Letter to the editor
To the editor:
As a senior officer in the U.S. Marine Corps I had the opportunity to evaluate the personality, character, and work ethic of hundreds of men and women during my 30-year career. The areas that are most often considered critical are loyalty, endurance, force, judgment, personal appearance and work habits. The highest rating is outstanding and I want to say that I rate Janice Mastriano outstanding in all categories except judgement.
I rated her slightly lower in this category because I think she underestimated the viciousness of the attacks she would receive by the lynch-mob mentality that permeated the Board of Education meetings she attended last year. As I sat there witnessing the attacks, one of which was her religion, I was glad that this was 2001 and not the 1600s or 1700s because she most assuredly would have been tarred and feathered, or worse, and without due process. Not one person on the board, or the numerous other public officials attending, defended her right to display openly her religious symbol when a hypocrite in the audience chastised her for "hiding" behind the "cross" she was wearing. The silence was deafening.
As for the other categories, Janice Mastriano has never been other than outstanding in her years as a public servant. She openly apologized for upsetting members of the community last year. The fact that she had denied sensitivity training is entirely within her rights and the individuals who say she still needs "sensitivity" training need some of their own. Perhaps they need moral, ethical and religious sensitivity training as well.
Fifty years from now, history will remember Janice Mastriano as a courageous woman and I hope the townspeople of Hightstown realize this now and re-elect her to the Board of Education. Hightstown and America need more men and women like her in public life.
Col. Walter F. Conner
Hightstown