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People On The Move - Mitchell Remig
03/04/2010 - By Teja Anderson
20 YEAR OLD COUNCILMAN AND COMMUNITY HERO!
While most twenty year olds are living it up on college campuses, looking for employment, searching for love or going to parties, Mitchell Remig is busy serving the community of Point Pleasant Borough. As a volunteer member of their Fire Department, First Aid Squad, and Police Department (he is also employed as a Class Two Police Officer in the neighboring town of Manasquan), and as the newly-elected youngest councilperson in New Jersey!
It all started when Mitchell was just thirteen and saw one of the town’s ambulances stuck in the snow. He wrote a letter to the mayor and then attended council meetings to air his frustration. Shortly thereafter the town’s First Aid Squad got a truck with a plow and Mitchell realized the power of lobbying. “I know it probably wasn’t just because of me but being young and naive I was like ‘wow!’ Government actually works!” Mitchell remembers. “That got me interested in government and in school I was always interested in history and government.”
Mitchell registered to vote as a Republican as soon as he turned eighteen and was approached last year by the local party to run for town council.
Campaigning door to door with his running mate Toni DePaola, Mitchell was able to update their campaign using mailings, fliers, a website and Facebook. Voter turn out was large, due to the gubernatorial election, and of the town’s 18,177 people, 13,343 voted. DePaola received the most votes (4,151) with Remig a close second (3,958 or 29.6% of the vote).
“The biggest issues here are taxes and also the re-evaluation that was just done on properties with a close second being ethics. I really want to bring a fresh voice to the council; I have absolutely no personal agenda.” Mitchell asserts. Helping them win was the fact that both candidates pledged to forgo their $3,200 stipends in the first year of their three year terms until they could provide tax relief for their constituents. Mitchell loves his town and his biggest concern is that people might be forced out of it, like his grandmother who had to move to Pennsylvania recently to save money. He hates seeing all the “For Sale” signs.
Mitchell is aware that when you are working in a community service job you must hold yourself to a higher standard.
“When I was eighteen and I was hired by the Manasquan Police Department I knew I was being watched no matter where I went. But now being an elected official it’s a lot more intense. The politics here are very cutthroat, but most people have been very supportive and Mayor Martin Konkus has been an awesome mentor.” Mitchell finds that he is constantly being sized up, and local town politics being what they are, rumors can start up without merit.
“Just yesterday I got a call from someone saying I was in full police uniform somewhere where I shouldn’t have been where in reality I was on duty at the firehouse volunteering for six hours. I don’t appreciate that. Here I am donating my time and trying to give back and make a difference and there are people out there trying to undermine me.”
The campaign indeed turned nasty when sealed records of an underage drinking incident from when Mitchell was fifteen turned up. Yet, it didn’t hurt his chances. Perhaps because his outstanding record of service to his community over the past five years was exemplary. Police Explorer programs. police summer camps, in school Fire Prevention and D.A.R.E. Programs populate his resume. And although Mitchell didn’t graduate from Point Pleasant Borough High School until 2007, he started going to Ocean County College while still in his junior year and has earned 72 credits to date, working on two associate degrees, Criminal Justice and Fire Science.
Mitchell is the oldest of three - brother Jared is 18 and sister Cady is 15 - and lives with his mother Darlene and stepfather John Garris with stepsisters Rachael, 19, and Danielle, 17. Although his siblings are very proud of Mitchell, his status as a councilman doesn’t get him any extra time in their single shared bathroom. Mitchell chuckles; “I’ve been an adult for two years now and my Dad (father Donald Remig and his fiance Maria live nearby) always told me ‘You’ve got to stay young at heart’ and to me, I’m still a kid.”
This is one kid we will all be watching in New Jersey politics for years to come!
STATS
FAVORITE RESTAURANT
Leggetts, Manasquan
FAVORITE MUSIC
Country
FAVORITE MOVIE
“A Few Good Men”
PET PEEVE
“Things placed on my dashboard…especially feet!”
THREE PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH
Jim Cantore, Kesha & Hayden Panettiere
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