This is in response to the letter to the editor which appeared in the July 5 edition of the Independent in opposition to the building of two new soccer fields in the area of Fair view Cemetery in Middletown. My reaction to the letter has less to do with the controversy surrounding the building of those fields than it does the elitist attitude of the letter writer herself, as well as the factual inaccuracies of her statement.
In her letter, Ms. Barbara DeSanto suggests that people who live in the Oak Hill section of town are somehow better than those of us who live in Belford. After all, she says, they paid more for their homes and pay higher taxes for a quality of life that she has evidently come to expect as a resident of a nice neighborhood on the right side of town.
David Ritter, former vice president of the Middletown Soccer Club and a proponent of the building of the soccer fields, is a Belford resident (horrors!), and Ms. DeSanto suggests that as such, he could not have purchased a house in Belford expecting much in the way of quality of life, nor can he even fully understand the importance of the term, since he does not reside in the prestigious Oak Hill section as she does. She goes on to say, using the popular "Not In My Back Yard" argument, that the soccer fields in question should be built in Belford instead. If there were a parcel of land big enough in Belford, I’m sure the Township Committee would have investigated the possibility of putting the fields here. Unfortunately, for the people of Oak Hill, this is not the case.
In addition to asserting that Oak Hill neighborhoods deserve better treatment at the hands of the Township Committee than those of us who live on the wrong side of the tracks, Ms. DeSanto misrepresents these facts.
Fact No. 1: All residents of Middletown (from the lovely Oak Hill to the lowly Belford) are taxed according to the same tax rate. Oak Hill does not pay higher taxes than anywhere else in town.
Fact No. 2: "Quality of life" is a loaded expression. There are those of us who feel that having ample and safe playing fields for our children adds to our "quality of life."
Fact No. 3: The 131-acre Stevenson tract has not been "preordained" to be a golf course. It is merely one of several possibilities currently being explored.
Fact No. 4: The Middletown Soccer Club does not take 50 percent of their players from out of town. John DeGenito, whom you cite as your source for this statistic, was misquoted. The actual percentage of out of town players varies from 10-20 percent, with preference always given to the qualified Middletown player.
Gail Ritter
Belford section of Middletown