Council Candidate Tom Wyka: Fighting Against 'Closed Club' Government
The open government activist seeks to break the GOP hold on the council.
Tom Wyka is committed to the concept of open government and transparency.
Courtesy of Vote for Parsippany
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Republican politicians are focused on keeping Democrats out of government, and it's time for a change, according to Tom Wyka.
Wyka, an 18-year Parsippany resident and a proponent of open government, is running to Town Council as part of the Democratic Vote for Parsippany ticket, along with Annelise Catanzaro and Janice McCarthy.
His background includes 20 years working in information technology. He earned a bachelor's degree in management from Bucknell University and an MBA from Seton Hall University. In addition to coaching football for the Police Athletic League and sitting on the finance board of St. Christopher's Church, Wyka is vice president of the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government.
"We advocate for citizens rights to government information and assist in crafting state level legislation for transparency issues," he explained. "I intend to bring that same passion to my role as council member."
Wyka said he intends to serve as a watchdog for the people of Parsippany.
"I will reinstitute and champion ethical reforms, such as the anti-Pay-to-Play corruption measure I lobbied for in 2009, and which the council underhandedly discarded against the will of our citizens," he said. "I will keep checks on the mayor's decisions such as overpriced no-bid $22,000-a-year websites and the skimming of $700,000 surpluses from the sewer plant. I will promote genuine transparency."
In Tuesday's primary election, the Vote for Parsippany slate is opposed by Independent Democrat Robert Hofacker. Wyka, however, is looking toward the general election and taking on the Republican Team Parsippany ticket.
"One of the problems I see developing in the town is our government becoming a 'closed club' [that neglects] the intellectual talent of our population," he said. "Qualified members of the community are being removed from committees in favor of political friends. The 'closed club' mentality is also contributing to bad decision making such as overpriced insurance policies and the town's overpriced new website.
"We need to keep better checks on misguided development projects," he added. "We also need to be more vigilant through government reform measures to ensure our elected officials are acting ethically."
Other issues important to Wyka include pursuing shared-service opportunities, promoting more recycling compliance, involving the public in cost-cutting efforts and lobbying Trenton on ways to keep services cost effective while maintaining a high level of service standards and morale among municipal employees.
"I believe my passion for good government, my activism for local reforms, my community involvement, and my strong desire to improve the lives of our residents demonstrates my qualifications to serve," Wyka said. "We need to break into the 'closed club' and create more accountability."
Truscha Quatrone
4:56 pm on Sunday, June 5, 2011
Tom Wyka is one of three very fine candidates running for town council in Parsippany. He introduced ordinance t0 make the closed Republican controlled more transparent; Forced by public demand they approved the ordinance and then refused to seat any appointed members to the committee. The residents of Parsippany should be very concerned about what happened and vote to change the council.
joe raich
12:39 pm on Monday, June 6, 2011
don't let the sheriff officers, and the Republicans run Parsippant. Fox, stanton, and carifi are sheriff officers. Tom, Annilease, and Janice will be better voices on council, vote proudly for our Democratic team!!!
jwalsh
10:30 am on Tuesday, June 7, 2011
It is disappointing (entirely predictable, yet disapointing nonetheless) that this strawman argument of a council run by the "sheriff's office" was raised. Maybe if any of the Democrat candidates regularly attended council meetings they would know that the council is not "run by the sheriff's department". Since none of the candiates have anything substantial to bring to the table they run a typical Democrat scare campaign, someone should inform the Parsippany Democrats that scare tactics are not effective on the local level... they will need to run a substantial, issues based campaign next time. The council meetings are open and they just completed next years budget and none of these so call "concerned citizens" were part of the public process. Shame on them.
Brian Stanton
8:43 pm on Monday, June 6, 2011
Joe Raich,
Yes I am a Sheriff's Officer, and as the President for PBA 151 I learned a lot about contracts, budgets and staffing. Yes I am a Sheriff's Officer, and as the Treasurer for PBA 151 I learned a lot about accounting. Yes I am a Sheriff's Officer, and as a Sheriff's Officer I learned a lot about our counties resources and county wide taxes. Yes I am a Sheriff's Officer, and as a Sheriff's Officer I learned a lot about respect, honor, and teamwork. Yes I am a Sheriff's Officer, and I am the person I am today because of the Sheriff's Office. So if being a Sheriff's Officer means I am unqualified to hold a seat on the Town Council please let me know why. And by the way I am a Sheriff's Officer and a very proud one.
the grin reaper
12:19 pm on Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Is Tom aware that he is not running against Republicans? He is running against the other Democrats. So his childish pouting about Republicans trying to keep Democrats off the council is as disingenuous as Raich running a campaign against the Sheriff's Department.
Parsippany doesn't need nonsense partisan politics, it needs candidates who want to serve the taxpayers of the Township.
Matt Clarkin
9:52 pm on Tuesday, June 7, 2011
People, I think in reading the comments section of this article, we have completely missed the point of this being a profile of a Town Council candidate. I've known Tom for several years, and for that whole period of time, I have known him to be nothing less than a fantastic advocate for the people of Parsippany. Two years ago, I helped Tom circulate his pay-to-play petition, which was met with enthusiasm at almost every door I knocked on. He has been attending (and speaking at) Council meetings for several years, and has a vast knowledge of Parsippany and its government. It would be a shame if the people of this township cast him aside because of the letter next to his name or the comments on this article. I get that there are important social & economic issues nationally and on the state level that have made many of the residents of this town Republicans, but on the local level, it is an entirely different set of criteria. We should care that our roads are paved, our taxes are low and government is run in an open, honest manner. At the very least, we should be open to having a differing perspective on the Council dais (I've watched many Council meetings online, and I almost never see discussion of any proposals; it is simply read and voted on, usually unanimously. Imagine if Congress was run by only one party that agreed on everything without any dissension). If we aren't giving everyone a fair look, the only people we hurt are ourselves.
Louise Ciccone
12:56 am on Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Well said Matt!