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newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2007/1114/Front_Page/003.html

Wilson says latest win may be his final race
Mayor re-elected; Democrats hold off council challenger
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer
Election night 2007 in Freehold Borough will go down as a memorable one in history - a night that saw incumbents victorious - and the town's longest-serving mayor deliver what he said may be his "swan song."

What started out as an evening of electrically charged enthusiasm ended up with Borough Council incumbents Kevin Kane and Jaye Sims and Mayor Michael Wilson displaying strained voices choked with emotion, bringing all three men to the brink of tears at times during their victory speeches.

The Freehold Borough Democratic ticket of Wilson, Kane and Sims won the support of voters, with Wilson running unopposed and Kane and Sims fending off the challenge of Republican Ted Miller. The council terms are for three years and the mayor's term is for four years.

Wilson has served as the borough's mayor since May 1985. He received 1,265 votes, according to results posted on the Monmouth County Internet Web site.

Sims and Kane were re-elected with 1,141 and 1,059 votes, respectively. Miller received 791 votes in his bid for a council seat, according to the results posted on the county's Internet Web site.

The victorious candidates gathered at the American Legion, West Main Street. As the returns came in they were announced by Wilson and charted on poster boards by George Maury, who has been performing that task for many years.

Sims' re-election came much to the joy of his wife, Danielle, his mother, Eva, and his family and friends who came to share the wait.

Kane waited for the results with his wife, Ellen, his father and mother, Roger and Barbara, and other family members and friends.

After the results were in, Wilson spoke to the crowd of supporters who gave him a standing ovation at the conclusion of his speech.

"First, I want to thank the voters for doing the right thing," he said. "It's always been a team effort here. I'm lucky I have run unopposed, but this may be my swan song."

Wilson said he has four more years to lead the town and that is exactly what he intends to do.

"I want to lead this town like I've tried to lead it all these years, in a positive direction. If this is my swan song, I want to thank all of you. It's been a great run," the mayor said.

Wilson, 57, noted that he has spent a lifetime in politics in his hometown, beginning with the work he did for Roger Kane, a mayor who he said was honored and revered.

"Then I had the opportunity to be elected to the Borough Council and to serve with Mayor Jack McGackin, who was my true friend, and he died way too soon," Wilson said. "But for the short time he was here, he was a great mayor. After my term, I promise to work for the residents of Freehold Borough as hard as I did when I first became mayor when I was 35 years old, as hard as I can for my hometown. It's always been a team effort with all the council members I have worked with over the years," Wilson said.

"I want to congratulate Kevin Kane and Jaye Sims. I need to say this. Kevin Kane and Jaye Sims have character and they care about the town they were born in, grew up in and have lived in their whole life. I have no doubt that over the next four years they will do what's best for Freehold Borough. Even if this is my swan song I'm glad these guys are with me tonight," Wilson said.

Wilson served on the Borough Council for four years before becoming mayor. He has been an elected official since he was 31 years old.

In his remarks Sims thanked his wife, Danielle, for her support during his serving on the council. Noting that it had been a long campaign, Sims looked at Ellen Kane and said, "Ellen, I think I almost took up residence in your home."

He thanked Freehold Borough Board of Education President Jim Keelan, Debbie Keelan, Sidney Blacknall and Kevin Coyne among others.

"I could never fill his shoes," Sims said, directing his comment to Coyne, whose place on the governing body Sims took when Coyne stepped down from the council. He said Coyne has been a wonderful and trusted adviser and friend.

He thanked his mom, Eva, who he said helped with the campaign.

Speaking to Kevin Kane, Sims said, "Kevin, you have been a good friend and a fine person."

(Continued on next page)

Speaking about Miller, Sims said his opponent cares about Freehold and pursued an aggressive campaign, although he said he did not always agree with some of Miller's tactics.

Sims urged residents to get involved.

"It all starts here," he said. "We need your support."

In his comments Kane congratulated Miller and said his opponent "made us work as hard as we did," adding, "We may lose, but we will never be outworked."

Kane said he and Sims knocked on doors and spoke to residents to get feedback and comments about their concerns.

"I'm here to tell you that politics as we knew it changed a couple of months ago," he said. "There are some holes in our organization and tomorrow we start to fix that."

Kane said he would contact the Freehold Democratic Club and start immediately to campaign, not only for two months a year.

Switching gears, Kane talked about his family and friends.

"They say we're Irish, but I think we're Amish. As soon as something is needed, everyone is here," he said, looking at his wife and mentioning his children Erin, Meghan and Caitlin.

Then Kane spoke of campaigning again.

"We really need to get on it because the next four years starts tomorrow. We need everyone's help. We start with (the votes that went to Miller) and see what they are thinking. I grew up in borough politics and I have been fortunate to have a leader like Mike Wilson. He has run our town for almost a quarter of a century and he knows politics inside and out."

Miller, who was making his first bid for public office, said he believes he made a very strong run for a council seat. He thanked everyone who voted and said he appreciated the help from those who joined him going door to door.

"I must thank everyone who invited me into their homes to meet and speak with their families, neighbors and friends … I can say with certainty that all of Freehold Borough is full of wonderful families, neighbors and friends. I encourage all to please come to Borough Council and Board of Education meetings.

"This community must continue to send a consensus from our families, neighbors and friends. Our elected representatives must address our quality of life issues … We need our council and school board to represent us with us in mind, not outside anarchists and protesters," Miller said.

He added, "The incumbents have failed to offer voters the opportunity for a fair debate. It is reasonable that incumbents provide an honest forum for the voters. It is necessary for incumbents to demonstrate they truly understand issues. And we should not and do not accept the presumptive rule we have today. This is why all borough residents must start thinking about Nov. 4, 2008, today.

"We must work on restoring the two party system for Freehold Borough, we must press hard on our most important quality of life issues, we must stop the outside activists from 'block busting' Freehold Borough, we must reinforce with vigor current enforcement of the rental code and demand a permanent standing rental property committee, we must insist that our streets be free from aggressive day laborers and we have to fight hard to maintain the value of our homes that we work so hard for.

"Freehold Borough is a great melting pot and will become a fine All-American city. We need more 'Vote For' signs and less 'For Sale' signs," Miller said.

[admin]

I thought the above was a very good write up. Take the time to read it.

[Libyan Sibyl]

I read it, just before the letters to the editors when the papers arrived.

Needless to say, they are our elected officials. They need our support and encouragement to make the town better. I never thought any of these people are "bad," but obviously there is a difference of opinion regarding direction of the town and tone towards offenders of the law.

I hope they change their tune about the posters here and decide to grace us with their presence once in a while. This would certainly afford them a medium to address the public (for free), to sound off ideas and receive feedback.

[admin]

libyansybil said:

I read it, just before the letters to the editors when the papers arrived.

Needless to say, they are our elected officials. They need our support and encouragement to make the town better. I never thought any of these people are "bad," but obviously there is a difference of opinion regarding direction of the town and tone towards offenders of the law.

I hope they change their tune about the posters here and decide to grace us with their presence once in a while. This would certainly afford them a medium to address the public (for free), to sound off ideas and receive feedback.

LS,

I couldn't have said it better myself. It is too bad posts like this do not make their way to the site in the beginning of the week when people are more likely to read them.

You are right, not one of them is bad people. Every one of them sitting up there cares about this town and wants the best. It does all come down to ideas. Let's face it, our town has some tough issues that we did not ask for let alone know how to deal with. There is no manual in dealing with the problems we have. Too much of the time it is trial and error.

Sometimes taking hasty actions can be the absolute wrong thing to do. Sometimes it is just the opposite when taking a wait and see approach. We can only hope that the best ideas can be tried and work out.

A far as any of them gracing our presence, I stopped holding my breath quite some time ago. When the people who are friends with the Mayor all bail out at the same time, that is a bad sign.

The ironic thing is that even with all the criticism that has been layed out on this site, all due to differing opinions, I know that many of the site participants have supported the mayor and council, including the ones the governing body does not know, when it counts.

At the end of the day, they are our elected officials. We have to work with them, and they us. Our town is a small one and it is always important to circle the wagons.

If any of the governing body were to come to this site, I know the participants and readers would be happy to have them here. Many have told me so.

Marc has been an exceptional participant. I have had many people tell me that it is good to have him as both a person and a councilman on this site.

With that said, his participation may have unintentionally scared away some other elected leaders. Marc loves a good debate and back and forth. He never shied from it. That could be viewed as a bad example by some. Other elected leaders who read have to understand that they do not need to engage every question or comment leveled at them. There is no need for them to debate.

Simply coming here and letting people know what is going on, or asking for feedback is simple enough. I would bet with even a light participation, most of the regular participants would be on good behavior and respectful of any elected leader who comes here.

As it is we have Andrew who is doing pretty well. I know that Annette Jordan also registered as a user. She has yet to post, but she is on the BOE and a member of the Human Relations Committee. It would be great to have her and others post here.

There is one last point about interaction on this site I have to make. Many times we have all been well reminded that the best thing any person can do is go to council, BOE and other meetings. A web site is not, and never could be, a true substitute. There has never been an illusion otherwise.

With that said, there are glaring differences between meetings and an on line forum. At a public meeting, the council specifically, gets the last word. On this site, participants have the chance to get the last word. That is a good thing. If I were an elected leader, I would embrace that difference and use it to my advantage to really get an idea as to what people think.

This is also a place where citizens can collect their thoughts and really take advantage of getting their points across. Many people simply are not comfortable with talking in public. It is awkward for them and they may not say everything that may need to be said. On this site, that changes-for the better.

[richardkelsey]

None of these people are bad people. I agree with that. Some are craftier -- politically then others -- and some frankly are in over their respective heads.

They are -- however -- your governing body. They have at least taken the responsibility to act -- and I agree you must work with them. If they do not work with you -- then you have to replace them, or put into place a mechanism that forces them to work harder and recognize other voices and opinions.

Honestly -- that is what the LLA and CASA Freehold have done. They bring the rain, they bring the pr, they bring the lawsuits, they bring the protests. They get results, cooperation, and a seat at the political table. It's good politics.

Until you have a vibrant, organized, well-developed, sophisticated second party that makes noise -- you won't get those results. You will get canceled meetings, snubbed debates, scripted events, an all the other things that happen when one party -- either or any party -- dominates.

I have been pretty hard on the Mayor -- whom I have always liked personally. I actually have some very fond memories of his dad -- a long time customer at my parents Coffee Shoppe in town. (He sat in the last seat at the back counter closest to the wall, and was always nice to speak with).

The truth is -- he has reacted on the ground to the people giving him the most political trouble -- the illegals. He told them to bring it on -- and they did. Now they are running the shots as he is in full retreat -- and there is no other noisy group to call for accountability. That too is good politics.

People aren't bad because they play politics -- but people who play politics and don't admit it -- are not very genuine.

The only way to get the government you want is to work for it. You can do that by putting pressure on those in office to take different paths -- or by putting other people in office. But organized you must be -- lest you get hit by a machine that knows exactly how the game is played.

Let me give you an example of good, strong, shrewd politics. (My machine post gives many too)

When the Mayor and Council answered my Guest column, how did they do it? The Mayor took the highest of the low roads taken, and allowed others to take different shots. By writing three separate letters from elected officials -- they were allowed to use about 2100 words -- whereas each writer is limited to about 700-750 a piece. That's smart. That's also why it is hard to debate one versus three, or why making a council public comment is tough as they get the last word, and there are many of them. I suspect the next wave of letters will be the Freehold dem supporter types.

It's all part of organizing and counter-attacking. Mayor Wilson knows this from almost 26 years in elected politics.

The point is -- effective organization. Intelligent organization, and a cohesive, grass-roots strategy is the best way to positively effect policy.