Governor Heads to West Deptford for Sixth Town Hall of 2011

On the heels of a budget address that included flat municipal aid and a slight increase in school aid, Gov. Chris Christie will head to traditionally Democratic South Jersey–and the power base of state Senate President Stephen Sweeney–for one of his signature town hall meetings in West Deptford Thursday.

The town hall, which will be at 2 p.m. at John Paul II Learning Center’s gymnasium on Hessian Avenue, will focus on the governor’s reform agenda, which deals with the education system, budget reform and the state’s underfunded pension and benefit system.

Christie will also talk about what he touted as the “New Normal” in state budgeting, which includes “realistic assumptions and plans about spending, continuing down the path of fiscal discipline and making tough choices in order to fund the core priorities essential to New Jerseyans.”

The lone Republican on the township committee, Sean Kilpatrick, who broke two decades of Democratic-only local government this past fall, said he’ll be in the audience, and said the town hall will be an interesting experience for him, as a newcomer to elected office.

“It’s going to be really good to hear to hear what he has to say, especially considering it’s his first time speaking with the public since delivering his budget speech,” Kilpatrick said.

Kilpatrick also said Christie’s decision to come to West Deptford speaks to the governor’s ability to see how and where the political scene is shifting in the state.

“It definitely says he’s paying attention,” Kilpatrick said.

Kilpatrick, who is chair of the township’s utilities department, said he thought there might be a chance for him to speak with the governor one-on-one, and said he’d probably talk about the basics of local government, given the upcoming release of municipal, county and school aid figures.

The initial invitation to the town hall went out over the weekend to various organizations, and the governor’s official Twitter account opened it up to all comers this evening, though seating is limited. The doors open at 1:30 p.m., and the governor is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

Christie’s last town hall meeting in Gloucester County was in Washington Township this past November, where he touted his agenda before a packed house at the township municipal building.

Outside that town hall, retired teachers protested Christie’s education plans, which include sweeping changes to the tenure system.

This will be Christie’s sixth town hall of 2011.