JACKSON – Elliott Shem-Tov, 54, is leading the Fight For Jackson team as the mayoral candidate. He has lived in the eastern area of the community for 13 years and he wants to bring “change and a new direction” to the township.
An independent Republican, he is up against Mayor Jennifer Kuhn, a Republican, and Brandon Rose, a Democrat, both of whom are profiled in separate articles. The election on November 3 is for a four-year term. There are also two council seats on the ballot.
He serves as a senior business development manager of Enterprise Sales & Corporate Accounts. “Jackson residents want change which is why I am running for mayor. Jackson is going bankrupt. We have lawsuits and excessive spending. When you look at the big things in political leadership it is to keep us okay with the finances and to also keep us safe. The current mayor is backed by the same investors that 90 percent of the town want gone.”
“Historically, Jackson has always been a very safe town and we’ve always had an extensive amount of surplus in upwards of $20 million but not anymore. Now in one short year we have seen murders, we’ve seen my running mate Chris Pollak’s car doused with paint. This is where we are right now. Jackson is in a bad place.”
Shem-Tov described the township as being “a ghost ship floating through the water at high speed about to hit an iceberg and when we do, we are going to sink.” He promised to bring “exceptional leadership skills, direct connection with the people, ability to coordinate departments that work well in a synergistic fashion, build a real balanced budget while properly spending tax payers’ money for everyone’s best interest. Being fair, impartial and treating every person/group in Jackson fairly.”
“We’ve seen our taxes go up. We’ve seen the town in trouble in safety and security. The police department is trying but all they can do is respond. You have people in this town who are very antsy and very angry and its bad. I need to come in and grab that wheel on the ship. Leadership is just direction. To actually stop the boat from hitting the iceberg you need to bring in a whole new town hall. You need to bring in a very solid business administrator, CFO (Chief Financial Officer) that is the core confidence of your fiscal team,” he added.
“You need to bring in a good police chief,” Shem-Tov said noting that he heard that the current chief, Mary Nelson will resign in November at which time a new interim police chief would be named. (Currently, Captain George Vidalis is the acting Police Chief until Nelson’s return from vacation and he could be a contender for this position if Nelson does vacate the spot).
Shem-Tov stressed that the most pressing issue in Jackson is its financial stability. “We have an administration who has been treating the majority of people unfairly by not enforcing our rules properly. The current Mayor who is a real estate agent works with the very same institutional investors that have sold our town out below our feet. The current administration which has technically been in place for the past three years has incurred over 14 lawsuits that is also destroying the town.”
As to the public morale in Jackson, he said it was “in the toilet. People are angry and the anger is turning into hate on both sides. I am the only person in this town that can change that narrative. I plan on using a very hands-on approach to bring people together by having discussion and educating both sides of the community. Accountability must be distributed on both sides which I believe both sides would embrace and be willing to work with me as the current situation is not sustainable.”
“We must have true leadership that will bring this town together and make it one community. As mayor, I can do that. I have the ability through years of proven negotiation skills, people skills, networking skills and the ability to work with an internal team of very smart people that understand how to tackle any job or issue. I am ‘outcomes based’ and work hard on building out the plan to get to the desired outcome,” Shem-Tov said.
Regarding the campaign, he noted it has been, “a long and time-consuming campaign. I started back in January. The campaign has involved utilizing my leadership skills to work with many different personalities and skill sets on this team. We have been reaching out to voters on social media, in person, via mail, texting, print advertisements, group meetings and meeting folks door to door.”
Shem-Tov said “this is a true grass roots campaign not funded or backed by a big political machine or big donors. The outreach has been incredible and the support has been exceptional. We had a previous online poll that had me at nearly 90 percent of the vote (small sample size of 350 people), but the feedback has been tremendous. People want change and they want this current political team that has technically been in office for the past 19 years gone.”
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