To my opponent,
Running for office takes nerve, and you've put real time into your platform. Harrison is better when more people care enough to show up. So this letter is meant in good faith.
The Township Committee teaches one lesson fast. Before you promise something, find out who decides it. A lot of your platform is already decided, and not by us.
You list SolarAPP+ as your solar plan, and you cite the state law behind it. That law already requires every town in New Jersey to offer automated permits for rooftop solar and home batteries, through a state platform coming online in 2027. Harrison doesn't need a candidate to promise what Trenton already requires.
You've promised to legalize plug-in balcony solar. Governor Sherrill signed that into law on September 1. It's done.
You've promised to let every property owner decide how much parking to build. For homes, parking in New Jersey is set by the state's Residential Site Improvement Standards. A township committee can't waive them by ordinance.
You've promised an online form for speed bumps, road narrowing and roundabouts. Main Street is State Route 45. Route 322 and Route 77 belong to the state, and many more of our roads belong to Gloucester County. On those roads, the township can't approve any of it. That form would promise residents something the township can't deliver.
None of that is a knock on your intentions. It's the difference between a platform and a plan. A platform says what you'd like to happen. A plan knows who has to say yes.
Most of this job is reading. Every agenda, every ordinance, every line of the budget, and every statute that decides what the township is allowed to touch. Harrison deserves someone who has done that reading before the vote, not after.
Every vote on that dais lands on someone's tax bill, mortgage or rent check, mine included. I read every line knowing that.
My door is open. Come to the next Township Committee meeting and I'll walk you through the agenda afterward. That offer stands whoever wins in November.
Respectfully,
Kevin FrenchHarrison Township Committee ยท Column B
Experience matters. Your vote matters. Harrison matters.
Sources. Automated solar permitting, A5264/S4100 (2025). Plug-in balcony solar, S2368, signed September 1, 2026. Residential parking, Residential Site Improvement Standards, N.J.A.C. 5:21.
Paid for by The Committee to Elect Kevin French, PO Box 28, Richwood, NJ 08074