Disclosure: I am a candidate for Berkeley Heights Township Council. This article is my assessment of the candidates’ published positions.

Residents looking to understand what George deLuna is running on can find his priorities at DeLunaForMayor.com and in his four TAPinto candidate responses. Together, they present a consistent message: preserve Berkeley Heights’ suburban character, question spending and development decisions, improve basic services, and make government more accountable to residents.

His central argument is straightforward: voters who want a different direction should consider leadership from outside the current Council.

Development: Fewer New Multifamily Buildings

On development, deLuna states a clear preference for fewer new multifamily buildings. He identifies preserving the town’s family-friendly character as a measure by which residents should judge his term. He connects development decisions to traffic, infrastructure, schools, and the interests of people who already live here.

He also encourages consideration of commercial alternatives for the Nokia property. Those possibilities would require serious evaluation, but his broader point is that residents should see alternatives examined before accepting more housing as the inevitable outcome.

PILOTs: School Funding Is a Stated Priority

On PILOTs, he recognizes the consequences for taxpayers and schools. In his published response on PILOTs and school funding, deLuna questions arrangements that benefit developers and municipal government while leaving existing taxpayers responsible for school costs associated with new students.

He does not categorically reject every future PILOT. His stated approach is to advocate a school share comparable to what schools receive through regular property taxes. That gives voters an identifiable negotiating priority, although the conditions he would require deserve further explanation.

Spending: Efficiency and Affordability

On spending, his emphasis is efficiency and affordability. In his October 15 candidate statement, he proposes exploring incentives for budget managers to identify savings. In his candidate answers, he also calls for greater coordination between municipal government and the Board of Education.

His concern extends to residents who want to remain in Berkeley Heights after retirement. He frames affordability as part of preserving the community: a town should be a place where people can raise their children and continue living afterward. A more detailed municipal borrowing policy would help voters assess how he would balance that goal with necessary investments.

Infrastructure: Practical Everyday Services

On infrastructure, his website identifies practical everyday responsibilities. These include drainage, road paving, street cleaning, recurring power outages, and better coordination with utilities to reduce repeated road excavation.

He also proposes tracking residents’ reported problems through to a response. That is a useful service commitment: residents should be able to learn what happened after they raised a concern. Specific sewer and flooding priorities, costs, and schedules would be a valuable next step.

A Different Approach to Leadership

His strongest distinction is his willingness to challenge the prevailing approach. DeLuna openly questions the Council’s pattern of agreement and promises to examine proposals on their merits. He also acknowledges the limits of the mayor’s authority and the need for Council action.

His background in foreign-exchange brokerage and independent trading forms part of his case for making decisions under uncertainty. In his answers, he emphasizes gathering relevant information, exercising judgment, and changing course when a decision proves mistaken.

His longer-term proposal to change the state’s affordable-housing framework is ambitious and would require support beyond Berkeley Heights. He nevertheless states that he would seek to remain compliant while advocating change.

DeLuna’s campaign would benefit from more detail about implementation. But voters can identify the direction he wants to take: less multifamily development, greater attention to taxpayer costs, school funding in PILOT negotiations, reliable basic services, and more public scrutiny of decisions.

He offers residents a clear opportunity to consider a change in leadership—and a publicly available platform against which to assess him.

Scope: This commentary considers deLuna’s campaign website, his four 2026 TAPinto candidate responses, and the separately linked candidate statements published by NJ21st.

Compare Foster, Poage, and deLuna on development, PILOTs, debt, and infrastructure.