Chatham Township Committee Candidates Favor More Federal Stimulus

As a volunteer for Andrew Yang’s non-profit Humanity Forward, which advocates for Universal Basic Income (UBI) and additional federal COVID-19 relief stimulus payments to citizens, I was pleasantly surprised that the League of Women Voters included my question on that topic in their recent Chatham Township Candidates Forum. You can view that segment of the Forum here: https://youtu.be/9mExd5yGKKc?t=1522.

My question was as follows:

“Part of the role of a local official is to serve as the eyes and ears on the ground for our Congressional Representative and Senators. So many people in our community are suffering from economic hardship due to the current pandemic. Many jobs are not coming back. There are food lines and mortgages not being paid, even in Chatham. Would you serve as an advocate to our Congresswoman (whoever she is) and Senators on the need for additional or recurring federal stimulus payments to citizens in our community?”

I was even more thrilled when all four of our Chatham Township Committee candidates stated unequivocally that they would actively urge our Congresswoman and Senators for additional direct federal stimulus payments to citizens. The enthusiasm of their response to my question was truly inspiring.

I strongly believe that Americans need recurring federal stimulus payments in order to meet their basic needs and manage personal finances in this pandemic. One-off payments will not accomplish what is needed in my opinion. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that any new stimulus payments will go out to individuals until after the election. Therefore, it is critical that we hold our candidates for elected office accountable on this issue, at all levels of government.

Ashley Felice was the first to answer, and her response was the most enthusiastic, “Absolutely. There’s no question about that.”

Mark Hamilton also agreed, stating “Obviously a lot of what you said is true. When it comes to government, it starts at the local level, and the primary responsibility for a Committee Member is to advocate for the best interests of the people of Chatham Township.” Hamilton stated that he looks forward to serving as our advocate. However, he also falsely claimed that Governor Murphy was withholding federal COVID relief and that “Morris County is not getting any of that money.” Morris County received over $8.5 million of federal relief earlier this month.

Phil Ankel followed up by saying, “Likewise. We feel strongly that as representatives of the community we need to be representing our constituents with other government entities that have the funds to support.”

Amee Shah also agreed with the other candidates on this issue, “Absolutely. Like everyone else said, I would absolutely work with our Congresswoman, whoever she would be, to make sure that our constituents have the federal funding they need for their health.”

We in Chatham Township are fortunate that all four of our candidates for Township Committee have now gone on the record stating that they will urge our elected leaders in Washington to provide additional federal stimulus payments to the citizens of Chatham Township. Whoever wins in November, it will be up to us to see that they make good on their commitment to advocate for additional federal stimulus payments to help the struggling citizens of Chatham.