Anesh Announces Bid for Mayor

Update:  Courier News & Home News Tribune Story on Anesh's Announcement
(Reader Submitted Story)

Council President Matt Anesh has announced that he will be seeking the Republican nomination for mayor. Anesh is a two-term councilman and received the most votes for council in November, when he was elected a second time to the council.

“I’m excited about bringing new leadership to South Plainfield,” said Anesh in announcing his bid. “This is probably the most challenging time in recent memory to be in local government,” he said. “The mistakes of the past twenty to thirty years are catching up, and we need strong, effective leadership to fix them and get us on the right path. That’s something I know I can do for South Plainfield.”

Councilman Rob Bengivenga, who ran for council last year with Anesh, called the decision “good news” for South Plainfield. “Matt will make a superb mayor,” Bengivenga said. “He knows how to work with people and how to lead in a way that brings everybody together.”

Councilman Ray Rusnak echoed Bengivenga’s enthusiasm: “Matt will be a very different type of mayor than we’ve seen in the past. He knows the importance of listening, collaborating, and working together. He’s always taken a bipartisan approach to governing and he’s shown he can be both independent and effective.”

“Matt’s focus is the future,” added Councilman Tim McConville. “He’s about looking to the future, not the past, and making the decisions today that will make South Plainfield better tomorrow.”
Anesh said his top priority will be working to make South Plainfield affordable. “With the state’s fiscal crisis, we have to do more with less,” he explained. “This means making the same tough decisions South Plainfield families are making around the dinner table. It means remembering that we’re spending people’s hard-earned money and doing everything we can to cut costs and to see that what we do spend, we spend wisely.”

While on the council Anesh has chaired the public-safety and public-works committees. He’s spearheaded several projects, including the Safe Streets, Safe Kids pilot project and modernization of the public works department. According to his GOP colleagues on the council, though, his background in management and finance is his greatest strength.

Anesh will be screening for his party’s nomination when Republican committee members meet this week to choose a mayoral candidate to appear on the primary ballot in June. He was elected twice to the council, in 2005 and 2009. This year his fellow council members unanimously voted him council president.

Anesh, a lifelong resident, lives on Hidden Court with his wife Kimberly and their twin boys, Harrison and Joseph.