Medford Township Councilman Randy Pace has announced he will resign from his seat on Oct. 10.
However, he said he really doesn’t want to leave.
“It’s breaking my heart,” Pace said.
Pace is resigning his seat to move with his family to Tennessee after his wife was offered a new job there.
Pace has left a huge mark on Medford since he was elected to council in 2011. He came into office with the township facing a $6 million budget deficit.
In 2012, residents approved a referendum for a 25 percent increase in municipal taxes to help reduce the deficit.
Looking back on his tenure, Pace credits the community for its decision to raise taxes and help begin Medford’s financial turnaround.
“It wasn’t as much as what I did as it was what the community wanted to do,” he said. “The community made the most significant change in electing new faces.”
Prior to running for council, Pace was a frequent attendee at council meetings along with current Mayor Chris Buoni and Councilman Frank Czekay. Pace frequently spoke during the public comment portions of the meeting throughout 2011. The trio was elected to council after running under a “Medford First” ticket.
The backing from residents is what encouraged Pace to run for council.
“I had plenty of help and plenty of support from the community,” he said. “Not so much from the political interest, but from the community interest. That’s why I got involved.”
Buoni said Pace’s love for the township was evident when he spoke during meetings. Pace was not afraid to speak out during public comment prior to taking office and gave his opinion on many different topics when serving on council.
“He had the dedication and the steadfast commitment to finding out what were the actual facts,” Buoni said.
Pace said he has observed a lot of change over the past three years in the township. A reduction in municipal services caused a number of organizations to step up and take care of recreational facilities, festivals, parades and other events.
“I think because of where we were at financially and because there wasn’t enough money to do it anymore, the public picked up that slack on their own,” Pace said.
Pace originally moved to Medford in 2003 after retiring from the Navy. He said the togetherness of the community really spoke to him from the beginning. He is proud of how the community came together to stay strong during the hard times. He said the township has been able to maintain many of its traditional events, such as the Dickens Festival and the Fourth of July fireworks without funding from the municipality.
“People have banded together to get those things done, despite the government,” he said. “(I’ll miss) the community involvement, people coming together for common interests.”
Since Pace is resigning less than a month before Election Day, the council will appoint a new councilperson to fill the remainder of his unexpired term. Buoni said the Republican committee will send three nominations to council for consideration.
“We’ll get through the process in public,” Buoni said. “These nominees are representatives for the people.”
