Name: Joseph G. Ferrari
Age: 41
Occupation: Oxford Township Treasurer
Governmental Experience: 16 years of service as Oxford Township Treasurer.
Family (i.e. spouse, kids): Wife, Lori and son, Augusto, who is 20 months old.
Number of years you’ve lived in Oxford? 18 years
1. Why are you running for township office? What experience, skills, talents or qualities do you have to offer the public?
I am running for Oxford Township Treasurer because I truly enjoy serving the Oxford community and feel that I can help lead us through the difficult times ahead. If elected, I promise to serve the next entire four years as your treasurer. I have a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and am a Certified Public Finance Administrator (CPFA). I bring 16 years of hands-on experience to this position and have worked well with township boards in the past. I believe in working with all seven board members to come up with the best possible solution to issues facing the township. I feel we always need to be flexible and open-minded to the opinions of others, especially our residents. Many times, residents have presented fresh ideas that we may not have considered. We may not always agree, but when we work together and thoroughly discuss various issues, better decisions are made.
2. What are the top three issues/priorities facing the township and how would you go about addressing them?
1) Future revenues to pay off our Water Bond Debt obligations. The projected growth that the township anticipated in meeting our future water bond payments is not occurring. We have enough revenues on hand to make our bond payments in the near future. I would recommend that the Sewer Fund loan the Water Fund monies to pay back the bond debt at the current competitive market interest rate.
2) Declining revenues through State Shared Revenue payments and local property taxes. We need to be proactive and try to anticipate future revenues. Implementing a two or three year municipal budget cycle would help us plan properly for the future.
3) Trying to complete the township safety path system through grants and foundation donations. I have been successful in obtaining grants in the past and will continue to look for any and all state or federal monies that may be available.
3. What would you do to increase public involvement/input in township decision-making?
Public involvement in township decision-making is crucial. We can increase involvement by implementing better accessibility to government officials and services. We are in the process of redoing our township website to offer more services online. In addition to expanded online services, I would recommend that we start making our website more interactive with each elected official having an interactive online session at a certain date and time. I would also recommend having evening hours at least once a month where residents could come in and talk to any elected official privately on any issues that they would like to discuss. At the township board level, if we streamline our meetings, which we have started to do, I think we would have better attendance. Our residents are busy and we need to be respectful of their time. We also need to continue to have open dialogue with the Oxford Village Council.