Good Evening everyone. First I would like to thank my
wife Kimberly Lucci for her support. Without a strong support structure the ability to
take on the additional tasks required by public service would be impossible. I would like
to thank my fellow council members for the honor they have bestowed upon me in electing me
Council President for 2009. It indeed is a great honor because of the quality of my fellow
councilmen. Bob Albano has served on the council for 24 years now and I consider him one
of the greatest sources of recent township history, an invaluable source of wisdom and
perspective and my mentor since I first served on the council in 1998. Even though Michael
Hsing is not hear today because he taking care of his ailing 91-year old father in Taiwan
I would like to thank him for demonstrating his skills with interfacing with the public
and providing valuable non-conventional viewpoints. With outgoing President Howard
Norgalis I had the honor of first being part of his appointment to the council in 2003. He
has shown his vast financial background and skills, his focus and determination and an
incredible eye for finding the small detail that is incredibly important. Matthew Moench
is my successor as the "kid" on the council but since his election last year he
has shown a willingness to tackle the difficult issues and make unpopular but necessary
decisions.
I indeed view this honor as Council President very highly because of
my strong and vocal viewpoint that Bridgewater in the heart and soul of Somerset County.
We are the not only the geographical center of the county but the economic, corporate and
let us not forget the shopping center of the county as well.
The 33 square miles that now is known as Bridgewater was originally
purchased form a local Lenape Native American tribe. Bridgewater was chartered by George
II of Great Britain in 1749. It was then incorporated as one of NJ’s 104 original
townships in 1798. During the 19th century portions of the township were taken
to form Warren Township (March 5, 1809), Branchburg Township (April 5, 1845), Somerville
(March 25, 1863), Raritan (April 3, 1868) and Bound Brook (March 24, 1869). At the
Middlebrook encampment the first official flag of the US was unfurled after a law to adopt
a national flag was passed by Congress on June 4, 1777. Bridgewater is indeed a very
special town.
Bridgewater is governed under the Faulkner Act Mayor-Council plan
first enacted in 1950 and amended in 1981. 21% of municipalities including Newark, Jersey
City, Camden, Trenton, Paterson and Elizabeth all govern under provisions of the Faulkner
act. The Mayor-Council plan consists of two separate and coequal power centers, each
directly elected by the people; the Mayor as the Chief Executive and the Council as the
municipal legislature. The Council enacts by ordinance, resolution or motion the local
laws which govern the people of Bridgewater and is responsible for approval of the
municipal budget and establishment of financial controls. By these methods the Council
decides "what" the township will do about any particular matter and then the
Mayor decides "how" to do it. The Mayor-Council Plan makes a virtue of the idea
of divided and shared power. Neither Mayor nor Council has the last word in all instances.
The system requires constant consultation between the Mayor and the Council, sometimes
cooperating, sometimes competing and conflicting; always acting as a check and balance on
the other. Hopefully out of this sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile flux comes good
public policy. I view my role as Council President as the person to make sure that the
constant consultation and ensuing good policy do happen.
According to Thomas Cronin a recognized authority on public policy
leadership is "making things happen that might not ordinarily happen, and preventing
things from happening that ordinarily might happen… Leadership is a process that
helps people transform intentions into positive actions, visions into reality". The
quality of leadership of elected officials is not something that is bestowed upon them by
an election or swearing in ceremony. It is the result of implementing disciplined
principles and skills, and their constant evaluation and refinement. From the 10 Habits of
Highly Effective Councils I would like to focus on these particular skills.
Think and act strategically – Be cognizant of but do not
overreact to short term events. As a governing body we are responsible not only for the
decisions that will impact the people of Bridgewater today but the people of Bridgewater
next year, next decade and even next century. This type of strategic planning allowed us
to implement an Open Space plan in 1998 that only passed by less than 50 votes. It also
allowed us to start a long term capital funding plan to help finance construction of our
new municipal complex years in advance of groundbreaking. With the downturn in our economy
we have to look at what our local governments role is and not make short term decision
with long term detrimental effects.
Understand and Demonstrate the Elements of Teams and Teamwork –
the effective leadership is not dependant solely upon the council or the mayor. It is
implemented by our department heads and each and every employee of the township as well as
the numerous volunteers that serve on our various committees, boards and organizations.
Systematic Evaluation of Policy Implementation – Councils, as
do most legislative bodies, frequently fall into the Jean Luc Picard syndrome "Make
it so". They assume that council action equates to policy/program implementation. The
next time council hears about the policy is when a problem or crisis arises. Effective
councils require periodic feedback on policy results and possible policy amendments that
may be required.
Having Clear Rules and Procedures for Council Meetings –Council
meetings exist for the purpose of doing council business. The council has effectively done
this but we must never forget that the council meeting is the public’s opportunity to
directly address the entire governing body. We have been and will continue to be
courteous, respectful and always listening to the public. This ties in with the next item;
Getting valid assessment of the publics concerns and evaluation of
the council’s performance – this cannot be done by looking at election results
or how many people come to a meeting to voice (or not voice) concerns. Our ears have been
and continue to always be open. When people see me at Costco or Wegmans and stop me to say
hello, ask a question or voice a concern their first words are usually "I am sorry to
bother you". That is absolutely not the case. I, as well as my fellow members, cannot
do our duties properly without input from any of our citizens. Therefore, everyone’s
input is not only accepted but encouraged.
Continuous personal learning and development of the council and the
president in particular as a leader.
These are the particular areas I wish to concentrate on to make our
governing body the most effective it can be. Short term projects and concerns like
completion of the municipal complex on budget, expansion of the open space trust fund for
capital improvements, keeping taxes low while maintaining vital township services,
complying with state COAH regulations while still preserving the quality of our community,
as well as others are among our goals for 2009.
Now a vital duty of the mayor is to provide an annual State of the
Township report to the Council and the public. With that said I would like to invite Mayor
Flannery to give her report.
Patrick Scaglione
Bridgewater Council President
Credits: Habits of Highly Effective Councils, Carl H Neu Jr., NJ
Municipalities, October 1997, Wikipedia
