WENONAH Six candidates are vying for two open full-terms on council and one candidate is running for an unexpired term in the borough.

The Times asked the candidates to provide background information on themselves, and also asked them what they consider to be the biggest issues in town and how they'd address those issues if elected.

Independent candidate Christopher Burke, 23, said he considers the three most important challenges facing Wenonah to be addressing property taxes, improving communication between council and residents and planning for the impact of the proposed transit expansion.

Burke is a construction estimator and project manager who has lived in the borough for 20 years with his parents, Don and Heidi, and his sister Lauren.

"Wenonah's municipal tax has risen over 115 percent in just seven years," said Burke. " There are redundancies in all levels of government, even our borough. If elected I will call for feasibility studies on municipal services which can be shared in order to save our residents dollars. There will be no stone left unturned in my search for cost savings."

Burke said effective government requires effective communication, and he will propose ways to encourage greater participation by residents in the business of council.

"I've heard from many fellow residents who felt they were not made aware of council discussions and decisions that impacted them," said Burke. "I pledge to create an e-mail list for all residents who are interested, and to distribute an agenda for upcoming meetings or alerts about important issues."

Burke also said he believes it is in the borough's best interest to plan for the impact of mass transit expansion now to get the maximum benefit from the project as it evolves and leverage power to minimize the negative impact.

"As an Independent councilman, I will be open to consideration and discussion of all available courses of action," Burke said.

Republican candidate Barbara Capelli, 40, said the three biggest issues in Wenonah seem to be part of a larger picture that is two-fold economic/fiscal responsibility and how it affects the community as a whole.

"The issues regarding taxes, property tax and school taxes both fall into the fiscal responsibility picture," said Capelli. "This subject must be researched and strong efforts must be made to involve the town in the process of making sure their opinions are heard."

Capelli said that the PATCO light rail attempting to make its way through Wenonah brings to conversation many concerns such as how the train would affect taxes or finances, the impact on a walking community like Wenonah and issues of parking and potential crime.

"One of the other concerns is shared services of our schools and public safety resources," said Capelli. "Again, this is part of a bigger picture that also revolves around fiscal responsibility and the effects on the community. We want our families to flourish educationally and public safety is always a top priority."

Capelli's profession is treasury and cash management for the banking industry and she lives in the borough with her kids Carly, 14; Louis, 12 and Tarleton, 11 and her dog, Etta. While she served on council, she was the public safety chairperson, a member of the council's budget and finance committee and she assisted as Wenonah's emergency management deputy. Capelli is a past lake association president, is currently the president of the historical society and is a member of the Hometown Hero and Legends committee.

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Republican candidate Ron Farina, 56, is opposed to the light rail project in its current form, thinks the council must carefully consider consolidation of services and hopes to find ways to cut spending.

"If [the rail line] proceeds as outlined, it is vital that we assess the impact on our community and carefully weigh the option of creating a stop here," said Farina. " More information is needed about how a stop would function and what locations are possible along the route. Increased vehicular traffic, parking and trains running less than five minutes apart will significantly impact our town. The greatest concern is the cost. This project will exceed $1 billion for a projected ridership of only 15,000. Reducing traffic in the Route 42/55/295 interchange area is of major importance, but this plan will not address that problem."

Farina, a commercial photographer, lives in the borough with his wife Deborah and three children Sarah, 9; Julianna, 7 and Gwendalyn, 5. His volunteer background includes the Civil Air Patrol Search and Rescue, Wenonah softball and various Wenonah community projects.

Farina feels that any merger of services must provide significant tax reduction to residents before its consideration, especially since a previous look at merging the borough's police force with a neighborhood community showed no savings.

"The loss of direct control blurs our autonomy as a borough," said Farina. "It's a slippery slope that must be approached carefully. I would apply this philosophy to the consideration of other borough and school services as well."

Incumbent Democrat John Howard, 59, said he hopes to address the possible impact of light rail, rising taxes and consolidation and quality of life issues for residents if he is re-elected.

"Like it or not, we have to face the reality that the light rail will come through Wenonah," said Howard, adding that it may not come to fruition for another 10 years. "We as a council have to be prepared to deal with the impact that the train will have on our community ... We have to not only be watchdogs to make sure our concerns are heard on how the train will affect our nature preserves and the traffic on Maple and Mantua avenues, but we also have to be proactive in addressing the potential parking problems that a station in town will incur."

Howard a teacher at Gateway Regional High School who lives with wife Kathy and children Benjamin and Kristin is a former wrestling coach, National Honor Society adviser, town soccer coach and lake association volunteer.

He said there is no easy solution to rising taxes and that the borough must look at consolidating services to reduce spending.

"County and state mandates coupled with our mandatory reassessment at the height of the housing market have made our job of keeping taxes low a daunting task," said Howard, who added that, being a teacher, he has the view of a "fiscal conservative."

He said he recently set up an informal meeting with another town to discuss combining police forces.

"We also have to investigate other consolidation measures, but only if they result in both lower taxes and no loss of services," he said.

He also hopes to continue addressing issues that affect residents' daily lives such as noise ordinances, parking, sidewalks and building construction "until we rectify some ongoing problems." Democrat Thomas Lombardo, 45, is running unopposed for the two-year unexpired council term. He considers light rail, taxes and consolidation to be the three most important issues facing the borough.

Lombardo said he's "not completely convinced" that having a light rail passenger train line through Wenonah is in the best interest of the town, however he does support it.

"Despite concerns about traffic and congestion, I support the idea of a stop in Wenonah along with the construction of a small walk up station near the downtown area," he said. "If elected, my goal would be to work with other residents to reduce or eliminate any potential negative aspects of the train station. This would require some revision of our existing parking ordinances to ensure that residents have safe and accessible parking spaces."

Lombardo said he believes members of local government possess little power to significantly reduce property taxes, but said since joining council, he's worked to reduce costs and plans to continue to do, while still preserving the services "that residents have come to expect."

He added that elected officials have an obligation to explore consolidation or shared services to see if they can be implemented without compromise in public safety and municipal services, and that a careful review would be necessary to ensure the positives outweigh the negatives.

Lombardo is an educator/ administrator for the Gloucester County Special Services school district, a United States Marine Corps veteran of Desert Storm, chairman of the budget and finance committee and member of the public safety and personnel committees.

Democratic candidate Christian Lozuke, 32, said he's concerned with high property taxes, questions the benefits of light rail in Wenonah and is interested in investigating consolidation measures for cost savings.

"Without question, the exorbitant property taxes in Wenonah are beating down homeowners," said Lozuke. "After speaking with a number of residents, many families are being forced into selling their homes, in large part, because of the rising property taxes. This should not happen and can be avoided by applying three vital ingredients: smart government, sound planning and inter-municipal sharing of services and capital equipment. The taxes we see now are the result of many years of lack of oversight and careless planning."

Lozuke, a graduate attorney, lives in the borough with his sons Jaiden, 7, and Jamison, 6. He volunteers coaching his sons in Wenonah Athletic Association sports and events. Lozuke said that while a light rail system may benefit other towns or state highways, he sees no evidence that it would benefit Wenonah.

"Because of its geographical size and location, Wenonah faces unique problems," said Lozuke. "Lack of available parking space, safety issues, noise pollution, poor aesthetics, all play a key role in my position that the light rail system will negatively impact Wenonah and its residents.

Lozuke also said that though consolidation of certain municipal services to save tax dollars has been a topic for years in Wenonah, there has been very little effort to explore opportunities such as sharing public works equipment with other towns, or pursuing state grants to explore consolidation.

"If elected, I intend to aggressively pursue such grants and explore every opportunity to reduce our core budget obligations through appropriate sharing of government services with other governmental entities," said Lozuke.

Independent incumbent James Navins said there are many issues in the borough that require the patience and resolve of an experienced council member.

"Foremost are the pressing issues of increased taxes and rising health care costs," said Navins.

He said the borough and other towns are continuously challenged to be more cost efficient and still provide quality services. He said it's only become more difficult as the state works to balance its own budget "by financially strangling their constituents, especially those constituents in small municipalities like Wenonah."

"Consequently, we need to manage our borough services to maximum efficiency and continue to look at all means of shared services, or eliminate those shared services that have outlived their usefulness," Navins said.

He noted that the pick up and disposal of trash is a large expenditure and that alternative methods have to be addressed. Navins added that the prospect of finally having the Lizzi Property ready for construction should provide some tax relief as residents occupy these new age restricted townhouses.

Navins, a chemistry educator at Clearview Regional High School, lives in the borough with his wife Beth and children Dan and Megan. He has served on borough council for seven years and on the planning board for six years. He is a 24-year member of the Wenonah Lions Club and has been a member of the Wenonah Athletic Association and serves as a church trustee for the Wenonah Methodist Church.

As for light rail, Navins said that a transit line occupying the Conrail/CSX rail bed would have to be managed in a proactive manner to minimize the impact and maximize the projected benefits to the borough.