‘Tis the season to count blessings, and the BTDC has certainly been blessed to call Fred Douglis its treasurer for the past several years. In fact, not only has Fred graciously managed finances for the committee, but he’s served as treasurer for the past several season’s local election campaigns as well.

 

Fred and his wife, Lisa Bahler (who manages the Bernards Township Progressive Women Facebook page), consider the BTDC more than their hometown political organization. “The best thing about the BTDC is that we have found our people. We had lived here for 15 years or so with a smattering of friends, and then the reinvention of the BTDC [post 2016 election] brought about a group of people we felt we truly share our beliefs with,” says Douglis.

 

Fred earned his PhD. in Computer Science at UC Berkeley after earning his undergraduate degree at Yale. He and Lisa are both computer scientists and work on DARPA-related government contract projects for Peraton Labs (descended from Bell Labs and Bellecore). Beyond Fred’s professional career, he’s an avid bridge player – both in person and online. He also enjoys all the daily NY Times online puzzles as well as LearnedLeague trivia play. Fred and Lisa raised their children in Basking Ridge. They have a daughter who was married about a year ago and is an attorney in New York City, as well as a son who’s a computer science developer outside of Madison, WI.

 

Fred is fairly optimistic about the BTDC’s growth and blue-leaning prospects moving forward.  “We’ve really stepped up and built a solid corps of people.” He contends, “The facts that we helped get Ana Duarte McCarthy elected a year ago, and the county has turned from deep red to one that consistently elects Democrats is a sign of change. What happened at the county level can happen here.” Fred feels strongly that the 2024 Republican sweep of the presidency and both chambers bodes well for a blue wave nationally and perhaps right here, in Basking Ridge, down the road.

 

For now, serving as treasurer is a charge Fred both covets and offers to pass along to others (to no avail!) when BTDC executive committee elections come along. He sincerely enjoys contributing to the efforts of local politics, working with the people involved and even entertains the possibility of running for office sometime in the future. “People have asked,” he says proudly. “I can’t serve while still working, but retirement may not be that far off.” 

 

The BTDC is grateful for Fred Douglis’s service in his current capacity, and would certainly support him passing the financial baton to run for office when he feels ready. Thank you, Fred!

 

Hello! 

 

As Thanksgiving is upon us, I wish to acknowledge and thank Elizabeth (Liz) Graner and Adam Subervi for saying “yes!” to running for Township Committee on the Democratic ticket, to Suzanne Glassman for serving as the campaign manager, and for the work of the Campaign and Executive Committee and many volunteers who gave their time and talent to the cause.

 

Liz and Adam’s commitment and work toward being elected to serve our community is commendable.  They put heart and grit into running, and raised important priorities through their campaign platform. I also wish to congratulate Mayor Jennifer Asay and Committeeman Andrew McNally for winning reelection and hope that we can continue to work together collaboratively to achieve the best possible outcomes for our residents.

 

Our nation has elected a new President, and we anticipate a peaceful transfer of power in January.  Here in Bernards Township I’ve heard from a few residents who feel we continue to be divided, and are afraid of, and uncertain about, the future. One longtime resident shared that her 32-year-old daughter who identifies as queer sent her a text simply saying, “I’m scared”.  I have lived here nearly 30 years and have generally experienced a welcoming community, however, even our town is not immune to bias or unkind behavior.  In that spirit, this is a good time to continue to have candid conversations about perceived differences, to listen to one another, and seek common ground and understanding. I welcome opportunities to have those conversations and commit to being intentional on ensuring Bernards Township is a place where people are respected and valued.

 

At the beginning of the month, I joined the Township Committee at the dedication of the Field of Honor of our military veterans, where residents donated flags in honor of a veteran, and the funds raised are presented to the local non-profit, Community Hope for Veterans which provides solutions for homelessness and other factors impacting veterans.

During November, Environmental Commission volunteers, in partnership with the Department of Public Works, completed rehabilitation of the grounds at the Bernards Township Emergency Management building on Martinsville Road. This is the third location (Bernards library, Meadow on South Maple) that has been redesigned to support the environment.

 

At its November 14th meeting, the Zoning Board of Adjustment,   denied Signature Acquisitions, LLC’s application to remove an existing office building and build two new buildings for light industrial/manufacturing and office space at 150 Allen Road.  The Township Committee will introduce Ordinance 2567 at the November 26th meeting to amend, revise and supplement the code of the Township of Bernards, Chapter 21, “Land Development” regarding uses permitted in the E-2 and E-4 Office Zones.  This ordinance amendment removes “light manufacturing” from the list of uses permitted in the E-2 Office Zone, and removes “storage and maintenance of vehicles operated by or as a business” from the list of uses permitted in the E-4 Office Zone.

 

The Agricultural Advisory Committee hosted the Pumpkin Smash right after Halloween, a fun way for families to recycle pumpkins as feed for pigs and chickens at English Farm, and on November 21, hosted the annual Farmer Meeting for local farmers and invited officials at Farmstead Arts. The meeting included updates from Congressman Tom Kean Jr.’s office and from Katelyn Katzer, Somerset County Office of Planning, Policy and Economic Development.

 

Lastly, BTDC members Liz Graner, Nancy D’Andrea, and me were among the thousands of politicians, government employees and appointees, and exhibitors who descended upon Atlantic City this past week to attend the NJ League Of Municipalities conference. 

 

The event was jam packed with informative sessions and networking opportunities and I attended several presentations focused on Affordable Housing and Sustainable NJ.

 

In closing, I wish all of you a peaceful Thanksgiving holiday, and heartfelt thanks and appreciation for joining me at the Township Committee meetings.

 

Your Voice Matters! You can contact me with township questions/thoughts/comments at (201) 306-0178, or via email at amccarthy@bernards.org. Please note that any correspondence sent to me will be visible to the full Township Committee and Clerk. 

In 2020, with the pandemic raging, our state implemented that everyone would vote by mail and if you didn't vote by mail, you voted via a provisional ballot. The turnout was huge! 73.85% of all voters in Somerset County voted. In 2020, Somerset County backed Joe Biden for President, Cory Booker for Senate, Singleterry and Drake for County Commissioner by wide margins.

 

In 2024, it happened again!

 

Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump 55.39% to 41.55%, Andy Kim beat Curtis Bashaw 55.59% to 41.78%, and Shanel Robinson and Sara Sooy for County Commissioner won by over 10,200+ votes, another wide margin. While our county total turnout went down to 68.22%, the Democrats showed they could keep the county solidly blue.

 

In Bernards Township, this is now the THIRD TIME that a Democrat has won the vote for President in 100 years, starting with Hillary Clinton in 2016. Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump 53.62% to 43.28%. We are NOT a Trump town. We never were! For the Senate, Andy Kim beat Curtis Bashaw 51.70% to 46.33%.

 

For CD7, the race between Sue Altman and Tom Kean Jr. was extremely close in Bernards Township. Tom Kean Jr. beat Sue Altman by 13 votes. The final numbers were 7598 to 7585, 49.10% to 49.01%. We hope Sue stays involved as she has great ideas that will help our district and country.

 

For the County Commissioner race, Shanel Robinson and Sara Sooy easily won the County. Locally, it was a close race with opponents Nick Cuozzo and Rakesh Ganta winning by 2.01%, just 598 votes.

 

As for our local candidates, unfortunately, we had a repeat from four years ago. In 2020, Sophia Chadda and Jon Sandler lost by 950+ votes, or 3.03% of the vote. In 2024, Elizabeth Graner and Adam Subervi lost by 1500+ votes or 5.23% of the vote. While the top of the ticket went for the Democrats, the bottom of the ticket went for the Republicans. This is disappointing.

 

We can still take comfort in knowing that the Bernards Township Democratic Committee, and its supporters, have helped our County turn blue and keep it blue, and that we elected Democrats Joan Harris (2018) and Ana Duarte McCarthy (2023) to the Township Committee. We have increased our voter base by over 60% since 2017 when the BTDC was reestablished, and we are just getting started.

 

Paid for by the Bernards Township Democratic Committee