Having competent Town Council officials who we entrust to draft and enact our local laws is one of many factors that contribute to maintaining the unique safety and strength of our community. It requires thorough analysis of the given subject matter prior to the time they cast their vote. Not all ordinances affect us equally, but even those who some claim only result in few or minor changes to existing law can have very significant consequences. Ordinance 21-01 shows this.
No doubt we have all seen the postcard campaign mailers, billboards and advertisements for town council that tout the candidates’ long record of public service, volunteer activities, and dedication. This election is not about that.
This election is not a popularity contest. It’s not about the number of years a candidate has resided in Sparta. It’s not about the number of volunteer hours one has dedicated to the town. It’s not about whether a candidate grew up in Sparta or not, or has fond childhood memories from here or raised their family here. It’s not about whether your friend is running for town council or whether your candidate is a kind and genuine person. All of these are certainly very fine qualities to have and are appreciated. However, in light of Ordinance 21-01, this election is not and cannot be about that.
Instead, this election presents a serious question and challenge to voters who call Sparta home, and it requires us to hold our candidates to a much higher standard. That standard is: whether each candidate has the professional skills and experience to scrutinize township professionals, conduct proper cost-benefit analysis of decisions with meaningful input from residents, and push back on developers bent on foisting ill-fitting, traffic clogging, property value destroying development on our community.
The team of Chiariello, Clark, & Blumetti exceed this standard. Dan Chiariello has applied his degree in applied mathematics to advising large and small companies on improving their project management, work-flow processes, and data analytic services. Those skills enabled him to figure out that Ordinance 21-01 wasn’t for bringing the economic development zone up to “industry standards” as township professionals professed but rather a tailor-made ordinance to usher in wrong-headed development. That’s why he was the only Councilmember to vote NO on Ordinance 21-01. Dan’s NO vote is even more remarkable considering township professionals failed to disclose to Town Council that Ordinance 21-01 was for the mega-warehouse as Diamond Chip’s lawyer and project manager have admitted.
Dean Blumetti used his MBA and skills in organizational strategy, innovation, finance, and sustainability to co-author the Environmental Commission report that recommended rejecting the mega-warehouse because of its environmental risks, quality of life concerns, and its lack of financially independent expert evaluations.
Completely free of charge, Neill Clark took his nearly 25 years of litigation experience to co-lead the litigation effort to stop the mega-warehouse. That effort has included cross-examining the developer’s experts, along with finding and working with land use experts with legal, township planning and environmental experience to mount a viable challenge to the mega-warehouse developer’s well-paid experts and lawyers.
Competence is on the ballot this November and so vote for the competent and experienced team of Chiariello, Clark & Blumetti for Sparta Town Council.