LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

From the issue of Aug. 2, 2007.

Editorial on poll was reckless, insensitive
To the editor:
   In the words of Arnold Diaz of our local Fox 5 News … "Shame, shame, shame!"
   I am outraged by the editorial that appeared in the July 26 publication. It is reckless for our "supposed" local hometown newspaper to insensitively disparage the CNN Money poll naming Hillsborough as No. 23 of the "Best Places to Live. Moreover, adding insult to injury, your paper has the audacity to take this announcement and make it completely political by insinuating that comments made during a recent charter study meeting could be potentially feeding egos within our local government.
   Furthermore, the comment that this CNN Money poll is nothing more than "a marketing tool for the publishers" has absolutely no credence or purpose but to haphazardly serve as ballyhoo to the readers. One doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to realize that this announcement has the potential for profound economic attainment for our local area businesses, rebound our residential and commercial real estate market, elevate our school districts and further enhance our presence throughout the county, state and country. However, what our township doesn’t need or appreciate is a local paper publishing propaganda that smears or belittles the achievement but instead highlights the chronic unprofessional behavior surrounding these charter study meetings.
   All Hillsborough residents should be proud and rightfully bask in the glow of this announcement while forthrightly capitalizing on the media exposure. Economic capitalization is as American as your grandmother’s apple pie. Perhaps, your paper should reassess the commitment to your readers, not to mention the Hillsborough local businesses that loyally pump their hard-earned profits into advertisements in your paper. Have you forgotten how your paper remains in circulation? For goodness sakes, even a dog knows not to bite the hand that feeds it.
   Lastly, it would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to thank Mayor Anthony Ferrera and the Township Committee for their quick response to disseminate a press release and broadcast the announcement on the township Web site. It’s through hard work and steadfast commitment that makes Hillsborough Township such a great place to live!
Carlene Bravo

Stratford Court

Commissioners working together to meet deadline
To the editor:
   Over the last couple of weeks, many of you have read about significant problems between several commissioners in the Hillsborough Charter Study Commission meetings. This letter has been prepared to explain what is really going on.
   There is good news — the commission has finally come to a final recommendation! On the ballot this year in November, the voters of Hillsborough will be able to decide whether they want to continue with the current form of government, or whether they want to be able to vote for their own mayor in the same form of government as Bridgewater that has a mayor-council form of government. A YES vote in November means you want to change the government to a new and better form. Of course, you have the ability to vote NO, which would be to keep the current form of government.
   The problems with the commission right now centers around the final report. After nine months of study and discussion, we are ready to submit our final report that contains the most important findings along with supporting facts and reasons for our conclusions. In our meeting of June 20, the commissioners made recommendations about how they wanted the report written, who would write it and in what format.
   After that, it began to fall apart! On July 11 we saw the first draft of the report and the commission quickly broke down into two different groups with very different passions about what should or should not go into the final report. The discussions went beyond passionate about the report and unfortunately started to get personal and that is just not right — I am just as guilty as anyone and I apologize. The July 18 meeting was not much better — it was worse in fact. However, on Monday, there was a meeting of the minds and there will not be two separate majority opinion reports, no more arguing about form and content. The commissioners are all working together to meet the deadline of Aug. 7 for submission of our final report. There may be a slight wrinkle to this because there is a commissioner who did not vote with the majority, who most likely will submit a separate minority report that also will be filed with the clerk’s office.
   The most important item is that the voters will get the opportunity to choose a new form of government selected by an excellent group of residents who worked for nine months entirely in front of the public, with full public input along every step of the way. The form we recommend is the same as that operating in Bridgewater. We all know it works pretty well; otherwise, we would have heard about problems and complaints from our neighbors in Bridgewater, right? The full report will be available some time after we submit it to the clerk on Aug. 7.
Glenn van Lier

Brookside Lane

The writer is vice chairman of the Hillsborough Charter Study Commission.