By: centraljersey.com
I read Carol Golden’s letter ("Stealing campaign signs weakens our democracy," Sept. 14) with sympathy and could not agree more. I have also experienced the loss of multiple lawn signs over the last several weeks. But my lawn signs are of the Sipprelle variety.
Of course I think we all agree that the stealing or destroying campaign signs is a bad thing and it should be denounced. But I do not follow Ms. Golden’s logic that leads bizarrely from lawn sign destruction to Scott Sipprelle "buying the election."
Mr. Sipprelle is my candidate because he is fighting against the control of our Congress by the lobbyists and PACs which fund Mr. Holt’s campaign. The fact that Mr. Sipprelle will fund a large portion of his campaign expenses out of his own hard-earned savings will make him more courageous and more independent of the forces which are ripping this country apart.
And that is a good thing.
Rocky Procaccini West Windsor
Grateful for support of HomeFront program
To the editor:
I am so proud to live in a community that cares. This is why I feel so deeply grateful to the citizens of Mercer County who have supported HomeFront’s Back to School Program.
If you could see the homeless children going off to school looking just like their classmates, you would know exactly what I mean. They are wearing new school clothes and carrying a backpack full of school supplies. There is a smile on their face, a glint in their eye and a spring in their step. They belong. I wish that all of you could be there to see them.
Individuals, corporations, congregations and organizations make this possible by supporting our homeless children in our annual HomeFront Back-to-School campaign. I want to give all of you my profound thanks. Things are extremely hard this year and your kindness and generosity are appreciated more than ever. We see so many more families who have lost their jobs and have lost or are losing their home. We are struggling just to feed, clothe and shelter families in need, but, no matter what, it is ultimately about what kind of lives these children are going to have and what we can do now to get them on the right track, to make it so they will finish school, get jobs and maybe even go to college, just like their peers. In the long run, that is how we can fight poverty-and end it.
I know in my heart that we all share the same sense of mission when it comes to this goal. Together, we can make it happen, one child with a new backpack and a new pair of sneakers at a time.
Connie Mercer Executive Director, HomeFront Lawrence
Holt has worked hard for his constituents
To the editor:
I am writing in response to the Sept. 3 letter to the editor titled "12th CD needs Scott Sipprelle," which asked what Rep. Rush Holt has done for the district.
The answer is: "lots." One reason home values in our district are high is because of our great schools, and Rep. Holt has been a tireless advocate for education – especially in the fields of science and math, where the U.S. is falling behind other developed countries. He secured $22 billion in funding and wrote legislation that provides scholarships to students who enter these fields.
As a veteran, I know that Rep. Holt works tirelessly on our behalf, and especially for those veterans now returning from Iraq with special health-care needs. And as a senior who’s paying ridiculous prescription costs because we’re in the Medicare "donut hole," I thank Rep. Holt for voting to close that hole, strengthen Medicare and protect Social Security. He clearly is someone looking out for the middle class.
I have attended Rep. Holt’s frequent town hall meetings in the 12th District and admire the way he listens to each speaker and actually thinks carefully before responding clearly, rather than offering the usual vague "talking points" like most politicians – telling it straight instead of simply saying what voters want to hear without giving any specifics. I know that Rep. Holt gives careful thought to every vote and does not just follow the pack.
Unlike too many Democrats who were afraid of being branded as "un-American" by the GOP, he voted against the misguided Iraq war authorization back in 2003. He also is a conservationist who votes to protect the environment and has stood up to Big Oil. Most of all, he is a man of character, and we need more of those in Congress.
I went to Scott Sipprelle’s website, as recommended by the Sept. 3 letter-writer, and it could have been written by the Republican Congressional Committee. The same talking points with no specifics:
Cut government spending (but what services will be cut?), eliminate the Department of Education (which will shift more costs to the states and further drive up our property taxes), tax breaks for giant corporations (with the promise of trickle-down benefits for employees, and when did that ever work?), privatize everything, including Social Security, etc. I shudder to think where Social Security would be today if the GOP had succeeded in tying it to the whims of the stock market.
Our retirement nest eggs would have tanked along with all those mutual funds in 2007. (And Mr. Sipprelle, as a hedge-fund manager, probably had some involvement.) Sorry, but I don’t want an insider like Scott Sipprelle looking out for Wall Street. I want Rush Holt looking out for Main Street, and especially the 12th District.
Martin Timins West Windsor
Parking Authority needs better communication
To the editor:
After being wait listed over seven years for a West Windsor parking permit, my husband and I have held a coveted parking permit for seven years. Our record for quarterly payments is impeccable.
This all came to an end on Monday, Aug. 16, when my husband came home with a $60 permit parking complaint and summons.
Upon investigating the situation, we realized we did not receive a bill in the mail as we have for the past seven years. When we called the Parking Authority, they said mail invoices were not sent this quarter because the policy was changed to an e-mail notification system. When asked how this change was communicated to permit holders, they said all permit holders should have a received a letter in March (six months ago) and a follow up e-mail in June (we didn’t see one).
We inquired who the e-mail would have been sent from and were shocked to find out it was from a generic e-mail address: [email protected] and that it could have possibly been sent to our bulk or spam e-mail. For fear of losing our permit, we asked how to rectify the situation and were told to come down to the office and pay the bill.
We decided to just pay the $60 complaint and summons and forget about the poor communication. However, when we showed up to pay, we were told we would have to pay an additional $50 late fee for a total of $110.
We mentioned this situation to our long-time next-door neighbor and to our surprise, she told us she also had to pay the $50 late fee this quarter.
She did not recall receiving a letter, but did receive an e-mail. Unfortunately, my neighbor still did not get the notification letter, because although the subject line said "Permit renewal notice," when she opened the e-mail, she saw only an attachment with no body, and simply closed the e-mail. At the time, she thought it was an e-mail from the new West Windsor Arts Council Center and would get to it later.
We now have a copy of the letter from the West Windsor Parking Authority, dated June 15, which states they will be implementing their new parking software program over the next few months, permit holders will be informed of the "go live" date, and then be allowed to make online payments via credit/debit cards.
Why would the Parking Authority change the payment policy notification (with such poor communication efforts) before they had a live system up and running (so permit holders can pay online at the same time the policy is changed)?
In addition, it seems the Parking Authority could have made more prudent efforts to publicize this extreme change in payment efforts via a simple method of posting flyers at the train station and/or attached to car windshields (as a reminder)? It is now September, three months later, and no "go live" date or further updates to this policy change have been made.
Wonder how many other regular, on-time paying, West Windsor residents were hit with the $50 late fee and/or a $60 Complaint and Summons? If the total is even just 100 of us hard-working residents, this would be a total of $10,000 to $15,000 worth of additional revenue that the West Windsor Parking Authority collected in just one quarter.
Could that be used toward the so called "beautification of downtown West Windsor project" or the building of a new parking garage?
Patti Kuczmarski West Windsor

