Dems pledge to improve efficiency, education Incumbents Pulomena, Polos say they're proud of their accomplishments BY JENNIFER AMATO Staff Writer James Polos Constituents, then county, then party. That is the order of priority the current Middlesex County Democratic freeholders say they have taken when handling their position. Incumbents H. James Polos and John Pulomena are hoping to continue their service of commitment and dedication to county needs with their re-election to the board next month. Polos ran for the Board of Chosen Freeholders nine years ago after being a councilman, council president and former mayor in the borough of Highland Park since 1982. He was a member of the board of directors of the New Jersey Conference of Mayors, a vice president of the Middlesex County Mayors Association, a public safety police commissioner, and a New Jersey League of Municipalities representative to the New Jersey State Police Training Commis-sion. He is the president and CEO of Polos Realty Group and Midlantic Property Management, located in Highland Park. He has volunteered as an emergency management coordinator, a first aid squad member and captain, and a board member for Pop Warner in his hometown. John Pulomena As a freeholder, Polos is the chairperson of the Committee of Public Works, the Department of Transportation and the county Task Force on School Violence. He was recently appointed to the Governor's School Security Task Force Advisory Committee. He has helped develop a county cooperative purchasing program that allows municipal governments to utilize the buying power of the county, thereby reducing municipal costs for supplies, vehicles, electricity and gas. He created the first freeholder newsletter, which is published bimonthly and distributed throughout the county. He introduced an integrated pest management plan for pest control, promoted and expanded the county and municipal road paving program, and has helped provide health insurance coverage to underprivileged families as a member of the county's Children's Health Commission. "One of my goals in seeking election is to continue to try making government work smarter and efficiently and make attractive, cooperative purchasing programs and new shared-service initiatives in the county," he said. "More efficient operations mean less of a tax burden. Clearly, we continue to work toward reducing operating costs of the county government to maintain a stable fiscal policy." Polos said that a current goal, and one to be followed through in the future, is expanding sustainability, and greenway initiatives are being undertaken to improve the environment while reducing costs through energy-efficient technologies in both the motor fleet and buildings. "I think I bring new ideas and innovations to the county, whether they are new revenue sources for the Transportation Department; taking the lead in a senior citizens prescription program five years ago, which now became a national program providing discounts to senior citizens; school violence initiatives we took four years ago that are now becoming state programs; [and] Middlesex County on Patrol now being implemented by the state. I think my proudest accomplishment has been innovations in government not only to benefit the residents of the county, but many instances [that have been instituted] around the state and around the country," Polos said. Pulomena, a 23-year resident of South Plainfield, has been a freeholder since 1998. He has served as the chairperson for the Middlesex County Planning Board and the Public Health and Education Department and as a member of the Administration and Finance Committee. Previously, he served three terms as a councilman, including as council president, in the borough of South Plainfield. He is currently the vice president and chief financial officer of Car-Tech Auto Transport Inc., after completing a 22-year term as chief financial officer for the network services division of AT&T, where he was responsible for a multibillion-dollar annual budget. He majored in computer science and math at the City University of New York. As a freeholder, Pulomena said he has contributed to keeping county property taxes reasonable, with stability for 14 straight years and reduced tax levies in seven of those years. Believing his local government was ineffectively and inefficiently handling taxes, he decided to help control budget increases at the municipal level before trying to bring greater efficiency to the county government. "Clearly I want to maintain a stable tax base for all county residents," he said. He has a strong commitment to education, visible in the construction of the Academy of Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies on the Middlesex County College campus and the construction of a new Vocational and Technology High School in Perth Amboy. A partnership was also recently created between Middlesex County College and Raritan Bay Medical Center to establish a nursing program. "We want to make sure we are visibly addressing the work force and students in years to come," he said. "We want to redefine the focus and scope of college education as well and recognize that the need for skilled individuals is growing. We have raised the bar for quality education and [encourage] all schools throughout the county [to improve] technology." He thus spearheaded the Tech 2000 program that invested over $5 million in the past five years to ensure that a computer is placed in every classroom in the county, in both public and private schools, with the addition of defibrillators expected. He has also expanded the services for rape crisis victims through the construction of a new facility that also houses a tuberculosis outpatient clinic, and has worked to establish the Office of Terrorism Preparedness & Planning in conjunction with the federal and state Homeland Security initiatives. "I hope if [residents] look at what I do individually and collectively with the other members of the board, they will recognize my commitment to education done with the vocational school and that a record of maintaining a fiscally sound budget has been demonstrated. Hopefully, by actions and not words alone, I have been able to, over the last three years, serve the people, and I hope they recognize that."