It’s mid-February, which means winter weather is in peak season, Valentine’s Day is near, pitchers and catchers are reporting to spring training, and many townships in New Jersey are holding their annual fire district elections.
The Deptford Township Fire District elections are Saturday, Feb. 16. Polls are open from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. at four locations: Union Fire Company, New Sharon Fire Company, Helping Hand Fire Company, and Oak Valley Fire Company.
Deptford’s fire officials are a proud group, happy to be able to share that they’re fiscally strong and haven’t had to raise taxes over the last decade.
The ballot for this year’s elections includes one question, asking voters to approve the 2019 annual budget ($5,105,849), and three candidates for two positions on the Board of Commissioners. Legal voters in the township will select two of the three candidates – George Frank, Joseph Nilsen and Gregory Thelen – to serve three-year terms as fire commissioners.
Frank, 59, is one of two incumbents on the ballot, along with Nilsen. A Westville Grove resident, Frank has served for more than a dozen years on the board.
But Frank has served in one capacity or another in a fire department for almost his entire life – it’ll be 45 years this October.
Frank enjoys being on the board because it’s a way he can still continue to serve the fire district. In 2008, he suffered a horrific back injury while on the job that left him disabled. His company responded to a call after someone’s motor vehicle ran off an embankment at Timber Creek. While trying to help free the motorist, who was trapped inside, the car fell onto Frank.
“This is the way I can contribute,” Frank said of his work as a commissioner. “Because I was injured, I want to continue making sure we’re doing things as safe as possible. … And we haven’t raised the fire taxes in over 10 years and I want to continue to give the best service I can, continue to get the best bang for the buck.”
Nilsen, 61, has served three, three-year terms as fire commissioner in Deptford Township since 2010 and comes from a family stacked with firefighters. Nilsen is a third-generation firefighter (on both sides of his family) and has uncles, cousins and nephews who also serve their South Jersey communities.
A Locust Grove resident, Nilsen moved to Deptford in 2002 after nearly two terms as a fire commissioner in Gloucester Township and working at the Chews Landing Fire Department for 15 years. Nilsen still works as an active member of the Cooper Street Fire Station, serving as a station safety officer (ensuring the safety of the scene while on call with his fellow firefighters while also being able to handle the physical work, too).
“What I like about being on the board is that we have a responsibility to the public, we’re stewards to the public because of their tax dollars,” Nilsen said. “Fortunately for us we’ve haven’t had to raise taxes for 10 years. We just went out to purchase a brand new ladder truck, for $1.5 million, and we didn’t have to float a bond, we’re using our resources wisely and a lot of towns can’t do that, they have to borrow money.”
Thelen is the only newcomer on the ballot, although it’s difficult to call him “new.” The 59-year-old Thelen, who lives in Blackwood Terrace, has been a Deptford resident for 42 years and has worked as a firefighter with the Union Fire Company, Blackwood Terrace, and the Deptford Fire Department since 1977.
Thelen, who holds a marketing degree from Temple University, has set up a Facebook page to market his candidacy. Among his accomplishments boasted on the page: He was among Deptford Fire Department’s first career firefighters from 1982 to 1986; he’s previously served as chief of Deptford Fire Department Station 9-2 (Union Fire Company Blackwood Terrace); and he was a 2018 recipient of the Gloucester County Fire Chiefs Association and Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders Life Saving Award.
“I’m running because of the cadet program at the station,” Thelen said. “Over the last eight years, we’ve had 10 cadets who have became Class-A senior firefighters. Taking that program township-wide is the goal, filling our ranks with volunteers. The more volunteers, the fewer tax dollars. We need career firefighters in Deptford. We need to boost the ranks, and taking the cadet program further is one way to do that.”
Again, election day for the fire district is Saturday, Feb. 16 from 2 to 9 p.m. You can cast your ballot in the following locations within your district:
- Union Fire Company (2401 Good Intent Road) for Districts 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 14 and 19.
- New Sharon Fire Company (1830 Delsea Drive) for Districts 2, 5, 9, 18 and 22.
- Helping Hand Fire Company (86 Fisher Ave., Westville) for Districts 4, 7, 15, 17, 23 and 24.
- Oak Valley Fire Company (595 Princeton Blvd., Wenonah) for Districts 11, 12, 13, 16, 20 and 21.
