Moorestown Council Election Profile: Vick Bobadilla – Moorestown, NJ Patch

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Three Moorestown Council seats will be up for grabs in the Nov. 3 elections. None of the incumbents chose to run for re-election this year, so there will be three new faces on Moorestown Council come January.

Patch sent questions to candidates in the race, and is publishing their responses in a series of profiles. Information provided by Vick Bobadilla can be found below.

Age (as of Election Day)
50

Position Sought
Moorestown Town Council

Party Affiliation
Republican

Family
4 children:
Breanna Bobadilla, 27yrs, Programmatic Partnership Manager at Discovery Network
Skylar Bobadilla, 24yrs, Mechanical Engineer at the Philadelphia Naval base
Westin Bobadilla, 23yrs, Recent graduate of Georgia Southern University
Roxy Bobadilla, 19yrs, Attending her Sophomore year at University of Delaware
Wife, Shari Bobadilla, who recently passed in 2016. She was an employee at United Airlines for 25 years and she brought joy and happiness to everyone she met.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?
No

Education
Middle Essex County College

Occupation
Vice President of New England Technology, Inc. , 20yrs

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office
None

Campaign website
www.facebook.com/FreshStartMoo…

Why are you seeking elective office?
Moorestown has given so much to myself along with my wife and children. After 18 years of calling this wonderful place our home, it’s time for me to give back in a new way. Although I have no prior political experience, I believe my knowledge of the town and drive to fix the issues at hand will make me a strong advocate for the people of Moorestown. I have raised 4 children in this town, watching them grow from elementary school into lives as Moorestown High School graduates; and I have grown here just as my children have and I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and work hard for the amazing people that make this town a community.

The single most pressing issue facing our community is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.
The two most immediately pressing issues I see facing our community are taxes and business development.
Our taxes are high, and we are not doing enough to ensure that every dollar is being maximized. Our town’s perfect credit rating is now in jeopardy thanks to declining business revenues and increased government spending. Town Council must collaborate further with our town’s top-notch public servants in Township staff to think outside of the box and continue delivering great services without increasing the tax burden to the point of making Moorestown unaffordable.

Business development ties in deeply with the tax conversation. Without an aggressive and forward-thinking plan for rejuvenating our business districts (Main Street, Lenola, Moorestown Mall, East Gate, K-Mart Shopping Center), we are heading in a direction that will be difficult to pull back from. In partnership with groups like the Moorestown Business Association and bringing together the many successful business minds who call our community home, we need to figure out what the future of Moorestown looks like in terms of building a sustainable business model that encourages shopping local and explores new concepts that have worked in other communities around the country.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?
I have lived the American Dream. I was born in Peru, and moved to the United States as a young boy. I watched with pride as my parents worked hard to create a better life for their family, and have worked hard every day of my own life to do the same for my family.

I have spent countless hours in town coaching flag football, street hockey, softball, soccer, lacrosse, and basketball, knowing how important these activities are for Moorestown’s youth to teach them the importance of teamwork, discipline, and collaboration. This hands-on volunteer time has let me hear directly from my fellow Moorestonians about the issues they see in town, the problems facing working families, and the ways we can build a better future together.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)
The Town Council, however well-intentioned, has dropped the ball on a number of key issues that show that it’s time for a new direction with a new team at the helm.

The Council has increased financial strain on our town’s families and small businesses with unnecessary tax increases and increases on recreation fees, water rates, sewer rates, and fire inspection fees, even while they are sitting on an over $8 million surplus of taxpayer money. For many families and small business owners, every dollar in their budget counts, and each cent they are raised brings them closer to having to move away from Moorestown for some place more affordable.

They have refused to move forward on building a dedicated softball field for our town’s girls, something that has been in the works for years and was suddenly pulled by the new Council majority without good reason, sending a message to our daughters that they are less important than our sons as we lose potential revenue dollars for use of these fields for events and tournaments.

Lastly, Moorestown remains a difficult place to do business. The Lenola Corridor project has seen unnecessary delays thanks to the Town Council firing the planning firm in charge of the project; Moorestown remains a difficult place to open a new business or improve an existing one due to outdated permitting and zoning processes in place; the Moorestown Mall is on the verge of collapse; and empty buildings and storefronts have become an all too common sight throughout our town.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform
Our campaign is grounded in the concept of hitting the reset button not on our town, but on the powers and people who run it, delivering a fresh start.

Together with Barbara Omert and Doug Maute, I will work hard to make Moorestown more affordable and reduce the tax burden on our neighbors; find new ways to create a dialogue between our various government entities and the people they serve; deliver clean water to our residents while making those who contaminated our water supply pay; increasing transparency and letting sunshine back into Town Hall; and put people before politics, always.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?
I have always been determined and motivated to push myself to achieve my goals; for me, “can’t” is not an option. When I was 18 years old, I opened up my own restaurant. By 21, we expanded into a second location. After selling those businesses, I decided to start my own computer company and build something from the ground up. I never take “no” for an answer when something needs to get done and always strive to better myself and those around me.

In my free time, I am a trained volunteer with the New Jersey Mass Care Emergency Response Team that assists with sheltering, feeding, family reunification, and distribution of emergency supplies in times of crisis. I’m an active member of the Moorestown Rotary Club and a Team Captain for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life of the Moorestown Region, and have volunteered many hours with Moorestown High School Project Graduation and the Boys and Girls Club. This involvement has shown me the importance of compassion, kindness, and community in a way that can’t be taught, but only learned from experience.

The best advice ever shared with me was:
I’ve always been moved by the words of President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address: “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?
When you cast your vote for me and my running mates, Barbara Omert and Doug Maute, you are voting for a team that is in this for all the right reasons. We will use our diverse experiences and backgrounds to build a future for Moorestown that preserves all that we love about this community while finding ways to make it an even better place to call home.

On the local level, partisan affiliation of our residents should never impact whether they are permitted to have a seat at the table or a voice in a discussion; rather, diversity of thought should be used as a tool to build better solutions.

We are now, as we will be on Town Council, accessible and ready to answer any questions you may have or have any discussions you’d like to — just reach out on Facebook (www.facebook.com/freshstartmoorestown) or shoot us an e-mail at afreshstartformoorestown@gmail.com. We don’t pretend to have all the answers — no one person or team does — but we have the love for this community and willingness to listen that can get our town back on the right track.