Council ignores Eggerts Crossing voices, again

GUEST OPINION by Harold Vereen:Township Council’s actions relegate Eggerts Crossing residents to second-class status.

   Lawrence Township’s Eggerts Crossing community is one of Lawrence’s oldest neighborhoods. In many ways, Eggerts Crossing evokes some of the best of what American neighborhoods once were: a tight-knit community, where everyone knows their neighbors, where people are always ready to lend a helping hand and where children raised in the community return to raise their own kids.
   Over the years, through the efforts of community leaders, churches, social organizations, township and state government, and the Eggerts Crossing Civic League, much has been accomplished to improve the quality of life in this part of town. Often, change was slow and difficult in coming, but through dedication and perseverance, we have continued to make Eggerts Crossing a better place to live and raise a family.
   A predominately African-American community, Eggerts Crossing also lives with some of the less attractive vestiges of the past. Many homes in Eggerts Crossing still do not have access to public gas, water and sewer utilities. There is a lack of affordable housing. Unfortunately, when it comes to public investments that will improve the quality of life of its residents, Eggerts Crossing sometimes seems to be overlooked by township officials – except, of course, at election time, when everyone wants our votes.
   Over the past five years, scores of Eggerts Crossing residents, working through the Eggerts Crossing Civics League, have been partnering with township officials and planning experts to develop a plan to revitalize our community.
   The plan, "A Vision for Eggerts Crossing," called for numerous improvements to the area, including landscaping improvements to the greenway, which runs through the community, the extension of Gilpin Park, the installation of traffic calming devices along Johnson and Drift avenues, and the creation of affordable housing on a 3.5-acre empty lot in the midst of a developed neighborhood on Johnson Avenue.
   Even before plans were drawn up, more than 70 people had signed up with Trenton-based Isles, Inc. to bid for one of the new homes that would be constructed on Johnson Avenue.
   "A Vision for Eggerts Crossing" truly is a visionary document. It won prestigious awards from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association. It also received the Lawrence Township Mayor’s Award for Economic Development.
   Imagine, therefore, the disappointment of the community when without any prior notice or discussion, the mayor and Township Council suddenly decided to undercut an integral part of the plan by converting the 3.5-acre empty lot in the heart of Johnson Avenue into Green Acres open space.
   This rash decision means that this land will never be available for its intended use – the construction of nine units of affordable housing.
   As a former member of the Township Council, and a life-long Democrat, I was shocked at the way in which Mayor Michael Powers and his colleagues suddenly withdrew their long-standing support of the "Vision for Eggerts Crossing."
   On Dec. 1, 2005, I was told at a meeting with then-Councilman Michael Powers and Township Manager Richard Krawczun, that the council was withdrawing its support for one of the cornerstones of the vision to place the 3.5 acres designated for housing into the state’s Green Acres program.
   The civic league requested a public meeting for council’s reason to be discussed. Mayor Powers and Councilwoman Pam Mount were contacted on a conference call to ask them to delay action of this matter until the community had a chance to be heard.
   Both Mayor Powers and Ms. Mount agreed to table the matter until the March 7 meeting, 30 days later, so that the voice of the people could be heard and considered. Based on that promise, the Eggerts Crossing Civic League began to mobilize residents to appear at the March 7 council meeting.
   In what has to be one of the most deceitful actions taken by township officials in years, the Council voted 3-2 on Feb. 7, to end forever the possibility that affordable housing would be built on the 3.5-acre empty lot on Johnson Avenue.
   The mayor did not keep his promise to us to delay action so the people could make their views known. When I later asked him what happened, he told me that Ms. Mount suddenly changed her mind and he didn’t have the votes to table the resolution.
   In two instances in April, the Council has agreed to delay action on agenda items based on concerns raised by just a handful of people. In one of those instances, the person objecting wasn’t even a resident of Lawrence Township. Clearly, the council’s decision to move quickly was designed to avoid any public scrutiny or debate its action.
   The council short-circuited the democratic process, denying the people of Eggerts Crossing the voice they deserve as American citizens. One can only wonder what the council’s motive was.
   At best, the mayor acted in bad faith. While one can speculate endlessly about the possible motives behind his betrayal, there’s no doubting the fact that the people of Eggerts Crossing have been treated like second-class citizens by a majority of the council. No matter how many times that happens, you never get used to it.
Harold Vereen, of Bunker Hill Road, is the president of the Eggerts Crossing Civic League.