Letters

By: centraljersey.com
Small- and medium-size businesses are critical drivers of our economic recovery. Owners of these businesses are the ones hiring the majority of the people who are unemployed.
To the credit of this administration, and through the help of the Industry and Commerce Commission, our mayor and council have always been available to meet with these businesses and promote the virtues and worthiness of our township. I have personally accompanied the mayor to "Open Houses" of the industrial and office buildings in our township, some which are vacant and some which are occupied. This action is more than just a reassurance of the mayor. This effort demonstrates the leadership of a $50 million corporation (South Brunswick Township) which cares, listens, and energizes businesses to create a partnership between the public and private sector.
Tirelessly, Mayor Frank Gambatese and Councilman Chris Killmurray attend meetings with businesses which hopefully more times than not, influence growth and the re-adjusting of our Township’s economy. Ultimately these encounters will enhance the well-being of our community and residents. Thank you Mayor Gambatese and Councilman Killmurray for bringing Target, Staples, Best Buy and Petsmart to our township. Thank you Mayor Gambatese and Councilman Killmurray for adding Kelloggs, Calvin Klein Apparel, and Teva and Aurobindo Pharnmaceuticals to our roster of companies in our Township. Thank you for convincing clean ratables such as Lenox China to remain in our township instead of leaving.
Many of these businesses preserve existing jobs, create new ones and, in the process, empower our community of South Brunswick. I can not think of any one better to represent the interests of our township in the future than Mayor Frank Gambatese and Councilman Chris Killmurray to guide all of our residents through these demanding and challenging times.
Dan Frankel South Brunswick
Mr. Frankel is chairman of the township Industry and Commerce Commission.
Democrats work hard
To the editor:
Week after week, we read letters directed to the editor, repeatedly making negative remarks about the present mayor and council. However, over the past eight years, we haven’t seen these "wanna-be" politicians at council meetings. You would think if these residents were so interested in the governance of South Brunswick, they would have been at meetings week after week, questioning and wanting answers. They could say, "we watched the meetings being televised." Yes, that is true, but how do you get to question the mayor and council from your bed.
I remember seeing Lew Schwartz week after week at council meetings, pad and pencil, asking questions and getting answers; he’s a person who wanted answers and made the effort to be at the meetings, and he wasn’t even trying to run for office. He just wanted the best for South Brunswick.
We can’t go back more than eight years and say, this is what I did – South Brunswick, New Jersey, and our country has changed. We need Mayor Gambatese and Councilman Chris Kilmurray more now than ever. They have been working hard listening to residents and their needs balanced with trying to keep taxes low and still provide needed services.
Be an informed voter, look at South Brunswick – we have a mayor who meets with the businesses trying too keep them in South Brunswick – that adds up to tax revenues and tax relief for residents. Councilman Kilmurray has the best interests of South Brunswick as he juggles council and board meetings with his family and church responsibilities and his law practice – because he knows the struggles all of us face in this economy and how important it is to be fiscally conscientious.
Jo Hochman South Brunswick
Ms. Hochman is recording secretary for the South Brunswick Democratic Organization.
Successful tournament
To the editor:
On the weekend of Sept. 11 and 12, the South Brunswick Soccer Club held its 28th annual soccer tournament with over 100 teams from all over New Jersey. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the community of South Brunswick and all volunteers that went above and beyond to make this tournament a huge success. In addition, we would like to thank all our sponsors for their generous support.
Finally, we would like to thank Mayor Gambatese and the Township Council for their continued support; Tom Morris of the Parks and Recreation Department and John Bruff of the South Brunswick Board of Education Facilities Department and their staffs for helping with the logistics of preparing the different venues needed to handle the over 200 games that were played.
This annual event continues to be a success due to the combined efforts of so many people that space does not allow us to mention them all; and to them we also say, "thank you."
Sandra Villano Tournament DirectorSouth Bruns wick Soccer Club
Independents demand stability
To the editor:
It is clear that we are living in very challenging times. It is very necessary for elected officials, who oversee the use of the tax dollar, our dollars, to make wise decisions.
It is clear that the current mayor and council have made troubling decisions that have led to approximately 12 layoffs in the last two years, a 5-cent tax increase and an approx. 7.9 percent water and sewer rate increase this year alone.
For all of these "taxing" Changes, the municipal building is available less to us, we are paying for water we do not use, and using open space money to purchase land and its assets, the assets being a business. This letter lists just a few of the decisions that lead a community to be perplexed and in search of answers. Answers the current administration does not give us.
In addition, the Republicans running strike me as nice people, but they just ask questions and never offer any real or practical solutions or plans, they have no track record. At least they have not mentioned any.
When I had the privilege of being your mayor in 1997 and from 1999 to 2002, the budget increases remained level, the residential water rate did not increase at all, neither did the residential sewer charge. Since I left office in 2002 due to my mother’s illness, the residential sewer charge has gone from $76.74 to its current rate of $128.71, not to mention the water rate and tax increase.
I served as your mayor through the Iron Mountain Fire, through droughts and through 9/11, yet as a community we managed to successfully stand. No longer.
It appears when I go door to door, that there is no longer the comfort level speaking at council meeting, no longer is there a feeling that someone will listen. Jean Dvorak, independent council candidate, and I strongly believe that we must stay close to the community and partner with our neighbors to develop our home town. We must have budgetary stability again.
Debra Johnson Monmouth Junction
Ms. Johnson is an independent candidate for mayor.
Open space tax an investment
To the editor:
Imagine my disappointment when I attended a Middlesex County Freeholders’ meeting this summer to find a proposal to cut open space funding by 1 cent. Worse yet, this proposal was put forth by former South Brunswick Councilwoman Carol Barrett.
Nearly every time an open space question shows up on a state, county or township ballot, voters pass it by good margins. It is quite clear that taxpayers throughout New Jersey are ready and willing to spend tax dollars on acquiring and maintaining open space.
Yet, county leaders voted to reduce open space funding at that meeting by a solid majority. What message does this send? Are the taxpayers forgotten entities as the forces of government grind endlessly onward?
Fortunately, in South Brunswick, open space purchases were still in the forefront, with the 188-acre Pulda Farm on Davidson’s Mill Road a shining example of wise uses of open space funding. But, more recently, the mayor and the council have put a hold on open space purchases until the township’s funds are studied more carefully.
More and more studies are proving that open space is one of the wisest purchases a municipality can make. Here in our area, the purchase of farmland parcels like the Pulda Farm is even wiser. Our farmland is some of the richest in the country and we have paved over too much of it with warehouses, strip malls, and parking lots.
Should another good parcel of farmland come up as a critical purchase on our open space list, we cannot afford to ignore it. If there is a way to purchase a dog park, there certainly must be a way to purchase a farm.
Since the money has already been set aside for open space, there’s a time to tighten the purse strings and a time to loosen them.
So let’s count up the dollars and see how we can spend them – the way the taxpayers have voted.
Jean E. Dvorak South Brunswick
Ms. Dvorak is an independent candidate for Township Council.