Many thanks to The Alternative Press for affording us Common Council Candidates these weekly opportunities to reach-out to you, the voters!

As a 6-year member of Summit’s Common Council (I have had the honor and privilege of twice being elected to 3-year Council terms in Ward II), I have worked hard to daily serve ALL of the people of Summit ... to the very best of my ability.

As exemplified by my long-standing leadership roles in SHAPING SUMMIT TOGETHER, the FRIENDS OF MOUNT OLIVE TEMPLE, various Affordable Housing Task Forces and by my having co-founded (and then annually co-chaired) Summit’s MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY OF SERVICE, I sincerely believe in not just celebrating Summit’s diversity, but in actively working to include people of all walks of life and from all corners of Summit in our community’s decision-making processes.

I can honestly assure you that EXPERIENCE MATTERS as we on Council seek to help our community to optimally wrestle with our #1 issue: TAXES.

I hope you’ve had a chance to catch my three brief yet highly-detailed HomeTowne TV Public Service Announcements (PSAs) which have airing over the summer months. (Please go to www.hometownetv.org to view them, and coming soon to the "Andy Lark" and "Lark, Portuondo, and Madden" Facebook sites at www.facebook.com).

In these PSAs, I examine some proven and some potential methods of continuing the current Council’s efforts to achieve lean and cost-efficient municipal operating and capital budgets. These suggestions include: additional SHARED SERVICES, further SPENDING REDUCTIONS, enhanced public and private GRANT-SEEKING, CONSOLIDATIONS OF CITY DEPARTMENTS, continued JOB OUT-SOURCING, nurturing additional PRIVATE-PUBLIC PARTNERSHIPS, expanding our new EMPLOYEE FURLOUGH PROGRAM; further reducing EMPLOYEE HEADCOUNT; re-thinking SALARIES and RAISES, and INCREASING TAXABLE RATABLES.

My nine years of experience on Summit’s Zoning Board will continue to stand me in good stead as the Council considers a number of future Ordinances, including a revised GATEWAY II ORDINANCE for Broad Street as well as plans unfold for the RE-VITALIZATION OF OUR CENTRAL RETAIL BUSINESS DISTRICT, including the much-needed DIVERSIFICATION OF DOWNTOWN BUSINESSES.

These complex issues are often inter-related and I look forward to continuing my frequently trailblazing (and tax-saving) work in several of these areas.

Clearly, while "Taxes" ARE the #1 topic on Summit voters’ minds as I have gone door-to-door over the summer months, there are NUMEROUS other discussion points on voters’ minds as well. No matter what the issues of the day are, my six years’ of EXPERIENCE on Council -- and my years of active involvement with dozens of Summit non-profit organizations, will continue to better enable me to inclusively, collaboratively and transparently serve the needs of all Summit citizens.

As the Campaign yet unfolds, I look forward to discussing with as many Summit voters as possible the key issues facing our hometown. Please email or call me with issues and concerns of particular interest to you. And please call me to volunteer your help and your ideas. My phone number is: 908/273-3190, my email address is: jandrewlark@msn.com, and I am on Facebook (www.facebook.com) at "Andy Lark" and at "Lark, Portuondo, and Madden".

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the citizens of Summit who have repeatedly elected me to represent them in City government. I pledge to continue to leverage my experience in governing our fair City, combined with thirty years of life experience as a leader in non-profit governance, both local and national, to benefit you and your family as the successful candidate for the At-Large Council seat on November 3rd.

Please mark your calendar ... and VOTE!