Fair Haven Borough Council Challenger Susan O'Brien

Editor's note: The following questionnaire was completed before Hurricane Sandy made landfall.

No stranger to the Fair Haven Borough Council race, Susan O'Brien has run twice before.

She is a regular at council meetings and a member of several borough affiliations. O'Brien is a fifth generation Fair Havenite who says her major concern is the re-evaluation of zoning to keep taxes in line and protect the borough against over-development.

Learn more about Susan O'Brien by reading the following Patch questionnaire:

• Name: Susan L. O'Brien
• Age: 65
• Address: 875 River Rd.
• How long have you lived in Fair Haven? Have you ever run for office here or anywhere else before?      

I’m a fifth generation resident of Fair Haven. My great-great-grandfather was the first school teacher. His son, my great-grandfather, was the first building inspector, and a member of the Board of Education as well as a founding member of the Fair Haven Fire Department. 

My grandfather was the Borough Clerk from 1919 until 1956.  My father attained the rank of First Assistant Chief in the Fair Haven Fire Department before his death.  

I ran for a council seat in both 1998 and 1999.

• Please list your community affiliations, volunteer work, special interests, accomplishments:  

I am currently a member of the Fair Haven Zoning Board of Adjustment and the Fair Haven Centennial Committee as well as a member of the Advisory Council to the Monmouth County Office on Aging.

While raising my daughter, I was a Girl Scout leader for two years as well as the Fair Haven Neighborhood Girl Scout organizer.

• Occupation: I was a mainframe programmer/analyst during most of my career.
• What do you feel makes you uniquely qualified for council?       

I have attended almost all of the meetings during the past seven years of the Fair Haven Borough Council, Planning Board, Zoning Board, Environmental Commission, Historic Commission, Recreation Commission/Committee and Fair Haven Fields Advisory Committee.

• What change would you most like to affect on council and how do you propose to accomplish it?  

I would like a secure a comprehensive review of the borough's master plan and Land Use Ordinance by enlisting the support of the other council members.

• Holding the line on taxes, preserving open space and protecting the diversity that has earned Fair Haven the distinctive reputation for being a quaint, down-to-earth town are all issues of paramount concern. How will you address these things? Feel free to use specific instances as examples, such as Fair Haven Fields, the DeNormandie property and development and zoning.

A revision to the borough's Land Use Ordinance to prevent the over-development of the town will achieve multiple objectives by indirectly holding the line on school taxes, keeping our diverse population in place (including many seniors) as well as preserving the open space as it is.