Writer hopes GOP candidates have own ideas

As a resident of Brick Township I was saddened to hear that Mayor Joseph Scarpelli was not going to be running for re-election. I have to be honest when I say I am not sure who I am voting for in the November election. There are Republicans I trust and like and there are many Democrats I feel the same about.

My problem though, is I keep seeing the same name popping up when it comes to the politics of the Republican party. And that name is Alan Cartine. I remember many years ago before Mayor Scarpelli was our mayor and what a mess this town was in. No one knew who the mayor was before that. We had a mayor but did they do the job of the mayor? I now heard that Mr. Cartine sent a letter to the senior communities advising them who to vote for in the school election. What does he have to do with the school election? We should not allow politics to get involved in the school elections. And yet now because Frank Pannucci is so involved in the schools, we have politics playing a role. And what name are we hearing? Alan Cartine.

I sincerely hope that the Republicans running for election in November have their own ideas, think on their own and don’t allow someone like Mr. Cartine to run the town the way he wants to. He is not on the township council. He is not the mayor. He should not be the one making the decisions. Don’t let him pull the strings. Sure we are all allowed to have our own opinions, but I just keep remembering what Brick Township was like before Joseph Scarpelli was elected to the job of mayor. And at that time, he was elected for not one but two terms because the people of Brick thought they needed someone they could trust and someone who was going to do a good job. He has. We owe him the respect and credit for all that he has done. Please try to remember this in November.

And once and for all, keep politics out of the schools. My letter won’t be in the paper until after the election. So whoever wins, please try to remember this is not about the Republicans running the schools. It is about the right people making the right decisions for all of our children.

Karen Rytelewski

Brick