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quick summary

Robert A. Austino

Austino has lengthy experience working in government as sheriff, but no direct experience as a commissioner. As per a few campaign pictures on his facebook campaign site, here and here, his agenda seems to be to improve roads/infrastructure/broadband, support senior housing and healthcare, provide recreational advancements, enhance resources for enforcement and emergency services, and promote local businesses and job creation. Additionally, on August 13th he posted on facebook with details saying he will promote economic growth, public safety, and infrastructure improvement.

When asked at Deerfield Day to clarify his agenda, policy positions, and to compare that to the incumbents he is challenging, Austino basically said (paraphrased): "My big thing is money and budget. The county is attempting to build 3 county parks when our budget is stretched. I helped run a budget for 15 years, so I will help bring fiscal responsibility to the board of commissioners." However, when we checked with Commissioner Romero about this, he replied (paraphrased) "The county park projects are within budget, there's nothing to be concerned about." Be sure to check our county issues page to get a more detailed look at what's going on in the county. Also, Austino and Capizola have openly supported the Harris/Walz ticket on facebook, so it follows that Austino/Capizola will support and/or implement that agenda, unless they clarify otherwise in the future. You can also listen to a radio show which he, Capizola, and Riley did here. Click the red x at the top of this box and then scroll down down for more in-depth information and sources.

ROBERT A. AUSTINO

Running for:
Cumberland County Commissioner
Incumbent
Challenger

Websites

This election is on November 5th, 2024

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individual agenda

Current Agenda per facebook post

  • Economic growth by promoting local businesses and job creation
  • Public safety by enhancing resources for law enforcement and emergency services
  • Infrastructure improvement by upgrading roads, bridges, and public facilities
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  • Improve roads/infrastructure/broadband, support senior housing and healthcare, and provide recreational advancements facebook campaign site
  • Promte local businesses and job creation, and enhance resources for enforcement and emergency services. Facebook Campaign Post

party messaging

To be clear, with the lack of a proper newspaper providing thorough, professional-level election coverage, both sides of the aisle in *local* politics seem to be suffering from a lack of clear messaging. This is not to say that they aren't putting forward a lot of effort to message, but the information is oftentimes scattered across the internet, spoken about at meetings/events that appear partisan or have expensive sponsorship fees, or mentioned at lengthy meetings most people simply won't attend. Oftentimes people get brief literature like
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. They also might get vague impressions of what local Republicans or Democrats might believe based on what they know about national politics. While we have been able to gain some information regarding his agenda, there is probably a lot more detail that we could go into about the specifics of the Commissioner's board and Austino's campaign bid.

policy positions and issues

As of 9/29/2024, Inform the Vote has scoured the internet and attempted to contact the former Sheriff multiple times. There doesn't seem to be any available information in regards to his specific policy positions, other than he is against what he claims is the county over-spending on county park projects... however, we cross-checked this with his opponent, Commissioner Romero, who says the parks are within budget and there is no need for concern.

Capizola and Austino also brought up an issue regarding South Ave in Bridgeton while on the campaign trail: Source, however it seems as though the issue is in the process of being handled: Source, County Press Release.

experience

Sheriff Robert A. Austino brings over 30 years of law enforcement experience to the Sheriff’s Office. He was hired by the Vineland Police Department in April 1973. He worked his way up the ranks of the Vineland Police Department to the rank of lieutenant. Sheriff Austino retired from the Vineland Police Department in July of 2003.

He was elected Sheriff of Cumberland County and took office January 1, 2009 Sheriff Austino attended Bridgeton High School, Cumberland County College and Glassboro State College.

Sheriff Austino currently is a member of the International Association of Chief of Police, National Sheriff’s Association, New Jersey Sheriff’s Association, Cumberland County Human Relations Commission and Cumberland County Youth Services Advisory Council. He is also an advisor for the Cumberland County VoTech Center. He is past president of the Fraternal Order of Police, Cumberland Lodge #8 and president of the Vineland Superior Officers Association.

Recent Radio Interview

Around South Jersey with Jim Quinn

Summary

The former Sheriff and Jim Quinn spent approximately the first 30 minutes talking about the Sheriffs prior experience as a Sheriff and reminiscing about local politics. Of note, they mentioned that the former Sheriff helped get accreditation to the Sheriff's office, which helped put formal, state recognized policies in place and maintain modern standards through the years. Quinn used to be a mayor and freeholder, so he was able to offer kind words about how helpful the former Sheriff was throughout the years.
They spent some time defining what the role of the Sheriff's office is, which seems to be broken down into 3 categories:
1. Protecting the courthouses
2. Serving warrants
3. Communications division
All in all, there wasn't much directly related to making a choice in the democrat primary for county commissioner.

Stance on Vineland Police Department Staffing Issues

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