Post by admin on Jan 23, 2010 10:44:58 GMT -5
This is a very nice write up about my friend and our new councilman......
newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2010-01-20/Front_Page/New_councilman_ready_to_bring_ideas_forward.html
New councilman ready to bring ideas forward
John Newman enjoyed hearing residents’ concerns during campaign in Freehold
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer
John Newman FREEHOLD — The borough’s newest councilman, John Newman, is ready to take on the challenges of a position he spent quite a while working to acquire.
In November, Newman became the first Republican to be elected to a seat on the Borough Council in almost a decade. He was sworn in to office earlier this month.
Newman joins Democrats Jaye Sims, Sharon Shutzer, Kevin Kane, Mike DiBenedetto and George Schnurr on Freehold Borough’s governing body.
Newman, 40, is an attorney with the firm of Trenk, DiPasquale, Webster, Della Fera, Sodono in West Orange. He is currently practicing in regulatory and government affairs. He has appeared before zoning and planning boards, has served as Freehold’s public defender and has clerked with the federal Public Defender’s Office.
He and his wife, Corinne, have two daughters, ages 8 and 5, who attend St. Rose of Lima School in the borough.
Newman was raised in Cranford, Union County, and attended Cranford public schools. He is a graduate of Seton Hall University and Seton Hall Law School. He was previously a partner in the law firm of Abilheira and Newman, Freehold.
Newman recalled liking the borough when he took the position in Freehold and said he enjoyed the idea of raising a family in a small town like Freehold Borough.
“I thought Freehold Borough was very unique with its downtown area. Most towns do not have a downtown. I liked the character of the town and its historic nature. We were looking for a home and we decided Freehold Borough was the place we wanted to raise our family,” he said.
Over the years he has become a bit of history buff.
“My father got me into genealogy about 10 years ago,” Newman said.
He has since researched his own ancestry, which he found to be Polish, Lithuanian and Irish. He recently traveled to Ireland to see where his ancestors, who lived during the Irish famine, once resided.
He noted that he has visited many libraries in the New York, New Jersey area while researching his own lineage.
Newman’s love of history and libraries ties in well with the duties he will be taking on as a councilman. He has been named the council’s liaison to the Carnegie Library and to the Historic Preservation Commission. He will also be serving on the Finance Committee.
He is a member of the Sons of the Revolution, a statewide organization, and has traced his ancestry back the Revolutionary War.
Although Newman’s family has been in the country since the 1600s, he said his children are first-generation Americans on their mother’s side because his wife, who is of Portuguese descent, was born in France.
When Newman was asked why he wanted to become involved in local politics, he said, “I wanted a say in what was happening. I didn’t want to just read about it in the newspapers. I wanted to be involved.”
Newman said he believes that being “out there” among residents with his running mate, Ted Miller, helped him, in part, to win the election in November.
Miller was not successful in his bid for a seat on the council as borough voters split their ticket and elected one Republican (Newman) and one Democrat (Shutzer).
“Ted and I went door to door every weekend, and most weekends it rained,” Newman said with good-natured humor.
He said many people volunteered to assist the Republicans’ campaign, making phone calls on behalf of the candidates.
“I don’t think I realized how important that was or how much that meant until we did it,” he said. “We spoke about issues residents felt were important to them. It was a big learning experience and helped me to see things from a different perspective, learning along the way with them.”
Newman said he and Miller were glad to take residents’ advice.
“They helped me to understand their concerns and I learned the different concerns coming from residents in different areas of the community,” the new councilman said.
Newman plans to hit the ground running as part of the governing body and is preparing to draft an ordinance that will be in line with his desire to make government more open and accessible to residents.
He referred to the recently passed “Citizens Service Act,” which he said was passed in October.
“This act will allow people who are not active on committees (to which they have been appointed) to be removed if they are no longer interested in being on the committee but have not yet resigned,” he said. “I also want to see committee vacancies posted in Borough Hall so people know what is available, and encourage them to apply for a position on a committee they are interested in.”
He also plans to address the issue of bicycling in town. Newman said when he worked in the borough he would ride his bicycle to his law office, but then had to bring it inside his office. He would like officials to continue their efforts to accommodate individuals who ride a bicycle.
He said the Department of Transportation has a program that sends an engineer to a town at no cost to help officials make the municipality more accommodating to pedestrians and bicycle riders.
“They (the DOT) will help us to plan safe walkways and safe passages to school for those people who ride bicycles,” he said.
newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2010-01-20/Front_Page/New_councilman_ready_to_bring_ideas_forward.html
New councilman ready to bring ideas forward
John Newman enjoyed hearing residents’ concerns during campaign in Freehold
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer
John Newman FREEHOLD — The borough’s newest councilman, John Newman, is ready to take on the challenges of a position he spent quite a while working to acquire.
In November, Newman became the first Republican to be elected to a seat on the Borough Council in almost a decade. He was sworn in to office earlier this month.
Newman joins Democrats Jaye Sims, Sharon Shutzer, Kevin Kane, Mike DiBenedetto and George Schnurr on Freehold Borough’s governing body.
Newman, 40, is an attorney with the firm of Trenk, DiPasquale, Webster, Della Fera, Sodono in West Orange. He is currently practicing in regulatory and government affairs. He has appeared before zoning and planning boards, has served as Freehold’s public defender and has clerked with the federal Public Defender’s Office.
He and his wife, Corinne, have two daughters, ages 8 and 5, who attend St. Rose of Lima School in the borough.
Newman was raised in Cranford, Union County, and attended Cranford public schools. He is a graduate of Seton Hall University and Seton Hall Law School. He was previously a partner in the law firm of Abilheira and Newman, Freehold.
Newman recalled liking the borough when he took the position in Freehold and said he enjoyed the idea of raising a family in a small town like Freehold Borough.
“I thought Freehold Borough was very unique with its downtown area. Most towns do not have a downtown. I liked the character of the town and its historic nature. We were looking for a home and we decided Freehold Borough was the place we wanted to raise our family,” he said.
Over the years he has become a bit of history buff.
“My father got me into genealogy about 10 years ago,” Newman said.
He has since researched his own ancestry, which he found to be Polish, Lithuanian and Irish. He recently traveled to Ireland to see where his ancestors, who lived during the Irish famine, once resided.
He noted that he has visited many libraries in the New York, New Jersey area while researching his own lineage.
Newman’s love of history and libraries ties in well with the duties he will be taking on as a councilman. He has been named the council’s liaison to the Carnegie Library and to the Historic Preservation Commission. He will also be serving on the Finance Committee.
He is a member of the Sons of the Revolution, a statewide organization, and has traced his ancestry back the Revolutionary War.
Although Newman’s family has been in the country since the 1600s, he said his children are first-generation Americans on their mother’s side because his wife, who is of Portuguese descent, was born in France.
When Newman was asked why he wanted to become involved in local politics, he said, “I wanted a say in what was happening. I didn’t want to just read about it in the newspapers. I wanted to be involved.”
Newman said he believes that being “out there” among residents with his running mate, Ted Miller, helped him, in part, to win the election in November.
Miller was not successful in his bid for a seat on the council as borough voters split their ticket and elected one Republican (Newman) and one Democrat (Shutzer).
“Ted and I went door to door every weekend, and most weekends it rained,” Newman said with good-natured humor.
He said many people volunteered to assist the Republicans’ campaign, making phone calls on behalf of the candidates.
“I don’t think I realized how important that was or how much that meant until we did it,” he said. “We spoke about issues residents felt were important to them. It was a big learning experience and helped me to see things from a different perspective, learning along the way with them.”
Newman said he and Miller were glad to take residents’ advice.
“They helped me to understand their concerns and I learned the different concerns coming from residents in different areas of the community,” the new councilman said.
Newman plans to hit the ground running as part of the governing body and is preparing to draft an ordinance that will be in line with his desire to make government more open and accessible to residents.
He referred to the recently passed “Citizens Service Act,” which he said was passed in October.
“This act will allow people who are not active on committees (to which they have been appointed) to be removed if they are no longer interested in being on the committee but have not yet resigned,” he said. “I also want to see committee vacancies posted in Borough Hall so people know what is available, and encourage them to apply for a position on a committee they are interested in.”
He also plans to address the issue of bicycling in town. Newman said when he worked in the borough he would ride his bicycle to his law office, but then had to bring it inside his office. He would like officials to continue their efforts to accommodate individuals who ride a bicycle.
He said the Department of Transportation has a program that sends an engineer to a town at no cost to help officials make the municipality more accommodating to pedestrians and bicycle riders.
“They (the DOT) will help us to plan safe walkways and safe passages to school for those people who ride bicycles,” he said.
