Peter Schwarz, a Borough resident and Planning & Zoning Commissioner, was recently elected to his first term as a burgess.

Schwarz described himself as a “civics nerd” and a “very collaborative person.” He said that those two things come together in town governments.

“I had an interest in [town government] and then people keep inviting you to be on more things, so a few months ago, they had a vacancy and [the Board of Burgesses] invited me to be on the board … I go to a lot of meetings,” Schwarz said.

He added, “My vision is to keep moving the ball forward for the Borough.” He explained that the Borough is in charge of the “downtown” area, or “the face that Newtown presents to the rest of the world.”

Schwarz said that keeping the look of the Borough is important to him. He noted that “the Borough is unique,” and “it’s nice that it has its own little government.”

He noted that Newtown is one of the largest towns in the state with vastly different areas: agricultural areas, suburban areas, and the busy center of town. Part of the reason why the Borough was chartered in 1824 is because the Borough is, and always has been, a more densely populated area that required more resources than the farmland areas. The chartering of the Borough resulted in sidewalks, streetlights, and, of course, Newtown Hook & Ladder.

“The projects that the Borough is engaged in are fairly long-term, things like sidewalks, streetlights, safety issues with intersections … So keeping those projects running well takes up most of the time for the Borough,” Schwarz told The Bee.

Schwarz said that he has a legal background and “has been solving business problems in [his] day job for a long time.” He noted that there is a lot of overlap between government and business, though the two are different.

Schwarz talked briefly about the Borough taxes, saying that there is always an awareness that the burgesses “try to do more with less,” something prevalent in the minds of the other burgesses while discussing the proposed budget for this year.

Schwarz encourages residents to attend meetings and be involved in the community and town government. He mentioned that meetings, especially budget meetings, are an opportunity for residents to “check our work” and make their voices heard.

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.