Politics & Government

Corfield Wants to Bring New Voice to Trenton

Democratic assembly candidate Marie Corfield said her creativity and outside the box thinking would be a benefit to the 16th District.

A series of profiles on the candidates running for the 16th District's Assembly and Senate seats in the upcoming election.

Democratic assembly candidate Marie Corfield said she could provide a new approach and outside the box thinking as a different kind of legislator for the 16th District. 

Corfield, of Flemington, is a teacher who graduated summa cum laude from Montclair State University with a BFA in fine and commercial art. Corfield holds a Masters in the Art of Teaching from Marygrove College in Detroit. She has been an art teacher since 2001, and is on the executive committee of the Flemington-Raritan Education Association, serving as social and legislative chair.

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"What I bring is a passion and creativity about my undertakings and I throw myself 100 percent into my work," Corfield said. "As an artist I bring creative thinking into the mix. I'm not a business person or a lawyer, who make up the majority of legislators in Trenton. Not that that's a bad thing, but I bring a different point of view."

Corfield said her top priority would be to fight for lower property taxes and to protect seniors no longer able to afford living in the 16th District.

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"Property taxes are the burden of New Jersey and our biggest problem," she said. "We need to make sure as many seniors as possible get into the Senior Freeze program, but we need to make sure the state fully funds our schools."

Corfield said the state must adopt a more business-friendly environment to combat the problem of declining ratables bases in the district.

"There is so much red tape for startup businesses, so we have to make it easier for them to come to New Jersey," she said. "But we have to make sure that losing that red tape doesn't impact the environment or put our citizens at risk."

Corfield said the  would be harmful in the long run and doesn't fully address the problem. She said the legislation should've been split into two separate bills and workers shouldn't have lost their collective bargaining rights.

"This negated a contractual agreement (public employees) had and it does nothing to control the cost of health insurance," Corfield said. "The pension system needed to be reformed, but what did they do? They put a temporary patch on the pension problem by requiring people who have faithfully paid into the system for decades to pay more, to take home less, and work longer hours. 60 percent of the cuts came from the freeze on (automatic cost of living adjustments). That has a big impact on people in their 70's and 80's. You freeze the cost of living and it makes it harder for them to support themselves."

On the issue of consolidation, Corfield said the will of residents should be the sole determining factor.

"It's up to the individual municipalities to look at what's best for them, and it shouldn't be mandated by the state," she said. "The communities know best how their services are run, so any decision has to be in the best interest of the stakeholders."

Corfield supports a referendum for voter approval before a charter school is given the green light from the Department of Education. She said charter schools do no better than their suburban counterparts and have become a means to make easy money for the investors.

"Charter schools have become a big money making venture for hedge fund investors because of the law that gave a 39 percent tax break to investors in renewal and improvement projects," she said. "Now that the real estate market is kaput, charters offer a quick return on their investments and they can double their money in seven years. Stanford University recently did a study that found the majority of charters do no better than public schools, and many do worse. So they're not a magic bullet, yet there's a push for them nationwide because people have found out they can make money off them."

Corfield said it's hypocritical for Gov. Christie to discuss the concept of shared sacrifice until the millionaires’ tax is reinstated. 

"All of the sacrifices in this budget came on the backs of women, children, the poor, middle class and seniors. The only people not asked to share in the sacrifice are the 16,000 people who make more than $1 million," Corfield said. "That's not shared sacrifice. Everyone else has to do more with less. Millionaires are not leaving the state. It's the poor, seniors and the middle class that's leaving the state."

After questioning Gov. Christie at a Flemington town hall meeting in 2010, the exchange was posted on Christie's YouTube channel, which led to a feature on Corfield in a front-page article in the New York Times. Corfield said just like during the town hall meeting, she wouldn't hesitate to stand up for what she dabelieves in as an assemblywoman.

"I really want to have good communication between my constituents and myself, and want to be there in Trenton to make their voices heard," she said.

 


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