Letters

Relief workers may get short-changed

Eureka! President George W. Bush has a solution for the working poor in the states battered by Hurricane Katrina. He suspended the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 that requires federal contractors to pay workers according to prevailing wages in the region. That’s right, he wants to pay impoverished working families in cities such as New Orleans and Biloxi even less money.

The president may have the legal authority to do this, but has once again failed to use power for the common good.

Robert Scardapane

Somerset

GOP official: Dems should stop rhetoric

I have heard and read several times about corruption from the Millstone Township Committee Democrat incumbent, who is seeking a third term, and his party-challenged running mate.

As a member of the Republican County Executive Committee and a resident, I request that the details of this corruption be shared with everyone. Is this alleged corruption related to the state or county and, if it is, what does that have to do with Millstone Township?

If these individuals are speaking about our elected local officials, then they should give us the facts or stop spreading lies. These allegations of corruption are often repeated in other publications without basis. The authors should know better than to cast stones. In view of the fact that the incumbent and his running mate cannot campaign on their records, they are in desperate need of this smoke screen. They should come clean, ante up or cease and desist this despicable campaign rhetoric.

Steve Morelli

Millstone Township

Resident says synagogue’s plans should not be secret

The Executive Committee of Congregation Anshei Roosevelt appears to have achieved the goals they were seeking. They have split the citizens of Roosevelt into two angry and sometimes vituperative groups, they have alienated former friends and acquaintances by unfounded accusations of anti-Semitism and bigotry, they have ignored the laws of the borough, but, most egregious of all, they have destroyed Congregation Anshei Roosevelt as an institution that served the small Jewish community still residing in Roosevelt.

Let us be clear: There was only a small Jewish community in town before this whole affair started. Out of a population of approximately 970 people, there are only about 140 Jews of all ages, sexes and shades of orthodoxy. Roosevelt as a Jewish town ceased to exist many years ago, but for many of those years, Congregation Anshei continued to function sporadically as a place to celebrate mitzvahs and to console sorrows. The fact that it did not hold regular services did not seem to be of consequence to most local members of the congregation, nor did it seem to matter to the out-of-town members who constitute the majority of congregation members. Orthodoxy was also of little consequence to members who, when they attended Sabbath or holiday services at all, arrived in cars and not on foot. Those outsiders who most vehemently support the new tenants of the temple did not seem to attend its reopening services. Nor do I expect to see them often in the future.

Five local Jewish families that were members of the congregation (nine individuals) gave up their membership. Why? Because they have been lied to and misled by the executive committee as to the negotiations that took place with the yeshiva. They were lied to about the extent of the contract between the yeshiva and the temple. Up to this moment, the executive committee still refuses to reveal to the congregation and the community the contents of the lease agreement.

In order to “save the Roosevelt synagogue,” they have allied themselves with an organization that does not have local roots and that will import adolescent boys from all over the nation as students. I doubt the instructors or the students will put Roosevelt in their thoughts and actions.

The congregation and the yeshiva have yet to appear before the Borough Council to discuss their plans, though the press interviews they give indicate that they have grandiose ideas of what they intend to accomplish. Even if they are exempt from the zoning ordinances as they claim, they owe the community the common courtesy of presenting their plans in public. Secrecy and an apparent disdain for their neighbors seem to permeate their actions, and those actions have served to alienate them from the community. To reprise a quote from the Vietnam War, “We had to destroy the village in order to save it,” but in this case, the village is the synagogue.

Bert Ellentuck

Roosevelt

Agency extends thanks to donors of school supplies

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Monmouth County sends our sincerest thanks to all who made the start of school happy for more than 100 children this year. Monmouth Mall collected and donated school supplies, and hosted our “I’m Committed to My Education” pizza party at which kids participated in an educational program and received a backpack filled with notebooks, pens, pencils and much more.

We would like to acknowledge Monmouth Mall and all of the individuals, organizations, and businesses who made this event possible, including the Colts Neck High School National Honor Society, Freehold Noontime Optimists, Illiano’s Italian Restaurant, Meridian Health, Mon-Oc Federal Credit Union, Monmouth County Division of Social Services, United Way of Monmouth County, and 106.3 WHTG, as well as all who donated supplies at the mall.

Thanks to so much support from the community, our children got off to school on the right foot. We thank you, and the children of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Monmouth County thank you.

Marybeth Bull

Kid’s Club coordinator, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Monmouth County

Eatontown

Millstone resident likes Dilfanian’s skills, values

We all know that September brings the beginning of a new school year, a new soccer season and of course, our favorite, the Millstone political campaigning. One of my personal favorite campaign tactics is the automated telephone message. Just last week I received a voice mail from a Democratic candidate. I listened because it was entertaining from a “Gong Show” perspective, but I had to give it the gong.

Regardless of political affiliation and what I may think of the different committeemen, I can’t diminish the many hours and days they all have given. They sit on many committees and get involved in so many aspects of our municipality. And twice a month, they sit up on the dais wearing targets to be shot at.

On the other hand, there is the counter-“intelligence,” innuendoes, finger-pointing and blame-gaming. While this makes for good cable television and popcorn “eatification,” I would put it in the category of comically demoralizing. This is not a knock on current leadership, though.

If nothing else, the current majority has moved away from the cavalier attitudes of their many predecessors. I do not wish to see those attitudes of yesteryear return.

This year I believe I know one of the candidates pretty well. His name is Ray Dilfanian. I have found him to be interesting, genuine and intelligent. He has demonstrated team-building skills and is an excellent communicator. I respect his values, his level-headed disposition and independence of thought. Above all that, he is really nice.

On the one hand, electing Ray would give him a three-year sentence that takes him from his family to the firing line. Although we deserve Ray, I almost like him too much to see him get elected. On the other hand, and from a selfish perspective, I would feel better knowing that Ray was in office using his high standards as the compass. We need people like Ray.

Richard Disick

Millstone

Resident surprised by Democrats’ announcement

Hopefully, the residents of Millstone are as surprised as I am by the announcement of Frank Cotter as the running mate for William Nurko for Millstone Township Committee. Even though the rumor has been circulating around town for the last month, I am still shocked that he and the local Democratic Party have the audacity to believe that he is their best candidate to represent the residents of Millstone Township.

Their decision to announce his candidacy for office within two months of the election might have been predicated on their hope that the residents of Millstone would not have time to have an informed decision for their vote. Please let me share my observations of Mr. Cotter.

Frank has spent the last couple of years trying to prevent the local government from passing any reform that would protect the residents from urban sprawl and from higher taxes. He has sided with the builders and large landowners on township issues. He helped form a group of the 20 largest landowners in town that served to block a master plan that could have protected the residents. Anyone taking the time to attend Township Committee or Planning Board meetings would know that Frank’s interests are not the same as our residents and our taxpayers.

Frank actually is a large landowner in Millstone, currently owning 50-plus acres (the land was once deemed to be an illegal toxic dump by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection). Could owning that much property be one of the reasons he has so vehemently pushed to have the town go back to 3-acre zoning?

As disclosed in the press release, Frank makes a living as a mortgage broker. Seems only a natural fit for someone so close to the local builders and developers. Something that was missing in the release is that there also has been a very large tax lien against his property, over $100,000. Could he be running to try to make his $100,000-plus debt go away?

If this is the way he treats the community with his own money, I can only imagine how he would treat us if he was spending our hard-earned funds.

Anyone remember the tax-free incinerators that were recently proposed for Route 33? Once, again Frank was championing a cause for his builder/developer friends. He may not care about his environment or his neighbors, but I do. Hopefully, the residents in town will realize that the Republican candidates this year, Ray Dilfanian and Steven Sico, will have the best interests of the residents.

Kevin Abernethy

Millstone