Kintzing, DiCarlo Pitching Three-Pronged Plan

Gerry White knows it’s not an easy time to serve in local government.

So when the West Deptford Democratic Party chair recruited–not without a certain amount of controversy–a pair of new candidates for township committee in Hunter Kintzing and Denice DiCarlo, he saw it as a big deal.

“As chairman, I think we’re fortunate to have two really good quality candidates to step in, in difficult circumstances,” he said.

DiCarlo and Kintzing said they're not simply the new blood, but are a force for change on township committee.

“[West Deptford is] at a crossroads now–change is needed, and what that change looks like is an important thing,” Kintzing said.

The change they're planning comes in a three-pronged campaign platform: slashing the annual salary of committee members by half, eliminating benefits for elected officials–something that’s already been proposed by the current committee–and placing a moratorium on any new debt.

While halving committee members' salaries and eliminating benefits won't have a huge effect on the bottom line, both have at least symbolic significance–even after a pay cut, West Deptford has the highest-paid elected officials in Gloucester County.

“It’s up to us to make a statement,” Kintzing said.

The bigger step is slamming the door on bonding any more debt, as next year the township faces a jump of more than $3 million in debt service payments on the $105 million general fund debt. DiCarlo compared it to a corporation weighing the cost of borrowing.

“Until you have your financial house in order, I don’t know that you can issue any additional long-term debt,” she said.

Kintzing said that beyond campaign promises, he and DiCarlo are looking to the long-term for potential growth.

He pointed specifically to the white elephant that is the Eagle Point refinery, something he passes every day en route to his law office.

“There’s so much opportunity for that property, and something has to be done with it,” he said. While that’s not necessarily a project that the he and DiCarlo, as part of township committee, could complete immediately, it’s a spot he wants to focus.

“We can start in year one. We can start on day one. We can start now,” he said, emphasizing the need to be proactive when it comes to bringing in new businesses and growing the tax base.

Kintzing said it’ll take a total effort to maximize that growth, and said he and DiCarlo would look to create a comprehensive redevelopment plan for the township, using all the tools at their disposal to make West Deptford more attractive to business.

“No stone can be left unturned,” he said.

The pair pointed to their professional careers–Kintzing as a real estate attorney with Duane Morris, and DiCarlo as a director of finance for Comcast–as potential strengths in working out deals to bring in more businesses and bulk up the township's ratables base. DiCarlo said it’s the combination of their skills that’s key to the process.

“We’re strong together than we are separate,” she said.

DiCarlo added that, given her financial background, she'd like to see more financial constraints and a firm, long-term financial plan in place for West Deptford–something that goes out at least five years, if not further.

She called the township’s financial troubles a challenge, but likened it to some of the projects she’s taken on at Comcast, where she's had to tackle difficult situations and spot the solutions within them.

“A lot of simple things can be done,” DiCarlo said, adding that she’d like to see the township’s full-time employees involved in the process, since they’re able to have a direct effect on the day-to-day operations.

Ultimately, though, the pair said they're not looking to cut things for cutting's sake–they said they want to maintain the quality of life in the township, something they see as essential. DiCarlo mentioned everything from the annual summer concert series to the sense of safety and community provided by RiverWinds as representative of that quality of life.

“How do you place value on that?” she said.