Welcome to Patch!
We're new in town, but we're in good company. Patch has been a staple in North Jersey for well over a year and we're lucky enough here in Brick Township to be the Shore area's first Patch site.
My name is Daniel Nee, and I'm fortunate enough to be the editor of our community's site. I've covered news from Monmouth County to Cape May County and I'm happy to be covering Brick Township, my own "home base" here in Ocean County.
Though we're proud to stand on the shoulders of some of our trailblazing giants up north, things on Patch may be just a little different around here. We'll talk about those summer evenings when driving on Route 35 is just maddening. We'll be out there during the nor'easters, listening to our favorite Shore cover bands, and we might take you along fishing on our favorite party boat. If you're lucky, should there be any Snooki sightings in Brick Township (hey, they anchored their boat out at F-Cove in Season 1!) we might just cover that as well.
Perhaps the biggest difference from our North Jersey counterparts, however, is the sheer size of our community. We're a municipality that could reach 90,000 residents when the 2010 census data is released. We've gone from a town with dirt roads and horse farms 25 years ago to one of New Jersey's largest suburban municipalities that is still growing. Everything here is big. Big stores. Big schools. A big police department. Plenty of big houses. And, yes, one very big portion of our town that is on the water, to the tune of 53 beautiful miles of shoreline. We have the ocean, the bay, two rivers and countless creeks that feed all of them. We also have the living legend – the winningest coach in Jersey football history – serving on our school board. Warren Wolf, a former mayor and state Assemblyman, will be a township fixture as long as he lives – and long after that!
There's a lot to like about Brick Township, but there are also challenges. The growth of our township has brought our former status as the nation's safest large community into question. A budget crunch has led to layoffs in vital areas of township services, such as public works. Our former – and quite popular – mayor was convicted of bribery, and political wrangling continues on the governing body today, centering on our current mayor's appointment to a full-time job next door in Toms River. None of these are issues we will shy away from.
As your editor, it is my responsibility to do what others haven't: keep you in the know about your town from top to bottom. Where are your tax dollars going? Who's getting laid off? Where in town is crime happening, and what is really going down on our streets? How are our schools doing compared to other local communities, as well as to those statewide? What's being built in the formerly-wooded lot down the street from your home?
We're exactly the kind of town Patch was built for. Stay tuned and enjoy the ride.
