I am honored to have served these past four years on the Brick Township Council. The only negative aspect was the constant barrage of negativity and character assassination I have been subjected to at the hands of the Brick Township Republicans. We have made every effort to not resort to responding to their vicious and callous attacks. However, former Republican council candidate Dan Toth’s latest attack ("Resident challenges open space claim," Oct. 23) warrants a response.
Mr. Toth tries to diminish the benefits of Mayor Joseph Scarpelli’s administration’s open space efforts by questioning the facts about how much these efforts are saving taxpayers. Mr. Toth employs fuzzy math and sarcasm to distort the facts used to illustrate these benefits. Had Mr. Toth simply picked up a copy of our annual report, or downloaded one from the township Web site, he would have learned how we came up with our numbers.
The township of Brick has preserved more than 1,100 acres of open space under the Scarpelli administration. There were more than 950 housing units approved for those properties. Using the national average of 2.1 children per household, we determined that we have prevented nearly 1,900 children from attending our schools in the future, which will result in a savings of more than $13 million by our taxpayers every year, now and forever. Hopefully in the future Mr. Toth will take a little time to investigate an issue before he pens a letter full of falsehoods.
Finally, Mr. Toth claims that trust is the most important virtue of any elected official. He claims "Without honesty, there cannot be trust." I agree 100 percent. That is why I have strived throughout my entire life and career as a public servant to hold myself to a higher standard. I have made it a priority to conduct myself in a civil and honorable fashion. Mr. Toth’s attempt to portray me as dishonest through his distortions is a disappointment beyond words.
Kimberley Casten
president
Brick Township Council