Lance to Speak at Chamber Event

U.S. Congressman Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon County) will speak today at a Cranford Chamber of Commerce networking event beginning at noon in restaurant Cafe Lia on Union Avenue.

The Chamber invites one locally based politician to speak per year, in addition to the current Cranford mayor, said President Rob Hoeffler. He added that he expects about 35 to 40 people to attend at Cafe Lia, a usual turnout for a Chamber of Commerce meeting. The event costs $10 for both members and guests.

While past politician speakers were chosen due to the perspective they could bring on specifically New Jersey topics, organizers said they chose Lance for his broader national outlook. 

"(He'll) update us on what's going on in Washington," said Chamber member and organizer Barbara Bilger.

The Chamber organizes 12 networking events per year – one per month – held in a different local Cranford restaurant each time. Past politician speakers include N.J. assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-21), Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz (R-21) and former New Jersey governor Tom Kean.

In Cranford Lance last spoke at a in February at the municipal building and outlined his belief that the government should take steps to hack away at its "extremely high" $14 trillion deficit, touting Republican initatives that he said cut $60 billion dollars from the budget. 

"I hope working in a bipartisan capacity we can lower these annual deficits," he said.