Politics & Government

Manalapan Candidate Profile: Ayesha Chaudhary

Chaudhary is running for a full term on the Manalapan Township committee.

Manalapan voters will go the polls on the Nov. 5 to fill three empty seats on the Manalapan Township Committee. The all-Republican Committee has two candidates vying to reclaim their seats, including Deputy Mayor Jordan Maskowitz and Committeeman Jack McNaboe. 

Maskowitz is running for a full three year term and McNaboe is running for a one year term. McNaboe filled Don Holland’s seat, left vacant when he resigned from the Committee in early March. Holland’s term was set to expire in December 2014, which is why a one year term is empty. 

Another three year term is available as Committeeman Andrew Lucas’ term was set to expire and he chose not to run for reelection. Before the term expired, however, Lucas chose to resign from his position. On the Republican slate, Maryann Musich is running to fill this seat . 

Find out what's happening in Manalapanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

On the Democratic ticket, Ryan Urgo and Ayesha Chaudhary are running for the full terms and David Goldstein is running for the one year term. 

All of the candidates were asked to answer the same questions about themselves and their political stances for Manalapan Patch. Patch will be running these candidate profiles up until the election. 

Find out what's happening in Manalapanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

AYESHA CHAUDHARY CANDIDATE PROFILE

Name: Ayesha Chaudhary

Age: 43

Education: Allama Iqbal medical school, Doctor of Medicine (MD)

Occupation: Medical Doctor

1. Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your background and why you should be elected.

I have dedicated my life to public service as a doctor for 15 years. I pride myself in being an advocate not only for my patients, but also their families. Whether it is delivering good news to a patient, tending to more than 300 victims during superstorm Sandy or simply comforting a family in their time of need, I have done so with compassion, dedication and, above all, humility.

Professionally, I have developed protocols to decrease medical errors and improve quality of health care while being cost-effective. I have been awarded two health care hero awards for going above and beyond to serve the patients and the community. I am a member of UNICEF’s fight to end childhood hunger. I will bring the same compassion, dedication and humility to serve the residents of Manalapan.

2. What do you think distinguishes you from other candidates? What do you bring to the table?

As a resident of Manalapan for nine years and someone who has a stake in the town’s future, I decided to step up and offer my services to the town. I will offer residents forward-thinking ideas with the promise to establish a new culture of openness, transparency and the common touch of someone from outside the political process.

For too many years, we have seen insufficient economic growth, poor long-term planning which has led to an over-congested Route 9, a police force that has been decreased by 25 percent while our population has increased, and a culture of political cronyism on the Township Committee for far too long.

Support for our police must never be bargained away at the budget table. But most importantly, just as a doctor is most accountable to the patients she treats, as an elected official, I will never lose sight where my primary obligation lies — to the residents of Manalapan.  

3. What are the most pressing issues facing the community today? How would you approach and resolve these issues?

Clearly property taxes are our foremost priority. I appreciate recent efforts to keep property taxes stable, but that has come at the expense of a 25 percent reduction to our police force and total depletion of our budget surplus. We need to reevaluate how we manage municipal finances. The key is to have a longer-term view, one that re-prioritizes smart economic growth and generates rateables that keep property taxes steady without savaging public safety or money we need for budget emergencies.

There has been a complete lack of initiative by the committee in proactively seeking out these new rateables, without which we have no good options to keeping property taxes stable. The master plan for Route 33 was revised to include new uses like data centers and supermarkets, but nothing has come since. Our Economic Development Committee suffers from a lack of resources and leadership from the Township Committee. We propose to engage local business people, along with representatives from zoning, planning and finance, to put a more robust plan for economic growth in place. We need to build a marketing plan for Manalapan and develop a local Chamber of Commerce, bringing local business owners to the table. 

We need to conduct a townwide operational audit to eliminate wasteful spending by having an unbiased, outside entity assess budgets and expenditures to eliminate wasteful spending. I intend to reexamine all vendor contracts to ensure they are competitive. This would help the town spend money more efficiently and effectively.


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