Politics & Government

Manalapan Candidate Profile: Ryan Urgo

Urgo is running for a full three year term on the Democratic ticket.

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.

RYAN URGO CANDIDATE PROFILE

Name: Ryan Urgo

Age: 32

Education: Master Public Affairs & Politics, Rutgers University, BA in Psychology, Rutgers University

Occupation: Healthcare Industry Professional

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

I am a graduate of Rutgers University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in public policy. I have been employed in the health care sector for most of my career, with recent experience in relationship management, contract negotiation, certification as a Six Sigma project manager, and reaching consensus with opposing points of view — a quality that is desperately missing at all levels of government.

For the past two years, I have been vice chairman of the Manalapan Finance Committee, where I helped lead a team to approve a detailed set of budgetary recommendations to make better use of our tax dollars. As someone with nearly 12 years in business and via the finance committee, I know firsthand that we can do better.

Achieving our goals requires a more strategic, long-term vision. We need to be more proactive in maximizing township resources and subcommittees, and we need better management of our budgetary goals, instead of just muddling through each fiscal year, one year at a time.

At the same time, we have seen a consistent pattern of cronyism in town and it is time to restore an ethic of integrity and accountability to Manalapan. I firmly believe the Township Committee needs a fresh set of eyes to stop the excesses of single-party rule, to provide much-needed balance and to restore accountability to the public -- not to fellow members of one's political party.


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

I got into this race because it is time for a new type of experience in Manalapan — one that is forward-thinking, transparent, and stresses business instincts over “business as usual” and an insider culture. As we have seen, given recent controversies in town over land deals and tired battles over public personalities, the only beneficiary of single-party government is the party itself.  As someone with extensive private sector experience in the type of areas that lend themselves perfectly to local public service, I would enter office with a fresh perspective, unencumbered by preconceived notions about what can and cannot get done.  I believe I could apply more project management skills and business instincts to the Township Committee in order to empower our subcommittees to put a comprehensive plan together for attracting the right type of ratables. We also need to continue to preserve open space — but to do so based on merit, not based on political connections.

Finally, we need to address the crony culture mentality that has left many residents incredibly disillusioned about local government, as well as the lack of  initiative on the committee members’ part to actually deliver on their plans. Rhetorically, we may agree on the same ideas for stabilizing property taxes and growing the tax base, but the difference is that there has been a history of all talk and very little action on these issues. Meanwhile, neighboring towns such as Marlboro and Freehold Township have received statewide recognition for their economic development plans and preservation of quality of life. There is no reason Manalapan should be any different.  

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

On the issues, in order to keep property taxes stable, while minimizing congestion, we need new, clean ratables with a light footprint, and sadly they are in short supply. Instead, what we have had in recent years is short-sighted management that has left residents with a series of zero-sum trade-offs; for example, either taxes go up, or we make huge cuts to public safety (notably a 25 percent reduction in the police force since the mid-2000s) and to our budget surplus.  Traffic remains a huge problem in town. Our Township Committee has not been thoughtful enough in thinking about smart growth, and ways to alleviate the burden on Route 9 by taking advantage of recently approved uses for Route 33. And through the use of setbacks, this can be accomplished comfortably without overcrowding Route 33 or negatively impacting quality of life for residents near Route 33.   

I would approach all of these issues with a greater sense of urgency than we have seen in town. Despite the harsh partisanship we see around us at the national level, there is little that really distinguishes the political parties from one another at the local level.  The key is all about competent management and execution.  I have a background that will enable me to be more successful in engaging our residents, maximizing all of our township resources, and actually delivering results



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