Politics & Government
Kilpatrick: 'I'm Still Trying to Find My Way'
The 25-year-old Deputy Mayor said that he's comfortable taking a break from politics until he gets some more personal and professional development.
Deputy Mayor Sean Kilpatrick isn’t ruling out a return to politics.
But at 25, one of the youngest elected officials in the history of West Deptford believes there’s only so much he can bring to the table without greater personal and professional development.
Kilpatrick, who points out that he was unemployed at the time of his candidacy, is hoping that with a little more career experience and possibly an advanced degree under his belt, he will be in a position to reconsider public office.
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“At this point, I’m still trying to kind of find my way,” Kilpatrick told Patch on Monday afternoon, when it was announced that he would not pursue re-election on the Republican ticket for Township Committee.
Still, Kilpatrick said he is proud of his contributions to local government thus far.
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“I’m really proud of the fact that we got involved in settling and putting to bed the 23-year tax cases with Sunoco,” Kilpatrick said. “It was a big albatross hanging on us. Just putting that to bed makes all the difference in the world to the town.”
Just because he won’t be on hand beyond his current term, however, doesn’t mean that Kilpatrick thinks his job is done. He believes the strengths of the town—its “familial sense of community” and top-rated recreation programs—contribute to making West Deptford a place he’s happy to call home.
“We have to be great stewards to make sure it’s going to be the same great town for our kids,” Kilpatrick said. “I think that’s what’s really important.”
Of the candidates who will take his place in the Republican primary—Jeff Hansen and Gerald Maher—Kilpatrick said, “They’re both very intelligent, very well-spoken men, very committed.”
In fact, just about the only thing Kilpatrick won’t miss about moving on after this term is what is sure to be a nasty campaign season.
“That’s a major issue and a major turn-off on all levels of politics,” Kilpatrick said. “From local all the way up to the national, it’s brutal.
“I definitely anticipate that this is not going to be a very friendly election,” he said, “but I think it is what it is. We’ve got to weather the storm.”
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