Nothing has caused more consternation in New Jersey towns in the past year than affordable housing. Verona, and many others in the 26th state Assembly district, are being compelled to allow the construction of hundreds of new units of housing. Construction of this magnitude could overload schools, infrastructure and municipal services.
Both state Assembly seats in the 26th district are up for election this year, so MyVeronaNJ.com decided to ask all the candidates what they intend to do about affordable housing if they are elected. The candidates are Republican incumbents BettyLou DeCroce and Jay Webber, and Democratic challengers Christine Clarke and Verona resident Laura Fortgang. Our first question, last week, asked the candidates what they would do to provide tax relief. Assemblyman Jay Webber did not respond to last week’s question and has again not responded this week.
MyVeronaNJ.com is partnering on this series with MorristownGreen.com, an independently owned local news site that is also read by voters in the 26th legislative district. Every Friday until October 25, we will send the four candidates a question that they must respond to by noon on the following Tuesday. The candidates’ responses are listed in the order in which they were received, and have not been edited in any way, whether for grammar, spelling or length.
QUESTION 2: Since the collapse of the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), towns across NJ26 have lost control of affordable housing issues to the courts and have spent tens of thousands of dollars on plans and remedies. Should oversight of affordable housing return to the state, and if so, how?
Please click on the arrows to see all the answers.
