Put our taxpayers first
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Enact zero-based budgeting. Hold the line on spending and rein in frivolous county projects such as $128k modern "art" placed outside the County Courthouse using American Recovery Act funds that were earmarked for infrastructure repairs.
Stop overdevelopment
Protect Somerset County’s environment and unique quality of life by stopping the rapid overdevelopment and preserving open space. Allocate open space money for open spaces - not sporting venues.
Prioritize safety in flood zones
Despite reports of damaging weather in South Jersey hours earlier, the county negligently FAILED to close the Bound Brook flood gates during Hurricane Ida. Numerous homes that should have been protected were destroyed, and tens of millions of dollars in damage occurred. Not a single county employee was held accountable and numerous homeowners are suing due to the county's negligence, with the Somerset County residents paying both the legal fees and eventual 8-digit settlement amounts of three class action lawsuits. Create open and transparent and accountable EMS systems to mitigate flooding.
Hold our government accountable
Secure the IT department with appropriate cybersecurity programs to prevent the take over by hackers. Somerset County's computer systems were successfully hacked last year, taking the entire network and system down for an extended period of time and exposing YOUR data to hackers.
Keep our communities safe
Support law enforcement and keep our communities safe. Oppose the County's plan to CLOSE the Somerset County jail and send inmates and local residents held there to prison facilities in dangerous urban areas, for a fee.
Examine recycling program to see if it is truly meeting our environmental and budget goals. Full inspection, report and plan to maintain the county roads.
Improve county services
DONALD LEMMA
For County Commissioner
Donald Lemma is currently finishing his second term as a Councilman in the Borough of Peapack and Gladstone. He brings to the table more than 30 years of experience managing some of the world’s largest and most complex private sector and academic institutions. Most recently he worked Columbia University where he held the dual titles of CIO and Associate Dean of Columbia Business School. Prior to his tenure at Columbia, he worked at Stanford University where he held the dual titles of CIO and Director of Computing of the SLAC National Laboratory.
Prior to his tenure in academia, Lemma served as Vice President, CIO, and a named Corporate Officer of both Schering Plough (now Merck) and Applied Biosystems. In his role at Schering he supervised a staff of over 1,000 people and a budget in excess of $500,000,000.
Dr. Lemma holds three university degrees including a Bachelor of Science and Masters of Public Administration from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. from Nova Southeastern University. From 1995-1998, he received an appointment as an adjunct professor of public administration at Rutgers Graduate School in Newark.
He has extensive government and community service experience serving as Board of Health President, Chairman of the local Sewer Authority, Chairman of the Police Committee, and Fire Commissioner. Earlier in his career he was elected as a Councilman and Council President in Bridgewater Township (1991-1994) and Republican State Committeeman for Somerset County.
Lemma was a law enforcement officer earlier in his career and was as a Deputy U.S. Marshal in the United States Department of Justice for the District of New Jersey.
Lemma is an avid hiker and high-altitude mountain enthusiast, and has summitted 41 of the 50 US State High Points and is one of the few peoples that have stood at the North Pole. Information on his climbs can be found on his personal website at: www.DonaldLemma.com
Lemma first moved to Somerset County in the late 1980’s. His wife, Marianita, is a retired high school teacher. They have been married for 35 years and have two adult children.
DAN GALLIC
For County Commissioner
Watchung Hills Regional School Board member Dan Gallic is the longtime Chairman of the Warren Township Planning Board and the current Chairman of the Warren Republican Municipal Committee. He brings to the table a wide range of expertise from land use to technology through his extensive business and public sector experience. Gallic just completed serving on the Somerset County Open Space Advisory Committee and also served on the Wagner Farm Arboretum Board, of which he was a founding member.
His nearly 30 year history of public service in Somerset County includes the Somerset County Board of Mental Health, the Warren Township Open Space Site Acquisition Advisory Committee, the Somerset County Municipal Wastewater Management Plan Committee, the Warren Township Cable Committee, and the Warren Township Sewerage Authority Advisory Committee.
After graduating Rutgers University College of Engineering in 1990 with a BS in Applied Materials Engineering and a minor in Electrical Engineering, Gallic created the first electronic quality assurance program for L'Oreal. He then co-founded and served as COO and VP of children's furniture manufacturer, Tymarc, Inc, and at the age of 24, had over 1,000 employees and budgets of several million dollars.
In 2009, Gallic created the first voice and video transport to cell phones, sold the technology to the US Army, and served as a Department of Defense contractor with top secret clearance for nearly 10 years, developing the latest in communications systems and obtaining IDIQ contracts authorized up to $80 million. He is a minority owner and former COO and Board Member of a high tech company that makes US-manufactured computers for the USDOD.
Gallic is an expert in cryptocurrencies and software related to the emerging FinTech markets. He is the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of To The Moon Ventures, a company that offers trading platforms, tools, services, and expertise in the cryptocurrency industry as well as custom programming for other industries including healthcare and oil and gas.
He is a Licensed Land Use Planner, and has sold nearly 70 acres of personally held real estate to preserve as open space.
Gallic has been married to his wife Suzanne for nearly 30 years, and they share eight children together: Rachel (married to Jean Paul Cazorla with grand-daughter Ady), Sebastian, Emmett, Naomi, Zoe, Cyprian, Blaise and Theodore (Teddy). He has lived in Warren since 1984, with a short stint in North Plainfield when he and Suzanne were first married. The Gallics are active parishioners of St. Mary's Stony Hill Roman Catholic Church in Watchung, where Dan is the founding Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus Council #14675.