Michell
Claire
Today we had two speakers, the Democratic candidates running for Summit City Council, Michelle Kalmanson and Claire Toth.
Each candidate made introductory comments and then they answered questions.
Michelle is a six-year resident of Summit. She and her husband have two young children in the public schools, ages 9 and 12. She has been active in the City: President of the PTO, Washington school, past chair of the Santa Claus Shop, member of the Wilson Primary PTO and an active participant in the effort to prevent the lighting of Tatlock field because of the intrusion it would bring to the residents in the immediate area of the field. It was the Tatlock experience that prompted her to run for council. Michelle will attempt to bring greater transparency to issues affecting neighborhoods. She will also strive to make fair and equitable decisions and make civility in City government a prime objective. Michelle is the ward one candidate.
Claire Toth is a 28-year resident of Summit (she is also the wife of Rotary president, David Dietze). She has recently retired from Peapack-Gladstone bank where she was head of Private Wealth Management. Claire is a lawyer with a specialty in tax law. In addition to her professional activities, she has been active in many of Summit’s non-profits including SAGE, Summit Downtown, Family Promise, the city zoning board, and several others. Claire wants to bring her considerable experience in fiscal and budgetary matters as well as her non-profit understanding to bear on city government. Among several issues she feels needs more attention are both traffic and pedestrian safety and environmental resilience, especially storm water management. Claire is the candidate for ward two.
We appreciate the candidates taking the time to share their campaign thoughts with us.
We will hear from the Republican candidates for city council next week on the 14th of October.