The Long and Short of it: A Moment With the Mayor

In a small, rural town, a mayor's name may not be the most well-known in the area.

Wait, you say, we have a mayor in Washington Township?

We sure do, and his name is Ken Short, a Long Valley resident for 33 years.

You may know him as the former owner of the Ken Short Insurance Agency on E. Mill Road. But behind the scenes, Short has served on just about every committee and board the township has to offer. He's been a member of the Washington Township Planning Board for 26 years.

"I liked my property and the area when I moved here, it's one of the reasons we chose to raise a family here, and I didn't want anyone coming in and building all over it," Short said. "So I applied to join the planning board. And they rejected me! So I joined the Environmental Commission Board instead."

Short threw his hat into the political ring in 2000 and has been part of the Washington Township Committee ever since. He was chosen by the other committee members to serve as mayor in 2009. His current mayoral term ends on Dec. 31 of this year.

When asked if he would try for another term, Short said, "It may be time to pass the baton. I won't really decide until (2012), but I strongly believe in term limits. You need fresh ideas and new people to keep things going."

Now retired from the insurance business after selling his company to son Michael in 2008, Short commits between 25 and 30 hours a week to his duties as mayor, a part-time volunteer effort. Short voted to end payment of salaries to committee members, which is now a township ordinance.

In 2004, the committee decided not to accept health insurance benefits from the township, to save money.

"I wanted to contribute to (health) benefits in 2000 when I came on board, but the (township) rules wouldn't let me do it," Short said. "So between 2000 and 2004, I calculated that I received about $44,000 in benefits. During that four years I decided to give that money back to the township in the form of donations to various organizations, whether it was the police department or a church or something to that effect."

Over that four-year span, Short ultimately donated approximately $86,000 of his personal finances back to the community in different capacities.

"It's about giving back to the town you love," he said. "This town has given me and my family a great 33 years."

Short put a lot of time and effort behind the idea to build a 30,000 square-foot community center on the township-owned land next to the Long Valley Middle School.

"We really made a lot of headway a couple years ago and it was going along smoothly," he said. "Then, within about two months, the economy went south, and (former Gov. Jon S.) Corzine imposed new regulations about age-restricted housing, which would've been built and used to subsidize the building of the community center."

Although the economy continues to struggle, Short said he'd still love to see the center be built under the right conditions.

"If I'm not in the position after 2012, it'll certainly be a major part of the notes I pass on (to my successor)," he said, smiling. "This is a great community and something like this would really benefit the residents. We still see ourselves a bit divided–this one says he lives on 'the mountain,' this one says he's from 'the valley.' We need to get rid of that and consider ourselves one community."

An earlier edition of this story incorrectly stated that the mayor's term ends in 2012 and that he currently foregoes $7,800 in salary. The mayor's term ends on Dec. 31 of this year. Township committee members do not receive salary of any kind.