Politics & Government

Oglesby, Mahon Aiming for Common Sense, Consensus

The moderate Republicans are pitching pragmatism over reflexive opposition.

For Matt Mahon and Loran Oglesby, it’s not about gimmicks or campaign promises or going to extremes.

For the moderate Republicans, who are aligned with current Republican committeeman Sean Kilpatrick, it comes down to common-sense solutions to the problems West Deptford committee members face.

As with the other candidates, both Democrats and Republicans alike, the pair said there’s no way to get away from the township’s looming debt, but they’re seeking solutions on common ground, rather than running to either extreme.

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One of those solutions, Oglesby said, is looking to expand shared services with neighboring communities. She mentioned emergency services, specifically, and said, given the ongoing controversy just over the border in Wenonah—which is considering disbanding its police department and sharing a force with another town—the time is ripe.

Beyond that, they said budget cuts are important, but stressed the need for a balance, so those cuts don’t damage the quality of life in the township, and so they can reach a consensus solution.

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“Where are the solutions that everyone in West Deptford can live with?” Mahon said. “Our background…lends the experience needed to put forth well-rounded solutions.”

Their aim is consensus and pragmatic government, rather than reflexive opposition.

“You can’t alienate yourself from the other side just because they have a ‘D’ next to their name,” Oglesby said.

Mahon added that leadership experience vital before getting into government. He pointed to his past as a Coast Guard member and now as a member of the business community, and Oglesby’s 11 years of working in politics, including stints as local and county Republican chair.

“You understand the decisions you make have real ramifications,” he said. “Our town committee isn’t the place to have the training wheels on…you need to be able to come and be ready to work on day one.”

Or even before day one. The two have already been working with Kilpatrick, brainstorming ideas they could focus on immediately after the November election.

A good part of that has been on RiverWinds, where much of the original development plan–things like the hotel and marina–has fallen by the wayside.

Mahon said he and Oglesby have talked with Kilpatrick about kick-starting development there, as well as other solutions, such as adding solar panels or a solar farm on the property.

And they specifically talked about bringing the marina to fruition in the near-term, taking advantage of the natural cove on the river there, something Mahon said gives West Deptford a unique advantage over other spots along the Delaware.

“We need to do all that we can to push that forward, and if that falls through, to find other developers to push that forward,” Mahon said.

If they can’t be successful in pushing redevelopment there, Mahon and Oglesby said the committee will need to come up with “creative solutions” to make the community center more self-sufficient and help pay down the nearly $50 million still outstanding on the bond that financed the project a decade ago.

They dismissed their Republican opponents’–and the Democrats’–promises to slash the committee’s pay, not because they disagree with the idea, but because they said it’s purely a feel-good symbolic gesture.

Mahon said focusing on small things like a committee pay cut, something that would save about $25,000 a year in a budget of over $30 million, detracts from the larger picture.

“It’s great to make ceremonial cuts, but really, at the end of the day, we want to help the taxpayers of West Deptford,” he said.

Oglesby added that getting hung up on small savings like that isn’t the right move.

“What is that? It’s nothing,” she said. “If we’re smart about how we spend, we can solve a lot of these issues and concerns.”

They want those solutions–and everything else possible–communicated to township residents as directly as possible, and figure on making use of both the township’s website, as well as social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

“It’s a great way, at low or no cost, to get the message out to the community–good or bad, it’s a way to keep people involved in what’s going on in local government,” Mahon said.

Keeping people involved and reaching out on a personal level are both something Oglesby said are important, not just on the campaign trail, but after the elections, as well.

And while her detractors have harped on Oglesby’s losses as a freeholder candidate and in the Congressional primary last year, she said they discount some of the successes she’s had along the way.

The most obvious is Kilpatrick’s seat on the committee, the first Republican to crack the governing body in two decades. Oglesby was his campaign manager last year, and said she took a lot of pride in getting a Republican on township committee.

She also touted things like her move to help establish the GOP in National Park during her tenure as county Republican chair and her personal involvement with Republicans around the county–she spent plenty of time on the road, rather than running the party from Woodbury–as just some of the positives.

“I want to give my time to the people,” she said. “I continue to take the hits, but I still want to get out there and serve.”


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