A Chat With Summit's Mayor-Elect

How many mayors can boast that they have not only a Facebook account, but also a Twitter and Foursquare account?

Ellen Dickson, who will take over as mayor of Summit in a Jan. 4 ceremony is indeed plugged-in — to her community. The former Common Council President who ran for a county freeholder seat in 2010 talks to Patch about her upcoming role as "CEO" of Summit.   

You lost in your last year. Now that you're going to be mayor, do you feel vindicated?

Ellen Dickson: I knew that I would probably never win as a freeholder because the demographics are such that we are outnumbered by quite a large margin by Democrats in Union County.

But I knew it was a race where I could make some points about county government, and it was a year where I didn’t have to give up my council seat. 

In hindesight, did it help that you did all of that preparation for the freeholder run?

Ellen Dickson: Really, I feel like I’ve been campaigning almost for a year. I did the freeholder race and almost immediately into the race for mayor.

It got my Facebook and Twitter accounts up, it got me writing a lot. It got me thinking about issues. So, I think I was in campaign mode, and I actually enjoy campaigning.

Did you always know you were going to win the mayor’s race?

Ellen Dickson: Frankly if I hadn’t won for mayor, I might have been out of politics for good. I don’t know what I would’ve run for next. So, I’m really looking forward to being mayor and I think it was worth the effort.

What’s going to be the top of the agenda in January when you move into your office?

Ellen Dickson: I’m very curious to see how this new council acts and I think I can work with them very well. I think they will be very fiscally minded. But we know that this is a town where people expect excellent services and excellent schools. So, it will be a real balancing act.

I think we’ve got a new council that is going to be very fiscally minded. But we have to also be able to invest in the infrastructure and provide the services that our residents want, and do it in a very efficient manner.