coach for MNLL little league and MUSC soccer, and he has enjoyed coaching many young children throughout the Township for the past 9 years. He is also a former vice-president of the Washington Valley Community Association and presently sits on the Board of Directors of the Morristown Jewish Center.

Grayzel grew up in New Jersey and his family has lived in the Washington Valley section of Morris Township since 1997.

About Cathy Wilson

In 2012 Wilson completed a master’s degree in negotiation and conflict resolution at Columbia University in New York.  She is a trained mediator and a member of the Academy of Professional Family Mediators.

Wilson is a retired educator.  During her 26-year career in Illinois and Michigan, she was a middle school social studies and reading teacher, a gifted coordinator, and a teacher of students with learning and behavioral challenges grades K-12.  She also worked as an administrator in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.

She serves on the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Education Foundation Partnership. She is also an active member of the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship where she participates in a Women’s Spirituality group, does volunteer work at the Neighborhood House, and recently served on the Capital Campaign Steering Committee.

Wilson has worked as a professional writer and attends Women Who Write meetings.  She is also a member of the League of Women Voters.
She has two grown children and two grandsons, and has lived in Morris Township since 2005.

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