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John Elias for Madison Mayor Since 2003, I have twice been elected to the Madison Borough Council, where I currently serve as Council President. As a Councilman, I have worked with issues large and small, mundane and complex. In all cases, my focus is on determining how best to serve the interests of the Madison community as a whole. For example, I led a Council meeting devoted to defining with the community at large our vision of Madison as a suburban hometown, not an urbanized center. I have also placed Madison's economic interests above my personal political standing. As a general rule, that exercise has served me well, and hopefully guided me to make the right decisions. In preparation for my run for Mayor on November 6, I have applied the same test and concluded that my focus as the next Mayor of Madison should be on the basics -- the items that are not necessarily glamorous but which are vitally important to the continued prosperity of our community and the quality of life that our residents deserve. We must address the challenges that an aging infrastructure imposes upon a mature municipality such as Madison. The next Mayor must create a community of interests to develop, literally from the ground up, the 53 acres Madison will acquire in the Exxon transaction. Our children have suffered for years with insufficient and sub par recreational space while many of our residential neighborhoods have unfairly assumed the traffic and congestion burdens associated with our expanding recreational programs. Only as a community can we develop a solid, comprehensive design plan to derive the maximum benefit from this a once in a generation opportunity. Finally, the Mayor bears primary responsibility for securing Madison's financial future. Our fiscal policies have to date brought us substantial revenues, excellent municipal services and modest tax burdens. We now face a fiscal future without the benefit of the significant electric utility surpluses that have subsidized our operational and capital budgets in the past. My substantial planning and negotiating experience, as well as excellent communication skills, will serve Madison and its residents well as we face these uncertain times.Long active in community affairs, I have served Madison as a member of the Madison Area YMCA Board of Directors from 1997-2003, as a Trustee of the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts, Madison, New Jersey, from 1994 to the present; and as a member of the Clergy Partnership on Domestic Violence's Board of Directors from 1996-2002 and as its chair from 2000-2002. I currently serve on the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement of New Jersey, and on the advisory board of the New Jersey All-Stars, and will be honored for my contributions to this organization in a ceremony next month. I have also authored several articles of professional interest, including "Protecting Assets of Elder Clients with Living Trusts," New Jersey Business, November 2004, and "Planning Risks of Transferring a Residence: A Critical Look at the Qualified Personal Residence Trust," New Jersey Law Journal, July 2007. I frequently lecture on a variety of estate, income and business succession planning topics. I have been listed among New Jersey's Super Trusts and Estates Lawyers in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and recognized by Chambers & Partners' USA Guide as one of of the country's leading business attorneys concentrating in Wealth Management issues in 2006 and 2007.
Press Releases
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Together with my wife and three children, I have resided in Madison since 1984. I am 53 and practice law in
Greenberg Traurig's Florham Park office, where I perform tax planning for individuals and their businesses. |
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John Elias needs your help in the 2007 election.
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