Getting to Know Fair Haven Council Candidates: A Chat with Chris Rodriguez

Christopher Rodriguez is an incumbent Democrat sitting on Fair Haven Borough Council. He is seeking re-election to a second full three-year term on the dais. Previously, Rodriguez filled the unexpired term of Democrat Aimee Humphreys when she stepped down due to a move. So, he has served for a total of four years so far, with one full term on council under his belt. Two seats are up for grabs on council. Both incumbents, Rodriguez and Susan Sorensen are seeking re-election.

Name, age, street address

Chris Rodriguez, 47, 134 Buttonwood Drive

How long have you served on Fair Haven Borough Council?

Four years

What prompted you to run initially?

There were damaged roads and curbs on my street and wanted to get involved in the town to improve our infrastructure.

Incumbents: What do you consider your greatest accomplishment in your tenure on council?

My greatest accomplishment is to find time for the community and observe my obligations while still being a good parent to my exceedingly patient children and husband to my wonderful wife.

Tell us about your volunteer work in and out of the borough.

I have worked with the cub scouts, recreational sports, volunteer days, Arbor Day events with the Shade Tree Commission and Foundation of Fair Haven events. and Your favorite charity organization and why. My favorite charity is Monmouth Conservation Foundation — I am a trustee, and my fellow trustees donate our time and money to preserve open space for the next generations in the county.

This year is a presidential election year in a challenging time with the pandemic. Which president in U.S. history do you admire most for overcoming major hurdles/obstacles of his time? FDR

Your favorite motto/quote of that president? I don’t have a favorite motto, but he led our country in a dark time to overcome the Great Depression and did it as a disabled American with plenty of physical obstacles that compounded the situation.

What do you consider the most negative component of your personality? Be very honest.

I have problems with time management.

How do you feel it can be used to a positive end as a council member? For instance: a temper could be a positive viewed as or channeled into passion for a cause.

I find that I don’t cut off activities and shift to other parts of my life when I probably should. This was referred to as the Municipal Black Hole by Jake Rue to me many years ago. The office of serving the public can suck you in.

Who in your family or extended family do you admire most and why?

I admire my wife, Karen Rodriguez. She is a dedicated mother, spouse and financial professional. She is able to balance work and life in a way I truly aspire to. The pandemic has shown a bright light on her capacity to balances divergent aspects in an elegant way.

What was the best advice that person gave you that you have implemented most of your life?

Follow your heart and you can’t go wrong.

Where did you grow up?

Elizabeth, NJ

What about your hometown do you think ultimately shaped your desire to serve the town in which you live? Any specific incident or experience?

As a child, I was a scout and my father is an Eagle Scout. I have been serving the public good since I can remember. I don’t know any other way.

What did you admire most about your hometown?

Elizabeth, NJ was founded in in 1664 by settlers from England. For centuries, it has been home to many different groups seeking a better life in America. I can relate to the pursuit of happiness these folks aspire to. I admire the grit of the people that pass through the streets of Elizabeth on the way to the American dream.

How long have you been a Fair Haven resident?

Eight years

Other than the obvious (good schools, highly rated, PR spin, nice people … things we often hear) why did you choose to make it your home?

My wife and I liked the neighborhood feel and saw the kids riding their bikes to school and we decided this is where we want to raise our family.

What, specifically (incident or even moment) while visiting town cemented your decision?

When visiting the home of Mr. James Greene, the former home owner and an active member in the community, he insisted we come by many times to get to know him and was a gatekeeper of sorts to the next family in his home. His passion for Fair Haven was palpable and that was it for us.

What is your professional career?

I manage financial technology.

What do you think is the most misunderstood perception about your line of work?

Most folks don’t generally know what technologies power finance.

How do you think dealing with this misperception makes you better equipped to serve the public?

My skills in finance are directly applicable to my role as a council person. I am not sure the lack of understanding of my professional endeavors impacts my role that much.

Incumbents: What do you think is the most misunderstood aspect of local municipal officials’ work and/or character?

I think that people sometimes lose sight of the fact that we are a community of 6,121 people in town. This is a large number of folks with differing views.

What measures do you think you have taken to change that or make it better understood?

I try to provide analogies and examples of the broad perspectives of our residents and that one size usually doesn’t fit all.

Fair Haven Borough Council members are volunteer public servants. There is no pay or health benefits involved. It is also a very time-consuming job that requires transparency and constant accessibility to the public. It’s often a thankless job. What benefit is there for you, specifically, besides the obvious serving the town in which you live?

I serve because I get enjoyment out of public service. I feel there is no higher calling than public service. When I look back in 40 years on what I accomplished, I feel like very few people will care about my profession but rather appreciate the time and dedication I had to the greater good. This to me is a worthwhile pursuit and is why I serve.

Critical, complicated issues in the borough presently are: facilities, gentrification, affordable housing, seniors. I know the incumbents have mulled these issues repeatedly, but the average resident has not conveyed a distinct understanding of the facts and circumstances. So, that in mind compounded with a retrospective look at the issues, please read the statements and provide thoughtful, insightful answers that may offer a perspective not previously shared.

Facilities

Question Background: Council has been grappling with with settling the facilities issue for years. In recent meetings, it has been agreed among council members that a new police station is a priority. Police have told council members that they are happy with their current location. So, a new plan was hatched in the same spot that involves demolishing what many feel is a historic structure, what used to be referred to as the Youth Center and formerly housed the borough’s segregated school and kindergarten after segregation ended.

Former police chief Darryl Breckenridge went to kindergarten in the building. It hasn’t been brought up in meetings, but word on the street from old Fair Havenites is that preservation of the building is preservation of a big piece of Fair Haven history. Of course, the building is not on the National List of Historic Places, but it holds a lot of history.

It has been well established that the building is a bit rickety and old and in dire need of renovation and mold remediation, though police have been in it for years and remain in it. When the subject has been broached of saving the building and renovating, it has been stated that it’s not worth saving and would be too costly to renovate.

It will still cost a purported tens of millions to demolish and rebuild. Drafting plans also costs a substantial amount of money. Council members have said in meetings, as has the mayor, that new facilities must be agreed upon now.

Question: In light of a new era in office work due to the pandemic and enhanced technology, can you tell residents, in simple terms, why you think think it is necessary to do such a major overhaul? Besides the mold issue, which has been managed, as police are still in the building, even though you may feel you’ve explained it repeatedly, explain again why you feel the facilities project is so critically important right now. Also explain to the average resident how, exactly, it won’t significantly impact taxes.

The Police Department building is not built for purpose; this means it was built for a different purpose and not appropriate for its use.

We explored saving the building in the past. In order for it to serve the police properly, it would all need to be brought up to code (meet current electrical, plumbing, ventilation, and department of corrections guidelines including FEMA and earthquake standards). The price tag to retrofit the existing building was higher than a rebuild adjacent to the current facility and it would take a longer time and still not function properly for its intended use.

When building a new building for the current and next generation, there is a cost to the taxpayer. The costs will be bonded and spread that out over decades so the people of the next generation will share the price load. The current Fair Haven inhabitants will only participate in a portion of the cost.

Affordable Housing

Question background: Affordable housing and gentrification are critical issues in Fair Haven. With a median income level at more than $200,000 per year, and demographics and average income level that have shifted drastically since those who are now seniors moved into the borough, many residents don’t tend to see it as important since the majority don’t need it. Fair Haven was once affordable for most income brackets. That is no longer the case. Change is inevitable and with the demolition of many small homes and replacement with very large, the answer has been “it’s what the market demands.”

Yes, but that leaves out a significant segment of the former population of the borough that was priced out of their homes over the years more and more. Very few who raised families and were raised in Fair Haven have been able to stay.

The borough has yet to meet its affordable housing obligation, as mandated federally, but officials have taken steps to satisfy the obligation with plans for potential future affordable units. Still, those plans are far off and not ironclad, they are tentative promises to the courts.

The original need of 371 units deemed by the Fair Share Housing Committee has been debunked by a consultant hired by the borough to come up with an acceptable plan to satisfy affordable housing mandates. Such consultants are usually quite costly as well.

That number was diminished significantly in the consultant’s report with the most concrete plan in the works for a new mixed use development (where the former Sunoco gas station sat) calling for only a few units: one very low income, one low and another moderately low. In a workshop meeting, for example, it was discussed at length that the units should not have balconies because they can get too unsightly with residents leaving things outside and that parking should only fit normal-sized vehicles, not work trucks, which can be prohibitive. Yet, many of the large homes in the borough have front porches with a full view and driveways.

There has long been a notion that low income housing, or even affordable, is equated with unsightly and undesirables in town. Fair Haven was founded by a low and moderate income population.

Why do you think affluent communities, such as the present Fair Haven, have this perception and have either avoided or tried valiantly to lower, sell off to other towns, or not honor the obligation to provide a fair share of affordable housing? (A personal perception was asked for, not official.)

Please don’t use the schools burden argument, because it has been proven as flawed. IF you had your way, what sort of truly affordable housing for young people starting out and seniors on a low fixed income, would you provide without question — all 371 units?

I really can’t opine on what has been done by previous councils. I have been an active participant in the Fair Share Housing Committee in town and was charged with years of plan development to comply with the NJ State Court Mandate known as Mt. Laurel.

I believe as a mature fully built out community, we have done our best to find interesting solutions like accessory apartments over garages, a Habitat for Humanity project, age restricted zones for seniors and the requirement for a developer at the former Sunoco site to build conforming Fair Share units.

I mentioned above, that we have accessory apartments for young folks and senior housing envisioned in what are called overlay zones. We can begin to meet our Fair Share obligation by deploying the plan and putting ordinances in place to allow for future deployment of these plans.

Seniors.

Question Background: Candidates have continually expressed a desire to keep seniors in Fair Haven to live out their lives. With each year and larger homes, high municipal and school taxes and the demolition of smaller, more affordable homes, it has been increasingly more difficult and unaffordable for seniors on a fixed income, who moved to Fair Haven as low- to middle-income residents when it was much more affordable, to do that. In fact, the senior population has dwindled significantly.

Not only are the taxes unaffordable to seniors on a fixed or even average income, but they also have great difficulty with the upkeep of their homes.

Question: If you had your way, besides tax discounts that are helpful, but don’t make much of a difference for a person on a fixed income, how would you keep them here? How, besides things like the Snow Angels snow removal program and activities and larger-scale programs like Habitat for Humanity, would you propose helping them with maintenance sourced from borough residents? Decades ago, neighbors were known to rally and help neighbors in need with larger, necessary home projects. Again, IF you had your way, what would you do?

This is a difficult issue, nested and complex in so many ways. But there is a bright side. There are many programs in our boro, county and state level.

We can help them be educated on programs like the “good neighbor” program as mentioned in the question above, but also broader programs they are entitled to or appeal to them.

Education with pamphlets, electronic communications and other means would help our seniors stay put for as long as they want to be in the community. Over the years, the Homestead Rebate also know as the Senior Freeze has factored in.

Simply put, we as a community need to do our best to support our seniors and get them the help they want or need to make their lives the best they can be. Its not an easy or straightforward task with the cost of living and recent surge of popularity of the community.

Any other issues you see as critical? How do you propose addressing them?

I have tried to cover as many topics as I can above. I believe that balancing the task of building quality replacement facilities with the cost of construction is a difficult job.

The next council will embark on foundational construction projects that need to fit in with the community today and for the future. It will be a tricky and sometimes noisy process to get to a quality outcome that reflects the will of the people. Previous councils have made progress advancing ideas and designs, but I feel we are at a point where we’ve refined and improved the plans to start making decisions resulting in tangible outcomes.