Mayoral Candidate Turner: Why I Am Running And Why You Should Vote For Me

Real Progress Montclair released the following statement, filled with its own questions and answers for the candidate, on Monday afternoon:

Karen Turner is running for mayor of Montclair with Real Progress Montclair, and has positioned RPM as the one group that has done its homework, has new ideas, and leaves behind the old kind of politics and coalitions represented by the other two mayoral candidates and their teams. Karen Turner says she is uniquely qualified, with the team that she has put in place, to get Montclair out of the fiscal trouble it’s in. We asked Karen Turner what led her into politics and why she thinks Montclair citizens should vote LINE D for Real Progress Montclair on May 8, 2012.

REAL PROGRESS MONTCLAIR: What made you want to go into politics and what do you want/hope to accomplish through public service?

TURNER: Through extensive volunteer work with two organizations over the past two years, I realized the town has some serious financial and operational issues that can be addressed with the right elected officials in office. I hope to be elected with the other members of the Real Progress Montclair slate. We will embrace the responsibility to address Montclair’s most pressing issues. We are an open-minded, solutions-orientated group of leaders. We have the skill set, the mindset and the will to do this. We are passionate about Montclair’s character and diversity. If we do not address the significant problems, we fear the town we love will quickly disappear. In October of 2010, I chose to put my 30 years of finance and leadership experience to use in analyzing the municipal finances of Montclair with a group of people that came together out of concern for the continued and unsustainable rise in property taxes. They formed the grassroots, non-partisan organization Concerned Citizens of Montclair (CCM). The goal was to help the town spend more responsibly and develop a longer term planning approach to its budgeting process. Founding CCM was in reaction to watching my own taxes increase 70% in 8 years and knowing that most, if not all, citizens living in Montclair could not sustain this type of increase. CCM encouraged the town council to establish a town appointed Operating Budget Advisory Committee (OBAC). This was successfully done and I served as Chairperson on this committee. Through its research, OBAC put forth over 60 recommendations and suggestions to the Town Council to lessen the burden on Montclair taxpayers. It was members of OBAC who first encouraged me to run for office.

REAL PROGRESS MONTCLAIR: What are your key professional strengths and abilities that make you most qualified to hold office?

TURNER: I have effectively led organizations and groups from several to several hundreds of people, for over 30 years. Starting in the late ‘80s, I was a CPA and practiced with KPMG, LLP in New York City in both the International Tax and Audit departments. The jobs required an analytical approach, which I had, and gave me the chance to serve the needs of a broad and diverse client base. In the last 17 years, I have served as a hands-on volunteer and served in many leadership roles for organizations focused on children-at-risk and closing the achievement gap in education.

REAL PROGRESS MONTCLAIR: What motivated you to become an active public servant?

TURNER: I have supported myself financially since I was 15 by working weekends during high school and holding two jobs during the summers. When my daughter was born in 1996, I left my paid job to stay at home with her. For the first time, I had the privilege of flexibility in my schedule to give back. I volunteered in math classrooms at the Link Community School in Newark, an incredible educational institution for at-risk middle school children who are giving every opportunity to discover their potential and learn, despite the odds in life that work against them. Through the Junior League of Montclair-Newark, I helped build the Link Community School library from scratch with other women. The library gave these children an oasis of resources, structure and quiet, in which they could focus and study. Education, I believe, is the strongest platform from which any person can springboard into a successful and healthy life. I wanted to do what I could to help these children succeed in school for life.

REAL PROGRESS MONTCLAIR: What are three important professional achievements that demonstrate your ability to serve Montclair?

TURNER: I was a regular kid, from a working-class family, the product of a public school education, who put herself through college. I chose a practical career in accounting, as I knew I would have college loans to pay back. While I was a student at the University of Southern Maine, I carried a full course load and held a paid bookkeeping internship and a part-time office job. My days would end in the library on campus. Landing a job at one of the premier accounting firms in the world was a personal accomplishment, and my first big professional accomplishment. I had a successful career with this firm. Through hard work, I earned positions managing some of the NYC office’s premiere clients. In my capacity as a volunteer, I was the Endowment Vice President for the Junior League of Montclair-Newark until last June. My tenure took place during an extremely difficult time for raising funds for non-profits. Over $400,000 was raised exclusively through volunteer efforts. These funds could have been easily spent to alleviate short-term needs and pressures of the tough economic times. Instead, under my leadership, policies were established and put in place to best safeguard these funds through investments to better allow for long-term sustainability. As a volunteer, I have worked as the finance executives on fundraising projects some have generated over $1 million in revenue. I was enormously pleased to see that through my research efforts and persistence, revenues from the Sienna commercial properties no longer artificially inflate the amount on which the 2% cap on taxes raised by taxpayers is calculated. This happened for the first time in the 2012 budget. The Township had not been collecting money that they were due because of the improper classifications of revenues on the residential portion of the agreement. Ira Karasick, the township attorney, was instrumental in this change.

REAL PROGRESS MONTCLAIR: What are a few of your most important personal achievements?

TURNER: Being a founding member of the Concerned Citizens of Montclair (CCM) and bringing in over 600 supporters was a personal achievement. Tax dollars were spiking and services were being diminished. In all of the research CCM did, we found ways to improve operations and eliminate wasteful spending. From my work on CCM and OBAC, I see that there are some great improvements and efficiencies that can and should be implemented in our Municipal operations without changing the progressive values of this wonderful town. Unfortunately, no one on the current Town Council was particularly open to our findings. Winning the Montclair Patch’s Person of the Year in 2011 for my work with the CCM was a great honor. It was a symbolic win, I thought, signaling that people really want to see something done to improve Montclair's financial situation but not at the expense of the progressive values of Montclair.

REAL PROGRESS MONTCLAIR: What are your favorite aspects and characteristics of Montclair?

TURNER: Montclair has so much going for it as an urban suburban town. It has strong schools, a small gem of an art museum, a bustling library, 6 shopping districts, great restaurants, and beautiful outdoor spaces. The list is long! But, I would have to say, what makes it particularly special is its diverse population of grounded, smart, creative, and “with it” people. I also thoroughly embrace the progressive values that draw so many of us here and set this town apart from other towns.

REAL PROGRESS MONTCLAIR: What makes you different from other the mayoral candidates and slates?

TURNER: I saw the playing field and realized of all those interested in running for Mayor, I was the best suited to lead Montclair in the direction it needs to get on better footing for a sustainable future. The grass roots slate that I have put together with Real Progress Montclair brings a lot of leadership experience to the positions, with little baggage. The RPM slate is particularly free of affiliations with the past administrations whose decisions have gotten us where we are today – a quarter of a billion dollars in debt. We can do it right this time. I have held a number of leadership positions in my career and am comfortable in a leadership role. I am an open-minded, solutions oriented person with a lot of determination. I am connected to a wide range of citizens of different demographics, races, religions, cultures and philosophies in our community. I take a team building approach to my work as a volunteer and am experienced at building consensus amongst a group with varying perspectives. I have no side agenda or special interests other than my goals of improving Montclair as stated in the Real Progress Montclair's Platform on our website at www.realprogressmontclair.com

REAL PROGRESS MONTCLAIR: Why do you think you should be elected Mayor of Montclair?

TURNER: I spent two years doing extensive research and data gathering for CCM. I realized there were any number of polices that could be put in place to dramatically improve fiscal responsibility and result in less waste. It became crystal clear that if I wanted to see these improvements put in place by our town, I would need to lead the charge in a political office. That led to the formation of the Real Progress Montclair slate. I'm determined to see things through. I'll do the hard work and I have the will for this. And, I have the right team in place to do this with LeeAnn Carlson and Peter Zorich for the At-Large positions and Chris Swenson in the 3rd Ward. We will not only encourage citizen involvement, but we will seek the advice of the very talented leaders on the township committees including the Capital Finance Committee and the Operating Budget Advisory Committee. We would continue to use the help of budget working groups, similar to the Board of Education groups. RPM wants Montclair to be sustainable for all of its current citizens. We want the best schools possible for the kids growing up in our community. To accomplish this and build the consensus needed to get anything done, the four of us must work together. Most importantly we need all adults aged 18 and over to cast their vote in the MAY 8TH elections.