Michael rathbun
Position: Franklin Borough Council
Political History: Chairman of Franklin Recreation, member of Economical Development Committee
Occupation: Assistant Operation Manager for the Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority
Education: Sussex County Technical School, Sussex County Community College, enrolled at Berkeley College in pursuit of BA in Business Administration
Family: Divorced. Three children, Cassidy, 13, Kylee, 11, Dylan, 4.
Top three issues: 1. Community- Being that I am the chairman of recreation, I was hurt by the recent news article in another paper stating that Franklin is number 509 out 512 municipalities for being a family friendly town. With that being said, this will have an impact on the resale of our homes. When young families look to move to a new community, they look at what the community offers their family. As the chairman of Recreation, I have the opportunity to change this number. The recreation commission has diligently worked to bring back the Franklin Carnival this upcoming Fourth of July weekend. With the revenue made from this event we can put on more events for the community and invest more money into the pond area to help draw people to the pond to enjoy its beauty. We need more things for our kids to do in this area that is inexpensive and keeps them out of trouble. 2. Business: As a member of the Economical Development Committee, I see the need for the right types of businesses to come to our town and set roots in our community. The way I see Franklin is that we are lucky to have two types of areas to offer new businesses. The Rt. 23 corridor offers terrific locations for bigger box stores and corporate type businesses. Our Main Street area is an excellent location to have a small business that people seek out to go to. There have been some businesses that have recently opened on Main Street that are this type of a business and appear to be doing very well. 3. Future: The future of Franklin is very important to me because my family has lived in town and in the surrounding area for over 100 years. I would like to help make Franklin a community that not only my kids, but your kids want to stay and raise their family in. We currently have no plan, we need to establish a 3-, 5-, 10- and a 20-year plan. Without a plan all we are doing is uselessly spending tax money. We spend money looking into projects and then start them to change our minds and head in another direction, a total waste of tax dollars.