Avallone picked to serve as Freehold Twp. mayor
BY ELANA ARON
Correspondent

Dorothy Avallone

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP - Township Committeewoman Dorothy Avallone is back in a familiar position. For the seventh time during her tenure on the Township Committee, Avallone will serve a one-year term as mayor.

She was elected to the position by her fellow committee members during the Jan. 5 reorganization meeting.

Committeeman Anthony J. Ammiano, who served as mayor in 2006, remains on the governing body having been re-elected in November.

The other members of the committee are Raymond Kershaw, David Salkin and Eugene Golub. All five members of the committee are Republican.

Avallone has served on the committee since 1984. Although she has served Freehold Township for more than 20 years, Avallone comes to her post as mayor with excitement and fresh ideas.

"When I moved to New Jersey I felt that I had lived here all my life," said Avallone, who is originally from Brooklyn, N.Y. "I got involved. I became president of the township's Republican Club and then I was asked by my party to fill a vacancy on the Township Committee."

Avallone, who has seven children and 13 grandchildren, has high hopes that the coming year will be successful.

"We hope just to continue good government in Freehold Township," she said. "We have one of the lowest tax rates in Monmouth County. We'll continue our open space program. The main thing is our service programs. We say it every year, our service people are really exceptional. The people in public works, the people who rake the leaves, everyone."

Some new plans for 2007 include the installation of mobile data terminals in police vehicles.

According to Township Administrator Tom Antus, the new system will add a level of protection for uniformed officers.

"When police officers pull someone over, they [use the mobile data terminal and] punch in the license plate, and it goes straight to Trenton. Right away you know what you're dealing with," Antus said.

Avallone said municipal officials are considering the implementation of a reverse 911 system, which is a computerized telephone calling system that can be used to notify residents of an emergency such as sewer problems, power outages or a missing child.

"We'd like to implement that as soon as possible," she said.

Other changes have already been implemented, including a new recycling schedule.

Antus, who has been the township administrator since 1994, said work on the 2007 municipal budget began in September.

"The challenge is to maintain the service level and tax rate in the face of declining state revenues," he said. "It's (state revenue) been capped for years now. Every year there's a little increase in taxes. We all find it interesting that we (Freehold Township) have a cap but the state doesn't ... We'd like to see the state give us more money. We'd like to continue our services without increasing taxes."

Antus said officials try their best to keep costs down for residents.

"There's no such thing as 'close' when you're dealing with money," he said. "If you're in government you can't mess with money. You've got to be exact. We strive to be perfect in an imperfect world."

According to Antus, a revaluation of all properties in the municipality will begin in February. He said a letter to residents will go out soon.

One dream for Freehold Township that Avallone would like to see realized is a library. The township is a member of the Monmouth County Library System but there is no branch in the community. Residents may use any of the library system's branches, but have to travel to reach the ones in Howell and Manalapan, for example.

"I would love to see Freehold Township have a library," Avallone said. "It's not just pie in the sky. There's not too much we can improve on ... We strive all the time and we're always trying to make it better."