ABERDEEN – There will not be a contested primary election on June 8 as two residents – one Democrat and one Republican – seek their political party’s nomination to run for mayor of Aberdeen Township in November.
The candidates seeking the nominations are Fred Tagliarini, the incumbent Democratic mayor, and Republican William Sullivan. The winner in the November general election will begin serving a four-year term as mayor in January.
Sullivan said he has lived in Aberdeen Township for six years and in Monmouth County for 30 years.
“I am a public servant by nature. My father was the school board president in Middletown for years. My mother was always involved in campaigns and community activism. I want to help people and my community,” Sullivan said.
“I feel the younger generation needs to get involved and take part in the community government they live in. When you buy a home and raise a family, you are investing in the community. I feel I can make a difference,” he said.
Sullivan, who works as a correctional police officer, said he is running for mayor to help bring a fresh look and perspective to the township. Among the issues he wants to address if he is elected mayor in November are the community as a whole, spending and property taxes.
“We have a younger generation moving into town. I have small children. I believe we need to get to know our neighbors and get back to how I grew up. It seems no one knows each other,” Sullivan said.
“More community events are needed. Secondly, everyone can agree taxes go up year after year and we don’t get more for the dollar. We need to give people much-needed relief.
“The developments are geared toward single commuters, but what the current administration does not realize is that people raise families in these smaller developments. This puts more students in our schools, which burdens the homeowners,” he said.
Sullivan is the president of PBA Local 105, representing approximately 6,000 correctional police officers and parole officers.
Tagliarini has lived in Aberdeen Township for 34 years.
“My journey into public service began like most volunteers. I started with my children and eventually volunteered as a coach or trustee in most of the youth sports organizations in Aberdeen, as well as the Cub Scouts and my local church.
“From that volunteerism, I came to know the then-members of the Township Council, who asked me to serve as a councilman when a vacancy arose in 2008,” he said.
Tagliarini was elected mayor in 2009. He said he been working since then to complete initiatives such as the road replacement program and a neighborhood parks program to renew Aberdeen for the next generation.
“I have decided to run again because that work is not done; we still have nearly a dozen original roads and eight parks left to renovate. I am running for mayor again to ensure those programs are completed,” Tagliarini said.
He said those initiatives seek “to renew Aberdeen’s roads and parks, which were almost all constructed between 1945 and 1967, for our next generation. As residents can see from the seemingly continuous construction around town, these programs are enormous endeavors.”
In 2016, Tagliarini retired after working for 39 years at the Staten Island Advance newspaper. He said that during the past five years he has dedicated 100% of his time to serving as mayor.
He said he takes pride in preventing the development of nearly 1,000 housing units on more than 300 acres of pristine woodlands along Lake Lefferts and instead preserving the land to create the first county park in Aberdeen: Freneau Woods Park.
After working for more than a decade on the township’s finances, Tagliarini said delivering municipal budgets in 2020 and 2021 with a reduction in the local tax levy year over year was an accomplishment.
“This is nearly unheard of in municipal government and it represents 10 years of my work with the Township Council to implement a town-wide redevelopment strategy to expand our ratable base, while simultaneously renegotiating labor contracts, sharing interlocal services, cutting ancillary costs and streamlining our local government without reducing services,” Tagliarini said.
In addition to the mayor’s position, there are two seats on the Township Council available in 2021. There is no contest in the June 8 primary election.
Margaret Montone and Joseph Martucci, the Democratic incumbents, are seeking the nomination of their party, and Republicans Michael Vail and Michael MacDermott are seeking the nomination of their party.
The winners of the two seats in the November general election will begin serving three-year terms on the council in January.
