Meet Bob Jones

Meet the Candidates Week of April 28th

By Nicole Sanders | The Save Jersey Blog

In my efforts to introduce candidates to the voting public, I started a weekly column called Meet the Candidates. In essence it is a past day stump speech updated for the virtual world and a chance for candidates to tell the voters why they deserve their vote.

For this week’s column, I am honored to introduce to you Middlesex County Freeholder Candidate, Bob Jones. Jones obtained his bachelor degree in Communications from Rutgers University and his Juris Doctorate from Rutgers Law School. Currently he has his own law firm in Woodbridge, New Jersey, is the Board Attorney for South Plainfield and East Brunswick Zoning Board of Adjustments and is an Adjunct Instructor at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Bob Jones also has a strong political background. He was the South Plainfield Republican Chairman from 2003-2008 and the 18th District Assembly Candidate in 2009.

The following is my interview with Candidate Jones…

Sanders: Some speculate that Barbara Buono will carry the Middlesex County Democrats to victory this year because she has been very popular in the county. Do you think this is true or is it the Republicans’ turn this year?

Jones: Actually, I see Governor Christie and the Republicans carrying Middlesex County. Barbara is known, but I don’t think voters agree with her message. She wants to undo the changes the Governor and Legislature have made—the same ones that are getting our state back on track. That would take us backwards.

When families are struggling, they want to know that the people they elect understand what they are going through. Governor Christie had to make the same hard choices families are making around the dinner table, and I think voters understand and appreciate that.

My running mates and I come from the same mold as the Governor. We want to get the County back on track. One only need read the newspaper to see the problems created by the one-party monopoly the other side has had for the past two decades The people I talk to when I go door to door are telling me that they want a more open, honest county government. The way to get that is to start at the top of the ticket and support Governor Christie’s entire team.

Sanders: Freeholder originally meant men who owned property free of any debts or liens. Staying true to its original meaning, do you feel the current Freeholders have done a good job managing Middlesex County and keeping it free of debt? Why or why not?

Jones: The County needs to do a better job controlling debt, spending, and taxes. Parents should not have to choose between saving to send their children to college and paying their property taxes. Yet with County taxes shooting up each year, families constantly face these types of dilemmas. In my hometown, for example, municipal taxes (the part controlled by the Council) are down 5.8% since 2009. Over the same period, the all-Democrat Freeholder Board raised our taxes 23.1%. The Freeholders need to do a better job on taxes, and the way to do that is to control spending and debt.

I have the type of experience to do just that. When I was on the school board and serving as finance chair in South Plainfield, we were able to cut taxes my first year and keep them flat the second. And we did that without cutting teaching staff or programs. I’d like to achieve the same type of results at the county level.

Sanders: You are an attorney; how do you feel your current employment will help you if elected as a Freeholder?

Jones: I think my legal background will help me get up to speed quickly when I’m elected. On my first day I want to be able to start contributing, and my knowledge of the law will help me do that. I think my background as an attorney will also help out when the Freeholder Board faces complex issues. In my practice I face these types of issues almost every day.

But there’s a lot more to me than just my work as an attorney. When people come to you with a problem, they need someone who is going to try to understand and solve the problem. They also need someone who will follow up. I’ve done that as an elected official.

I’m also the type of person who doesn’t take “no” for an answer when I know there is a better way to do things. In fact, when people tell me something can’t be done, it makes me work harder. A good example comes from my work leading the Republican Party in South Plainfield. When I became the chair in 2003, the Council was all Democrat and had been for more than a decade. People told me it would be impossible to elect a Republican in a two-to-one Democrat town. By 2005 we elected our first two Republicans, and in 2007 Republicans took the Council majority. Our mayor is now a Republican, and we have five out of six council seats. We did that by focusing on getting results for residents and by putting people, not politics, first.

Sanders: If your prospective constituents wanted to reach out to you and ask you questions about your positions or how to volunteer on your campaign who can they reach out to?

Jones: I’m always easy to reach. Right now, I have a Facebook page called “Bob Jones Freeholder” that’s up and running, and our webpage will be up shortly. People can e-mail me (bobj152@aol.com) if they have questions or want to volunteer. To do the job right, an elected official needs to be accessible, so I try to make it as easy as possible for people to get a hold of me.

If you are a candidate and interested in being a part of my weekly Meet the Candidates article, email me at nikisands3@hotmail.com.