ELECTION CANDIDATE BIOS – SUMMIT COMMON COUNCIL

Beth Little

Beth Little, Democrat
Council At Large
Beth Little is a former child abuse prosecutor who has been involved in local organizations for the past 15 years since moving to Summit. Her four teenagers have all attended Summit public schools and she
has served on local boards and committees, including The Connection, Santa Claus Shop and the Summit Educational Foundation. She has said her experience gives her a personal understanding of residents’ priorities and the issues important to Summit, including: fiscal responsibility, strong public schools, smart redevelopment, full council transparency and collaborative
leadership.

 

David Dietze

David Dietze, Republican
Council At Large
David Dietze has resided in Summit for over two decades with his wife and their two children, both K-12 Summit students. Dietze has more than 35 years of experience in law and financial analysis, operating his own business for more than two decades in Summit’s downtown. Dietze graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth
University, studied political philosophy at Yale and earned his law degree at the University of Chicago. Dietze is in his sixth year on the Summit Board of Education, having served as its president; he has also served as a board member for the YMCA, the Overlook Hospital Foundation and the Summit Area Public Foundation among
others.

 

Matthew Gould

Matthew Gould, Democrat
1st Ward
Matt Gould has lived in Summit for the nine years, and has a wife and three daughters who attend Summit public schools. He has served on the board of trustees of the Visual Arts Center and on the Summit Public Art Committee. He has worked in the media and entertainment industry for 20 years, holding senior executive positions at publishing and broadcasting companies, including The Discovery Channel, TLC, Travel Channel, The New York Times and
Time Warner. Gould has lectured at his alma mater Colgate; Syracuse University; Hunter College; and from the Banff Centre
for the Arts in Alberta, Canada, to China Central Television in Beijing; and the Realscreen Summit in Washington.

 

John Dougherty

John Dougherty, Republican
1st Ward
John Dougherty was born and raised in Summit. He was a Summit police officer for 28 years before retiring as captain in 2012. He is currently the director of security for Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth. He has volunteered as a member of the Summit Volunteer First Aid Squad, a Scout leader, a Summit junior baseball
coach, Grand Knight of the local council of the Knights of Columbus, and served on the Summit Planning Board for three years. He is also the chairman of the Summit Republican City Committee.

Marjorie Fox

Marjorie Fox, Democrat
2nd Ward
Marjorie Fox has lived in Summit for 18 years. She and her husband, Jeff Naiman, have two children who have attended the Summit public schools. She has served on the Summit Environmental
Commission since 2005, and founded Summit’s Earth Day Clean Up,
now in its 11th year. Fox has chaired the Summit Recycling Advisory Committee since 2010, which helps save the city more than  $700,000 each year. Before moving to Summit, she was an attorney for the City of New York. Fox graduated magna cum laude from Yale
University and received her law degree from Columbia University.

Mike Wattick

Mike Wattick, Republican 
2nd Ward
Mike Wattick and his wife, Pam, and have  lived in Summit for 17 years and are raising four children in the city. He has served on
the Summit Parking Advisory Committee, president of the Summit Taxpayers Association, chairman of the local Red Cross and also helped found the Summit-based nonprofit Civic Story. Additionally, he has coached several youth sports teams, most recently the seventh-grade football team. Wattick works in Summit as a senior vice president and financial advisor at Merrill Lynch, overseeing the finances for families in and around Summit. He believes his experience with forward planning will be invaluable on council, and is running on the platform that local government should operate like Summit families: on a budget.