PLUMSTED – Township officials and members of the public heard from 12th District Assemblyman Alex Sauickie at a recent township committee meeting.
Mayor Robert Bowen noted that the 12th District has an office on Route 539 in Plumsted. Sauickie celebrated one year since being chosen to fill the seat of long-time Assemblyman and former Mayor Ron Dancer who died on July 23, 2022. Sauickie, a former Jackson Councilman faced former Jackson Councilman Scott Martin and Plumsted Committeeman Dominick Cuozzo in a Republican Convention election last year.
Sauickie went on to win his seat in last year’s general election.
“I want to personally thank him not only for his help just recently with getting the PILOT (program) residents (at the Lennar development) but since he took office 11 months ago, keeping the district office here in Plumsted on Route 537/539 – but just his availability to us,” Mayor Bowen said.
Mayor Bowen said, “he’s had meetings with us and he’s been to public events and we see him fairly regularly. District 12 is bigger than just us. He lobbied to keep Assemblyman Dancer’s assembly assignments which include agriculture and food safety, military and veterans’ affairs, tourism, gaming and the arts and so a lot of the work sometimes gets done on the committee level and you are either able to encourage things – but once it gets cleared from the committee it can get a lot harder once it gets to the floor of the assembly.”
Sauickie spoke about his work during his first year saying, “the things we have been able to get done I think are the best example of those you elect, listening and actually representing you. The things we’ve been able to accomplish particularly regarding the concerns with Lennar really started with residents coming out asking for those they elected for help.”
“There was great cooperation between my office who represents all of you and the state and all your municipal leaders. We’ve had multiple meetings with everybody up here. The mayor and I have met several times. I met with several residents and the end result is exactly how this should work,” the Assemblyman added.
“This is the greatest honor of my life to represent district 12, Plumsted and the other 13 municipalities that I represent. It is about representing all of you and standing up for you where we need to. Trenton can be an interesting place,” he added.
Plumsted Mayor Robert Bowen, standing at left, joins 12th District Assemblyman Alex Sauickie at a recent Township Committee meeting. (Photo by Bob Vosseller)
He said when he came into the position through unfortunate circumstances, he had some predisposed thoughts about “what going into Trenton would be like. I think many of us think the same way with things being so polarized particularly at the federal level.”
“I will give some glimmers of hope that it is not that bad,” he added giving the example of cooperation regarding the legislation involving Lennar residents in the township came about. “It became obvious very quick that we needed to jump on that and see if we could include the folks that were included in that (PILOT) program given the similar needs and the topic,” the lawmaker said.
Sauicikie noted that he called the Assembly Speaker and asked if that could be included in the bill and he got a call back 15 minutes later “and he said it was in. That is how it got done. It really is possible to find common sense in Trenton across the aisle. I do look for common sense across the aisle and when you find it is great to see things move.”
Since being in office, Sauickie has moved 90 bills which he said was a pretty good number “but it isn’t the number – it’s the quality of those bills and for someone who is in the minority (party) within the Assembly I’ve gotten some really nice momentum whether it is helping veterans or helping farmers preserving land, thinking twice as to where we put warehouses – which is a big one that I’ve been focused on,” he added.
Sauickie stressed, “when there is common ground, those things tend to move pretty well. Our office that is on Route 537 and 539 which is next to Dunkin Donuts, you are welcome anytime. You can call for an appointment I’m there most days of the week. We do offer constituent services so if you have a problem with DMV or unemployment whatever it might be for some reason when our office calls, things move.”
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