WednCTday, October 15, IMP

Hie Herald and The Lantern

Interview with William Hughes (From Page 1) acquaculture facilities in this region because of our proximity to the salt water. And, again, because of the tremendous amount of skilled and unskilled labor that often goes begging in our area, it’s a natural for that type of an industry So,* what with transportation and housing, which are desperately needed in our region, and the need to develop yearround employment — I think I’ve identified those areas that give us our greatest

concern.

You have been a major Influence In Issues involving proposed state regulations — such as the Pinelands and Shorefront. Should we take this Involvement by a U.8. Representative to mean there's a lack of effective representation on the county or state legislative level? No, not necessarily. I think that I would not be doing them a service if I said that the reason I step in is because there’s a

vacuum.

Frankly, I Jftst saw those issues going against us and I felt it was necessary for me to step in and use my own office to bring home clearly to the administration in Trenton — whom I’ve been at odds with on a number of different issues not the least of which are Pinelands and Dune and ■Shorefront Protection — that these matters were not in our interest. Frankly, Pinelands is extremely important to this region (when I say Pinelands, I’m talking about the Pine Barrens). I became extremely concerned when I saw the state create another bureaucracy — elected by no one — beginning to dictate our owh fate. They were going to determine our destiny on the basis of what people who don't live down

Page 31

CONGRESSMAN WILLIAM J. HUGHES

And given the fact that massive outside government disaster aid has been necessary, shouldn’t state and federal governmenU have a say in the regulatory

Besides, isn't Home Rule lacking in technological/ecological expertise? Well, first of all, I don’t subscribe to the argument that the municipalities have been a total failure in trying to address the

7 Btill believe that the best form of government is that which exists at the local level...

here, who have no stake in our region, decide whatfe best for us. And I find that's one of the dangcnris trends in government — that I'm fighting at the federal level. I’m a prime sponsor, for ibstance, of the Coastal Zone Management -Act, and I found the state in thSs Dune and Shorefront Protection Act undermining the work I'm doing at the federal level in trying to provide monies to communities to upgrade their dune ordinances and provide shore protection. The basic fallacy of the state legislation, I think, is that they believe all the wisdom is inherent in Trenton. And that's not so. Our public officials along the seashore know the problems. • They’re trying to address the problems. They don’t have the resources to buy land, and they often don’t have the expertise and the direction that should be provided to them. So that when I work at the federal level thru Coastal Zone Management In providing these programs, I find it disheartening that the state is undermining those efforts by legislation such as Dune and Shortfront Protection, which I find to be confiscatory in nature. How can you say we at the shore should rely on Home Rule to establish adequate beach and shorefront protection and building regulations when the record Indicates an inability of separate/Hbcal governmenU to deal with the problem.

myriad of problems that they have to deal with in shore protection. That doesn’t mean the communities haven't made mistakes over the years, because they have. I think that part of the problem has been that local officials have not often had either the resources or the technical knowhow. Coastal Zone Management is an opportunity for us at the federal level to provide funding thru the state which can be passed thru to communities to upgrade their ordinances, develop model ordinances. I’ve never suggested that all municipalities have done all that they should or can do to protect our dunes. Communities like Avalon, for instance, have an excellent ordinance to protect dunes. They’re far-reaching and forwardlooking. Other communities have not addressed the problems. I think the proper approach is for the state to develop a model ordinance, set minimum standards, set standards for reconstruction, for instance if a part of the area along the beach is destroyed. So that we do upgrade the zoning, upgrade the building code. And if, in fact, the municipalities refuse to subscribe to the model ordinances, then the state would have recourse thru a whole host of other mechanisms that presently exist. Such as CAFRA. The Coastal Area Facilities

Review Act Is a very effective effort on the state level to monitor and direct growth. That’s the proper vehicle if the municipalities refuse to develop the model ordinance approach. So, I think that the answer is not the heavy hand of government overriding local needs. I still believe that the best form of government is that which exists at the local level because they best serve the people; they best know what the needs are. And, as far as I'm concerned, the federal government has gotten itself too deeply involved in our lives as it is, and I don’t think they should be reaching into local communities deciding land use practices. By the same token, I don't think the state bureaucracy, which is often very, very insensitive to the needs of local communities, is the proper agency. I think what communities want is help. What we need is a partnership, not a dictatorship which is developed thru a commission. Would your view on ahorefront regulation be different were your own home not on the beachfront? Of course, I do live on the beach, and I would like to think I feel the way I do about

same time, people are demanding more and more services. So. frankly, the problem that municipalities find themselves in is the desire to try to upgrade their coastal zone, but they lack the resources to do It. I know of communities that have tried to buy beachfront, and put if in public ownership and take It out of the private jwrtor. only to find that the resident^ many instances would not vote the bonding funds to do it. And; quite often, we’ve had situations where municipalities have denied building permits to private property owners who wanted to build on a property that should not be buildable. Well, we ought to be developing resources, thru the federal and state that will be available to resort communities and to enable them to begin to address these problems that we have along the seashore. What i« your view of EPA’s 10 ft. ruling pertaining to government fund* and development in flood prone areas. In this context: Should the federal government have longstanding control on the use of national tax dollars? In the first place. I think the general approach of using elevation 10 as the standard for not encouraging development is generally a good one. but, I don't like the way it’s been implemented by EPA. I think they’ve been much too inflexible. And when you have an already developed infrastructure, such as there in Cape May where in one section, for instance. the municipality’s under an obligation to provide water and sewer to some areas of the city that have not been developed, I think the EPA has to be more flexible than they have been. But, overgll, I believe that'we've made serious mistakes in the past in building in flood prone areas. And as a matter of public policy, I think it is important for us to divert our resources —at the federal level, and the state level, and at the local level; at all levels of government - away from areas that present high risk. But you know, oyer the years, the problem is we’ve seen the development take place. It's often been unplanned. And you can't undo what history has written for us. All we can dd is try to chart future course.

Republican TV advertlalng portrays Mr. Reagan's liberal side to win him votes; while locally your Republican opponent Attempts to paint you as a liberal to lose you votes. What are we voters to make of this? The Congressional Quarterly characterizes me as the most independent member of the New Jersey delegation And I'm probably one of the most fiscally conservative members of the delegation.

‘The Congressional Quarterly characterixes me as the most independent member of the New Jersey delegation. ’

it, regardless ot where l live. I Just feel that we have to try to make the local units of government work. And even though many of our communities have part time public officials, they really want to serve the community and more often than not, they fere forward looking. They often need the help, they need direction, and they need resources. Many of these communities try to keep the tax rate down, in accordance with the wishes of their constituency; but at the

There are Republican members of the delegation that are a lot more liberal on fiscal matters than I am It’s been suggested that I've been very supportive of Carter. In fact, it’s- been suggested that I support Carter almost 70 per cent of the time. Well, the fact of the matter is It’s 66 per cent of the time. And 66 per cent, as far as Mr. Carter is concerned, is a failing grade. In fact, it was when I was in school too. That just means that

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