Committee Candidate Profile: Pat Olsen

Middletown Patch reached out to the four candidates running for two Township Committee seats and asked them questions about themselves and their vision for the community. 

Republican incumbents Gerard Scharfenberger and Kevin Settembrino are being challenged by Democrats Pat Olsen and Linda Baum. Polls open on Tuesday, Nov. 5. 

Below are the responses from candidate Pat Olsen:

Can you please provide a brief bio, including how long you’ve lived in Middletown and your ties to the community?

I’ve lived in Middletown for close to half a century. In my late teens early twenties I lived on Swimming River Road, a little later on Crestview Drive, then on First Avenue off Bray Avenue on the wet side of highway #36 to my present location of 42 years in another section of Port Monmouth on what used to be called the dry side of highway 36. My children grew up there. I have 6 grandchildren two of which still live in Middletown. I’ve also worked at Brookdale Community College since 1978 first as a student math tutor and now as a Math Learning Assistant and Adjunct Math Professor.

What are your motivations for running for elected office?

The handling of Super Storm Sandy is what motivated me to run this year.  I’m not a politician I’m just a resident whose not happy with the way thing are being handled. When I look at neighbors who are living on Social Security Benefits and Disabled Veteran Benefits barely making ends meet, struggling with the loss of over half their house trying  to put their lives back together while fighting at almost every step of the way with insurance companies, mortgage companies and the township, it  makes me realize how lucky I’ve been and the need to step up and help in any way I can. This family I’m referring to lost the first floor of their home, walls, floors, kitchen, bathroom, living room, heating system, hot water, etc. They can’t get the letter from the township of significant damage because their house is over evaluated. They didn’t have the money to hire an appraiser to get their house reevaluated to its present value and because of that they don’t qualify for the letter of significant damage which requires over a 50 percent loss. Common sense tells you if you have a two story home with 3 bedrooms upstairs and a bath the first floor which has everything else is definitely valued at more than the second floor but because they are over assessed they don’t quality. They just got another denial letter  a couple of weeks ago from the township. This is just wrong. I want to form a flood committee to address all the concerns of our residents that are going through this nightmare, where we will address all aspects of this recovery process for all of our neighbors who need our help to recover from this devastating storm.

What new ideas do you have for Middletown?

I would like to conduct a township wide audit to help eliminate wasteful spending, organize a flood committee to help Sandy victims with their recovery, reduce taxes by eliminating pensions and health benefits for part time political appointees. Eliminate no bid contracts. Create incentives for new businesses and actively pursue these business to help increase our tax base. Explore ways to reduce health insurance costs while providing quality health insurance. Televise Township Committee meetings on free cable access television to keep our residents up to date  and aware of what’s going on in their local government. 

What challenges does Middletown currently face, and what do you plan to do to address them?

The recovery from Super Storm Sandy is going to take years. It will be  one of the most challenging things to face Middletown for the next decade. If we don’t help the Bayshore residents to recover from this storm we will face higher taxes in the future because of lost revenues from residents who just give up and move because they just can’t get the help they need to repair or replace their damaged homes. I’m part of that group so I have an added incentive to work even harder on their behalf’s. This will take a whole lot more than just Linda and me, it will take a team of concerned and motivated residents to come together and form a flood committee to address these problems and help our fellow neighbors stay in town.

Property taxes are always a concern, especially in New Jersey. How can Middletown control taxes?

I addressed this in question two so I’ll summarize here; Conduct a township wide audit to eliminate wasteful spending, create incentives to attract new businesses to increase our tax base, find less costly health insurance, eliminate overpriced no bid contracts to politically connected firms, establish a citizen finance board to reduce costs and generate revenue, organize a flood committee to help Sandy victims with all aspects of the recovery process.

What accomplishments in your private life translates positively to a position in public office?

I raised two children as a single mother while putting myself through college and graduate school on grants, scholarships, and a fellowship. Earned an MBA and  was inducted into a national honor society for finance and an international honor society for economics while working full time and raising two children on my own. I will put that same energy and dedication into helping Middletown become an even better place to live.