Carmela Vitale and John Hoover to Run Together for Election to Borough Council
In a joint statement, Council President Carmela Vitale of Myrtle Avenue and John Hoover of Overhill Drive announce their plans to run as a team for election to the Madison Borough Council in 2017.
The candidates stated, “As long time Madison residents and community volunteers, we believe that we can bring the needed skills, experience, creative ideas, and approach to municipal government that Madison residents have come to expect.”
Council President Vitale stated, “I am excited to be running for re-election with John Hoover. John has a wealth of experience in borough affairs, having served on numerous borough boards, commissions, and committees. His presence on the council will help us to continue to effectively serve the community. Budgets are now well under control; borough services have improved; and we continue to invest in our roads, sewers, and utility infrastructures. This year we expect an increase in the effective municipal tax rate of less than 2%. We will also be returning $1.5 million from our electric utility surplus to our ratepayers in the form of a monthly credit on their electric bills beginning in May.”
Hoover added, “Carmela Vitale is a borough institution. It is an honor to be running with her. No one knows the community, its residents and the mechanics of borough government better than Carmela vitale. Carmela and her colleagues on council have given us five years of fiscally responsible government. I look forward to working with them and the Downtown Development Commission (DDC) to help revitalize the downtown‘s economy. I also fully support the council’s February 6resolution reaffirming Madison’s role as a ‘welcoming community’ that will provide ‘equal, respectful and dignified treatment of all people, regardless of their immigration status’, and I look forward to participating on the mayor’s committee to ‘continue the conversation’.”
Carmela Vitale currently serves as Madison Borough Council President and is chairperson for the council Public Works and Engineering Standing Committee and a member of the Finance and Borough Clerk Standing Committee. She is also council liaison to the Environmental Commission, the Historic Preservation Commission, the Parks Advisory Committee, the Patriotic Celebrations Committee, the Shade Tree Management Board, and the Sustainable Madison Advisory Board.
Vitale has also served as chairperson of the borough’s Senior Citizens Advisory Committee and served two terms as president of the Madison Board of Health. She is Madison’s representative on the county Community Development Revenue Sharing Committee. She was previously the vice chair of the Madison Affordable Housing Authority, membership chairperson for the Whippany River Watershed Action Committee, and was a member of the borough’s Green Village Road School Sale Committee. Vitale is also a long-time member of Madison’s Thursday Morning Club.
John Hoover is a member of the DDC, serves as its secretary and chairs its Sign and Façade Committee. He is also the volunteer Logistics and Onsite Market Manager for the DDC-sponsored Madison Farmer’s Market. He is the chair of Madison’s Senior Citizens Advisory Committee, a member of the board of the Madison Alliance Addressing Substance Abuse (MAASA), a member of the Madison Board of Education’s Budget Advisory Committee, a member of the Madison Rotary Club, and was the program manager for the Madison Rotary’s High School Mentoring Program.
Hoover also chairs the Madison Area YMCA’s Member Togetherhood Committee, served on the borough’s Strategic Planning Operations Committee, and is on the Steering Committee for Downtown Economic Revitalization. He developed and initiated Rotary’s Friends of Rotary program, served on the club’s Board of Directors, Strategic Planning, Membership Development and Service Projects Committees, and chaired its By-Laws Committee. He is currently chair of the Madison Democratic Committee and previously served as president of the Madison Board of Health. Hoover is also a member of Elks Lodge 1465, where he chairs the lodge’s Substance Abuse Committee.
Vitale and Hoover concluded, “We look forward to meeting with and listening to the concerns of Madison voters during the campaign season. Recent councils have accomplished much for Madison, delivering dependable services in a fiscally responsible manner. But there is still a lot to be done. Together with our colleagues on Council, we will do our very best to continue to deliver the kind of good and effective municipal government that Madison voters have come to expect.”