2nd Ward Councilman Marc Caswell formerly resigned his office on Wednesday, August 15, 2012. The announcement was made during the Thursday night Mayor & Council meeting.
Mr. Caswell entered office a little over a year and a half ago as an appointment to fill the vacancy created by the election of Joe Accardi – then Second Ward Councilman – to the office of mayor. Last year Mr. Caswell ran, as per New Jersey election law, to maintain his seat for the remainder of the unexpired term. He was then named as the Republican nominee for Second Ward Council this year for a three-year term.
Giving his final council report before announcing his resignation, Mr. Caswell related his personal experience with the Code Construction Office and the difficulties he had to deal with in having permits issued in relation to the selling of his house. After his farewell speech, where he thanked council, the residents, and his wife and children, Mr. Caswell left the dais and Scott Nicol was sworn in as his appointment for the second ward.
After leaving council chambers, Mr. Caswell gave offered his final thoughts, “It has been a pleasure to represent the residents of the second ward and working with all members of council and sub-committees.”
He spoke of the experience in representing the second ward and his constant work to keep taxes down to a minimum, “For the most part it was external forces that affected our taxes. Whenever we would carefully go through the budget and lower taxes, something would always come up, like from the county or the sewage authority, which would raise taxes.”
Throughout his 20-month term as councilman, Mr. Caswell would bring up questions which would impact the property taxes and services in the Borough. Some examples were opposing proposed shared services with the county for certain issues due to the loss of Roselle Park residents to hold municipal officials accountable for any increases passed onto them by the county. Additionally, Mr. Caswell asked about requests from certain departments and would not approve them unless documented research was provided to justify expenses. He also opposed the hiring of a Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) due to the ambiguity of the duties of a CAO listed in its accompanying ordinance and wanting council to be responsible for the departments they chaired. Mr. Caswell even compared his new property taxes in Monmouth County to his current one in Roselle Park, where the taxes will be $1,200 less a year, and related such facts to his council position, giving one piece of advice to Scott Nicol. He closed with stating, “My advice to Scott is to spend as much time as you can with your constituents.Yes, he represents the entire Borough, but the neighbors of the second ward are the ones who look to him and they’re the reason he’s there.”