Friedman announced earlier this week that he will not seek reelection to the Voorhees Township Committee this November
Voorhees Township Committee member Michael Friedman announced that he will not seek reelection this upcoming November; he is currently serving the final year of his third term with committee.
Here is the full written statement Friedman prepared for the Voorhees Township Committee meeting Monday, Jan. 28 at the Voorhees Town Center, and also shared on his Facebook page.
“While this may come as a surprise to many, yesterday, I advised the leadership in my party that I will not be seeking re-election to a fourth term on the Voorhees Township Committee in November’s election. I understand this decision, which I did not make flippantly, may be disappointing to all of the wonderful residents and other people who have supported me and have supported checks and balances in our town throughout the years. However, due to significant increased responsibilities at my law firm (which I am very happy to have), as well as ever increasing responsibilities to my family at this time, running for a fourth term would simply be incompatible with making sure my priorities are properly in line.
It goes without saying that raising children is never easy — however, that task is magnified when one has four children, and magnified even further when three of those children unfortunately have special needs. My wife Jaime has been my rock and has been exceedingly patient with ‘allowing’ me to serve on Committee these past nine years because she knows how important having balance in local government is — but given our children’s needs, it is necessary that I devote more time to our home ensuring she and our kids have as much support as possible.
I am fully confident that given my record, I would be successful in a run for a fourth term on Committee as I make it my mission to outwork any competition and never give less than 110 percent effort in campaigning or governing as my friends, colleague and certainly my previous opponents can attest to. But, because the reality is that the demands of such a run would require nothing less than max effort, I’m announcing my decision at this time so that the Voorhees Republican party has sufficient time to find a candidate who likewise wants to give back to their community and give the maximum 110 percent effort required which I would be unable to give come election time.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not going anywhere just yet as I have another 11 months to help govern and represent the good people of Voorhees to the best of my ability. I have also never been one to be silent, so even after my term is over, I will be sure to remain available to my neighbors, and remain involved and vocal to ensure our local officials are accountable with taxpayer money and to the people who elected them.
I will have more to say come December in terms of reflecting on the past nine years, as I am very proud of the impact and accomplishments that we have achieved in that time as well as having the opportunity to work with so many wonderful municipal employees here at the Township.
In closing, I want to thank all of my friends and family, especially my wife Jaime, for all of their support and patience throughout this past near decade. And of course I want to thank all of you, the incredible residents of Voorhees for putting their faith in me and re-electing me to this post three times. It has been an absolute honor and privilege serving you and it will continue to be an honor serving all of you until the end of my term. Thank you all so much.”
Friedman was first elected to the Voorhees Township Committee in 2010.
