Tom Reid Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part story.
HELMETTA — As Election Day approaches, presidential candidates John Mc- Cain and Barack Obama are not the only ones trading jabs.
In this small borough, six candidates are vying for three Borough Council seats, two of whom recently voiced opposing viewpoints about various issues in town.
Former Councilman Tom Reid, who said he is seeking to regain a seat in order to bring positive change to Helmetta, took aim at the current administration with a number of grievances. Running the gamut from frivolous municipal spending to nepotism, Reid’s claims largely center on a lack of accountability on the part of those in power.
“They’re so cocky because they’ve got all the votes,” Reid said, referring to the candidates elected on The People’s Voice ticket in recent years. These include Mayor Nancy Martin and five of the six council members.
The council’s only Democrat, Andrew Tancredi, is running for re-election on the Democratic ticket with Reid and newcomer Greg Bennett.
Sewell Peckham Reid, who served from 1996-2006, took Martin and the People’s Voice council members to task for raising taxes as a result of what he considers careless spending on their part. Before he left the council after three terms, Reid voted against the purchase of a backhoe that he deemed unnecessary. The borough had use of a backhoe from the county, but officials decided to replace the aging piece of equipment. According to Reid, the town should have first requested a newer backhoe from the county, which took care of all maintenance issues on the old one.
Councilman Sewell Peckham, an incumbent on the People’s Voice ticket, refuted Reid’s claims and questioned his motivations.
“The reason Mr. Reid is aggravated that we bought a new backhoe is because he wanted us to buy his old piece of garbage backhoe,” Peckham said. “It was worse than the one we had from the county.”
According to Martin, Reid wanted the council to purchase a used backhoe from one of his associates. She and Peckham also pointed out that $30,000 of the cost of the backhoe was covered by a grant.
While Reid acknowledged the grant funding, he said taxpayers were left with more than $30,000 in remaining costs.
“I said, if you have enough money to go around, use it for sewer, water, and giving back to taxpayers,” Reid said.
The more recent purchase of a dump truck for the borough is another point of contention. According to Reid, the new dump truck was unnecessary because the old one still runs, and is used to make recycling runs to Freehold and back.
“Buying this new dump truck is smacking the taxpayers in the face when times are hard,” Reid said.
Peckham asserted that since both trucks are being used, the new one must have been necessary.
Both vehicles were budgeted over a three-year period, and the town did not have to issue bonds for them, as it did with vehicles when Reid was on the council, Martin said. In addition, she said Reid always voted in favor of municipal budgets during his time on the council.
“Our municipal budget plans for the current and future years, and we do everything in our power to keep municipal taxes stable,” Martin said. “Mr. Reid fails to say … how Helmetta went up only $53 on the average homeowner, and we were able to negotiate the school board budget down this year, also.”
Peckham agreed, saying Helmetta’s taxes are “great” compared to those of other towns, and that the only big increase came from school taxes, an area over which the council has no control. Helmetta sends its students to Spotswood schools, paying per-student tuition costs to the Spotswood Board of Education.
Still, Reid said his goal if elected is to fight to lower or stabilize taxes, and create an environment of accountability among borough officials.
“When we’re in this type of economy, don’t go out and buy a dump truck and raise taxes,” Reid said. “Quit spending the money and giving out pay raises. If towns ran their towns like businesses, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.”
According to Peckham, Reid’s grievances with the current administration have more to do with sour grapes than with the issues themselves.
“This borough has been a good ol’ boy borough for a long time, and Mr. Reid was one of the good ol’ boys,” Peckham said. “He’s angry because he’s not one of those good ol’ boys anymore.”
Peckham explained his characterization of the town, saying there is a kind of onehand washes-the-other dynamic. The description seems to be one point on which he and Reid agree, though the men view it in differing lights.
According to Reid, some in the town are allowed to get away with violating ordinances and other regulations, while others pay handsomely for breaking rules. He blamed this on the homogeneity of the council.
“There are borough ordinances that we pay people to write up and enforce, but they’re not enforced,” Reid said.
For example, he said, a house across
from Martin’s residence
had tall
weeds, as well as
vehicles that violated
a borough ordinance.
Another
resident in town has
a number of unregistered
vehicles in
his driveway and
yard, but was issued
a $100 fine about
two years ago, according
to Reid, and
has still not removed the vehicles in question.
“They bother who they want to bother, and some residents pay big fines,” Reid said.
Peckham disagreed with Reid’s statement, saying he did not know of situations where some residents received preferential treatment over others.
“I’m for everybody abiding by all the rules,” Peckham said. “I didn’t run for council to get away with anything. I ran to help the borough.”
One example Reid gave of a situation in which officials turn the other cheek on violations is the case of a miniature pony owned by Martin’s son, Michael Metz. Although the borough has an ordinance prohibiting farm animals, Metz has been allowed to keep the pony on his property, Reid said.
According to Peckham, the miniature pony is not a farm animal, but a pet. The animal is kept in a way that does not bother other residents, and many visit the pony, he said. Reid has been the only one to complain about the animal, Peckham said.

