Candidates in Fanwood lock horns over tax rates and redevelopment

As they campaign for a pair of open borough council seats, Fanwood's Democrats and Republicans have argued over who will do a better job of managing taxes, maintaining community services and redeveloping the downtown district.

The two Democratic incumbents, Donna Dolce and David Valian, are promoting a shared-services study with Scotch Plains that the borough council commissioned this year. The study is examining all municipal offices in both communities to see where there could be savings by combining services and is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.

"As far as shared services is concerned, we've been leaders in this," Valian said. "As soon as the economy started to get very difficult, we knew we had to do a full-scale study on shared services. If the study comes out with some interesting answers, I want to be there to complete the work."

Another key issue the Democrats are touting is the downtown redevelopment plan. Over the last year, the council has been working to redevelop a 6.5-acre plot on South Avenue across from the train station. The council helped purchase the land and divide it into separate lots, selling portions of it to private developers.

The Republican candidates, Mike Szuch and Robert Manduca, disagree that the land purchased was in the best interest of taxpayers.

"Unfortunately our current council is very activist," Manduca said. "These guys blow out the budget by spending almost $2 million on this ill-advised real estate purchase. Not only will we have to start paying interest on the note, but if you know anything about toxic sites, it could cost us $800,000 or $900,000 to clean that up."

The council's goal was to create a downtown area much like Cranford's and Westfield's where residents can walk to shops. The borough bought the site, which also includes the Livingston-Wilbur building, a former machine parts factory, for $1.4 million. Private consultants are conducting tests on the land to determine the level of contamination before a developer can purchase it.

So far, developers have built luxury condominiums with commercial stores underneath on much of the land.

"We have the proven leadership to move Fanwood in the right direction," said Dolce, the council president. "And because of this proven track record with the downtown redevelopment and shared-services study, we want to keep going."

But Szuch agreed with Manduca's opposition to the land purchase and said he wants to bring back a small town-style of government by providing services while keeping taxes low.