I’ve been on council since January of 2013.  I’ve dived in head first and have been learning as much as I can about every aspect of the township.    There are a lot of misconceptions out there and I’ve made it my goal to learn all the facts and get them out to you.

Some of my accomplishments since starting in 2013:

• Restarted our Recreation Committee.  I restarted the Recreation Committee that had been dormant and in addition to the annual Community Day event, we took over Movies at the Pool this year.  We are now working on more community events for the future, events that benefit residents of all ages.  Our committee is also focused on our beautiful park and we are investigating the possibility of adding a local Dog Park and providing safer access to the park for walkers and bikers.  We will also be having more fundraising events to raise money to further enhance our park for the enjoyment of all.
• Created the Economic Development Advisory Committee.  We abolished the old Industrial Committee and replaced it with our EDAC.  The EDAC has been communicating with our current business owners to assess their needs, and will be a resource for new business for the area.  We are working with the area Chambers of Commerce to promote our local businesses and we have many events and networking opportunities in the works.
• Revitalized the Lopatcong Athletic Association.  When I was first assigned to the LAA, they did not have a president or a baseball director.   We now have all the positions filled and are moving forward with our goals.  As a full team, we were able to finalize and approve new By-Laws for the LAA and created a field rental policy to help raise funds for our field maintenance.  We also hosted a great baseball clinic that was run by retired baseball players, which was free of charge to the children because of the donations we received.  We will continue to host events like this for the kids, and we are also working on events that will allow the LAA to give back to their community.
• Updated and expanded the Township’s website.   In the interest of transparency, many enhancements have been made to our website.  We now have a blog called ‘Council Corner‘ and a page for our New Ordinances.  All committees have a page so you can see what they are doing. We have more information on our website than ever before and I am committed to making it better every day.  In order to save money, the website is now being maintained voluntarily at no charge to the township.
• Social Media Presence.  Again in the interest of transparency, we are now on Facebook and Twitter and post regularly to both sites.  We also have a YouTube Channel, where you can watch the video recordings of our Council meetings.  I advocated to record the meetings so that they could be shared with everyone, since many people do not have time to attend our meetings in person.
• 150th Birthday Celebration.  I took charge of the 150th Celebration and with a great group of volunteers, we planned an amazing weekend of events celebrating our township.  Our history book is a still available for sale, and is a great resource for learning about the township and the people who made it into the ‘People helping people community’ that we have all come to love.  It’s my goal to keep this town positive and vibrant.
• Shared Services – We are currently working on new Shared Services opportunities with our neighboring towns.  With dwindling state funding, and the loss of our Energy Tax Receipt monies, we are all faced with the struggle to make ends meet.

**paid for by the Committee to Elect Lori Ciesla**