TO THE EDITOR: Bedminster Mayor Larry Jacobs and Committeewoman Renee Mareski, throughout their tenures on the Township Committee, have been confident and responsive leaders for the township.
They encourage and deliver opportunities for active community engagement and make certain that suggestions from community members are heard and that local issues move toward resolution.
In the midst of ongoing power grid failures in the community, Jacobs, Mareski and the Township Committee have obliged reps from the power company to appear at several public meetings to explore what can be done to improve service availability and reduce restoration times.
The latest opportunity for amplified public input was on Sept. 16. As has been the case each time Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) was included on the Township Committee Meeting agenda, this meeting was well-advertised and drew a large number of residents, who were encouraged to ask questions, voice opinions and enter into the public record the personal impact of the frequent outages.
Similarly, many in the community have experienced poor internet service, and the Township Committee again worked with reps from the internet providers and local homeowners associations for a new cable provider fiber network, which is now in the process of being built out at no cost to subscribers.
Over the last five years, at least three condo fires have devastated local residents – February 2021 in Village Green, November (Thanksgiving) 2021 in Four Oaks and the recent April 2024 fire in Crestmont Highlands.
Without hesitation, Jacobs, Mareski, and the Township Committee jumped right in to spearhead recovery efforts for all displaced residents, including working with the fire companies for quick responses, setting up collections and donations and simplifying permitting and reconstruction processes for rebuilding damaged units.
During the COVID-19 pandemic as well, Jacobs, Mareski and the Township Committee guided the community through crazy and unprecedented times – providing continuous updates, virtual meetings and donations for out-of-work families.
More recently, Mayor Jacobs has connected with mayors of neighboring towns to address increasing car thefts, burglaries and crimes in the community and has worked with the Township Committee to increase police surveillance and enact added penalties for these crimes to discourage them in Bedminster.
The consensus and cooperation that Jacobs has built among Bedminster and neighboring towns has led to investment in ALPRs (automatic license plate readers) that have already thwarted auto theft and burglary attempts.
Jacobs and Mareski have spent the better part of 20 years on volunteer boards within the Township. This is evident in their leadership.
Jacobs formerly lived in The Hills, and Mareski still does. In supporting the interests of Bedminster Township as a whole, they always take into consideration the unique needs of The Hills communities.
While there are many more aspects of advocacy and governance that I can add to this stellar list of accomplishments and initiatives, I will close with this reminder. Bedminster delivers great services to residents – all this and continued affordable property taxes under the leadership of Jacobs, Mareski and the Bedminster Township Committee.
This is a no-brainer. I encourage all to continue to support Larry Jacobs and Renee Mareski in re-election for Bedminster Township Committee.
JEFFREY S. LEONARD
Wescott Road
Bedminster Township
Editor’s note: This Letter to the Editor originally appeared in The Bernardsville News.