BEDMINSTER TWP. – Two contests are being held for Township Committee in the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election, with Democrats challenging Republican incumbents for a three-year term and a one-year unexpired term.
On the ballot for the three-year term are Republican R. Colin Hickey of Desiree Court and Democrat Julia O’Brien of Stevens Court. Vying for the one-year unexpired term are Republican Rich Costa of High Pond Lane and Democrat Jean Johnson of Pluckemin Park Court.
The unexpired term was formerly held by Republican Renee Mareski, who resigned effective July 31 because she was moving out of state. Costa was appointed by the committee on Aug. 3 to fill the vacancy.
The five-member committee has been all Republican for the last 12 years, although there has been a Democrat on the local ballot for 25 straight years – easily the longest streak in the Somerset Hills. The Democrats scored upset victories in 2005 and 2011 but have not come particularly close since.
O’Brien and Johnson are each running for the second time. Johnson ran with Caroline Carpenter against Republican incumbents Gina Fernandez and Bill Rosen last year, and O’Brien ran with Lawrence McShane against GOP incumbents Larry Jacobs and Mareski two years ago.
All four candidates provided their positions and credentials in questionnaires submitted by this publication.
O’Brien and Johnson both saw a need to reform the township’s administration of the affordable housing program. But they were generally not critical of the governing body, instead focusing on the experiences and perspectives they could provide.
Hickey and Costa each took note of their involvement in an extensive list municipal initiatives and programs. Neither criticized their Democratic opponent.
Backgrounds
The candidates provide a variety of backgrounds.
Hickey, 61, has served on the committee since August 2017 when he was appointed to fill a vacancy, and has since been elected to three, three-year terms.
A township resident for 34 years, he is a venture partner and advisor. He previously worked for 16 years at AT&T in various management capacities, and as a senior executive and founder of multiple start-ups in the technology sector.
Aside from his municipal positions, he is an active member of St. Brigid Parish in Peapack-Gladstone, both as an usher and in support of programs that feed the hungry and help those in need.
“I bring a unique perspective to the job given my experience in the technology and utility industries,” Hickey said. “I understand not only how the technology works, but more importantly, how larger organizations assess capital investment opportunities.
“In addition, having served in executive capacities at both large companies and emerging firms, I have managed budgets, evaluated financial choices and made difficult trade-off decisions,” he said.
“Local politics shouldn’t be a partisan vote,” he added. “At a municipal level, we don’t encounter uniquely Democrat problems or Republican problems, just problems that need to be resolved.”
O’Brien, who did not provide her age, has been a township resident for five years. She retired in 2023 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), where she was the Region 2 Geospatial Coordinator, responsible for data analysis of both natural and manmade threats and disasters.
Prior to joining FEMA, she consulted in the fields of public safety, community planning, and environmental analysis for more than 25 years.
She chairs the Democratic Municipal Committee, serves on the board of the Signal Point Homeowners Association (HOA) and is a past president of the Business and Professional Women of New Jersey. She is also an active volunteer at Christ Church in Summit.
“My career has given me a background in many of the areas that will prove important in Bedminster in the coming years – public safety communication systems and data, environmental issues that will affect our power and communications infrastructures, community planning, and emergency response,” she said.
O’Brien has regularly attended Township Committee meetings for the last three years, and while occasionally posing questions, she appears to enjoy a good relationship with committee members. She said her point of view as a Democrat gives her a different perspective on issues like affordable housing.
“I believe the members have the best intentions for Bedminster, and I believe they would say the same of me,” she said. “What I would bring is a slightly different perspective, not to tear down what has been built but to expand it.”
Costa, 60, has been township resident for 31 years. He is director of interior design at OneWorld DMG/Custom Medical Demonstration Training Tools.
At the local level, he was serving on the Environmental Commission when appointed to the Township Committee, and has also served as president of the Wood Duck Pond HOA and vice president of the Hills Village North Master Association.
Working in the corporate world, “I have developed a strong understanding of how companies operate – both efficiently and inefficiently,” Costa said. HOAs, he said, require “many of the same skills as municipal government: fiscal responsibility, effective management, sound decision-making, and the ability to get things done.”
Those roles have “given me valuable experience addressing community challenges, managing significant projects, and delivering measurable results,” he said.
“I hope to continue serving Bedminster residents by applying my business experience, leadership skills, and commitment to fiscal responsibility to the challenges facing our community,” he added.
Johnson, who did not provide her age, has lived in the township for 15 years, aside from a 2021-22 residence in Delaware. She works as an aquatics exercise and swimming instructor at the YMCA in Somerville, teaching swimming to people of all ages, including special needs students.
Previously, she worked as a copywriter, creating marketing tools for food, travel, and the telecommunications industries and later, as a freelancer, creating websites for legal and healthcare clients.
At the volunteer level, she is currently a DAT (Disaster Action Team) volunteer for the Red Cross. Previously, she was an ice scheduler and team manager for her children’s ice hockey association and helped with the Families in Transition program.
Achievements, Issues
Hickey cited numerous committee accomplishments and objectives, including:
• Holding this year’s municipal tax increase to 3.24% despite health insurance increases and maintaining “one of the lowest tax rates in Somerset County.”
“We need to do everything in our power to ensure that local property taxes stay low, while still maintaining the quality of life all have come to expect,” he said.
• Addressing persistent power outages in The Hills development by “holding JCP&L accountable” and leading it to invest $3 million in infrastructure upgrades that have resulted in “significant gains” in reliability.
JCP&L reported in July that “customers in Upper Hills experienced 52% fewer outages and a 65% reduction in total outage duration, while Lower Hills saw outages decrease by 38% and total outage time drop by 56%,” Hickey said.
• Spearheading the effort to have Optimum bring fiber connectivity to The Hills, which will “vastly improve” Internet service. Nearly half of The Hills neighborhoods now has at least one fiber option for Internet service, and a goal is to raise that level to 100%, Hickey said.
“In addition, areas in western Bedminster suffer from a dearth of any terrestrial broadband providers, which also needs to be addressed,” he said. “We are currently working with a service provider to convince them to pursue an overbuild in the Hills and a build-out in unserved sections of Bedminster, and hope to announce something in 2027.”
• Repeatedly championing the fight against New Jersey American Water’s proposed rate increases, saving “the average family approximately $100 per year.”
• Increasing transparency and improved communications with residents by introducing key technology infrastructure upgrades, including a redesigned township website, a new online construction permitting and inspection platform, and a new alerting system.
• Land use and business measures such as rezoning to allow more flexible uses for the former AT&T office complex on Route 2026, meeting regularly with Bedminster and Pluckemin village business owners to promote vitality, and updating land use ordinances regulating signage, parking and lighting.
Costa cited actions he took as president of the Wood Duck Pond HOA.
He said that when Wood Duck twice lost electrical power, and JCP&L said it was not their responsibility, he arranged for a trailer with generators to show up and provide power to the affected units.
When Optimum offered to bring fiber Internet wiring to The Hills, Wood Duck reached an agreement quickly while certain HOAs “debated they didn’t need it and weren’t sure if they even wanted to do it,” he said.
Wood Duck also had a $5 million community roofing and siding project, and by combining the two, “we were able to eliminate $600K in redundant work.”
“I am committed to ensuring that community projects are managed with transparency, efficiency, and fiscal responsibility,” Costa said.
“I will support our township’s efforts of making thoughtful investments that will enhance property values, improve our infrastructure, and preserve the unique character, natural beauty, and quality of life that make Bedminster such a wonderful place to live,” he added.
O’Brien and Johnson focused their platform on oversight of the affordable housing program.
A few years ago, concerns about how the program was being administered by the Bedminster Hills Housing Corp. (BHHC) led the Township Committee to replace it with a Windsor-based agent, CGP&H. Meanwhile, sales fees have led the township’s affordable housing trust fund to grow to an estimated $3 million.
CGP&H “has been the subject of a number of complaints for the manner in which they administer the program,” O’Brien said. She called for the creation of an oversight board to ensure the trust fund “can be used to help individuals and communities in the program in a responsible manner and oversee the quality of the administration CGP&H offers.”
Johnson said that as a resident of the Pluckemin Park Senior Community, a 55-and-over low- to moderate income apartment complex, she sees “firsthand what many residents here face.”
“While the owners have started making some of the much-needed repairs and improvements that we, as Democratic candidates, focused on in the last local election, there is still much that needs to be done,” she said.
“I have also lived in the Village Green section of the Hills and have heard complaints from residents there regarding the transition to market value and the lack of proper maintenance,” she added.
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in The Bernardsville News.