The recent letter by Joe Caliendo attacking Judith Stanley Coleman – one of the most decent, caring and charitable people I’ve ever met – is yet another sorry example of the gutter politics practiced by the Middletown Democratic leadership.
Mrs. Stanley Coleman pays nearly $50,000 in property taxes per year to Middletown on her home and property where only two people live; no children use the schools and only a bare minimum of services are used.
Not a “fair share”? It’s one heck of a lot more than a “fair share,” Mr. Caliendo! If this is not a “fair share,” what does Mr. Caliendo expect? His rhetoric sounds more like redistribution of wealth, more like Marxist Socialism!
Moreover, Mr. Caliendo could live a hundred lifetimes and not even begin tomatch the generosity, care for people and real contribution she has made to benefit others. She has spent most of her adult life giving back to her community and country not only in money but work and sweat for causes like the Visiting Nurse Association, Monmouth Medical Center, Monmouth University, the Conservation Foundation, the Middletown Planning Board, the Middletown Public Library, Monmouth County Historical Society, to name just a few. Literally thousands of people have been helped by her volunteer work.
Mr. Caliendo is reminded that farmland assessments have kept thousands of acres of land from development and urbanization. When one remembers the years when Middletown was under the control of Mr. Caliendo’s Democratic politicos, Middletown was a playground for developers. Maybe that’s why Mr. Caliendo finds farmland preservation so upsetting!
Further, it is only a portion of Ms. Stanley Coleman’s land that is farmland assessed, and in addition, she generously gave 2.5 acres of valuable land to the people of Middletown as a conservation easement. This prevents further subdivision, and represented a major financial sacrifice to preserve land for the people of our community.
Judith Stanley Coleman is a friend and colleague, a decent, honest human being who over decades has given a thousand timesmore than her “fair share” to her community and helping others.
Mr. Caliendo’s attack is unwarranted, crass, typical low-road politics and should be relegated to its proper place – the wastebasket.
James L. Hinckley Lincroft section of Middletown