Infrastructure — that integrated collection of transportation, water, energy, and other public utility networks — is the backbone of a modern, competitive economy. It is a platform for business innovation, productivity growth, and job creation. Modern infrastructure provides the basis for an economy that supports a high quality of life.
Ocean County’s success in consistently designing and building the best, most extensive infrastructure rested on a social contract that supported public financing, private investment, reasonable regulatory standards, and predictable timelines for approving and completing major projects.
Over time, each of these pillars has eroded just like our beaches. Public financing has not kept pace with economic and population growth. Private investment has been siphoned off by better returns elsewhere. The U.S. regulatory system has grown increasingly complex, offering many more avenues for critics or opponents to delay or derail projects.
As your next county commissioner, I will rebuild Ocean County’s infrastructure and deliver the job creation, growth and standard of living Ocean County residents deserve and expect. It is also a powerful catalyst for generating connections and creativity that will spark new and unexpected waves of economic innovation.