By: centraljersey.com
We enthusiastically support Liz Lempert’s re-election to Princeton Township Committee.
She has brought a new outlook to Township Committee and has ushered in a fresh era of leadership committed to sustainability. In her fewer than two years on committee, Ms. Lempert has led the effort to establish a Princeton Ridge Preserve, a green belt of open space connecting existing parks and public woodlands, through partnerships with private land preservation groups.
She has worked to strengthen the town’s stormwater ordinances to protect our homes from flooding and to keep our streams clean. Ms. Lempert continues to push for safer routes for walkers and bikers.
We are fortunate to have Liz Lempert, a candidate with intelligence, responsiveness and good judgment, representing us.
We are supporting her on Nov. 2, and urge others to do the same.
Casey Lambert, Wendy Mager, Jim Waltman, Matt Wasserman Princeton Township
Country needs Sipprelle in 12th Congressional District
To the editor:
I am registered as an "unaffiliated" voter. That wasn’t always the case, but as the party I supported all my life represented me less and less, I no longer belonged. Consequently, I look at the person, not the party, when I vote.
I was ready to give up on politics. Both parties have done damage to our country. I am angry and afraid. It is hard to trust that any politician is looking out for my interests.
Then came Scott Sipprelle. I read about him, I even met him, and although he and I don’t agree on everything, I believe he is the man our country needs – we need – in the 12th Congressional District. His will be the vote to rejuvenate our stagnated economy, the vote to keep our country strong and secure, the vote to support our allies.
Don’t buy into the class warfare rhetoric or the offensive inaccuracies about his career. Mr. Sipprelle is a man who personifies the American Dream, and at the same time, creates opportunities for others to be successful, too.
Don’t be seduced by the money flowing from the administration through Rush Holt to our district. The timing is perfectly planned to get your vote and reelect him so he can continue as a rubber stamp for the Pelosi-led House of Representatives. If that’s what you want, I can’t change your mind; but for the rest of us, please consider voting for Scott Sipprelle on Nov. 2.
He has my vote.
Katherine O’Connor Princeton
Crime wave spreads to Lawrence Township
To the editor:
A current crime wave – the theft of Rush Holt lawn signs – has spread from Princeton to Lawrence.
Last weekend signs were stolen from my yard. This childish behavior is not only theft of my property, but also, it violates my free speech rights to publicly support a political candidate of my choice.
A worker at Scott Sipprelle’s campaign office told me that Mr. Sipprelle does not support the theft of his opponent’s signs. If that is true, it is past time for Mr. Sipprelle to make a very public directive to his supporters that their actions are contrary to traditional political election etiquette in our democracy. It does not speak well for Mr. Sipprelle or his party.
Mary C. Lincoln Lawrence
Sipprelle will vote to halt destruction
To the editor:
While the election on Nov. 2 is vitally important in the struggle between those who want a socialist nation and those who prefer to remain free, it is only a chance to apply the brakes.
Because of the presidential veto power, a full reversal of the damage must wait two more years. The Obama administration is determined to destroy our free enterprise (capitalist) system and the best we can do is elect a Congress that will refuse to fund the huge bureaucracy required to carry out its plans.
Why would anyone want to destroy the most successful economic system the world has ever seen and replace it with one that is a proven failure? Look at the record.
Socialism has been used as the road to power by Hitler, Stalin, Castro, Chavez and a number of small dictators in third-world countries. On the other hand, capitalism has produced more opportunity, more freedom, and higher living standards for more people than any other in history.
Scott Sipprelle will vote to halt the destruction. Rush Holt will continue to vote 100 percent as Obama, Pelosi and Reid tell him to. The choice is simple and obvious.
Vote for Mr. Sipprelle on Nov. 2 and preserver your ability to control your own life.
Burnet Fisher Princeton
Chief showed kindness in time of need
To the editor:
When I learned that the Princeton Township chief of police and two of his subordinates were under investigation by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, I was shocked and I was stunned.
I have known Mark Emann since 1978 when he first became a member of the Princeton Township Police Department. In September 1998, I was in a predicament in the general area of Yardley, Pa. Mark Emann and one of his subordinates showed me so much kindness and compassion for me, that they came all the way to Pennsylvania to help me out.
In the name of the father, the son and the Holy Ghost I pray that Mark Emann will be allowed to continue his role as the chief of police for the Princeton Township Police Department.
Ethan C. Finley Princeton
Holt a bright light in halls of Congress
To the editor:
Rush Holt has been the bright light in Congress in the past 12 years. Long may he shine.
He served well during the humiliation of the Bush-Cheney administration. Some have forgotten already the huge national debt increase as those earning $20,000 a week received a tax cut. Scott Sipprelle wants to keep it that way.
During the next six years, green jobs will be created. There will be five million more hybrid and electric cars on U.S. roads and we will be less dependent on foreign oil.
That would be a better time for Mr. Sipprelle.
Lawrence G. Green Monroe Township
Experienced pros needed in Montgomery
To the editor:
I write to ask my fellow Montgomery residents to join me in supporting Ed Trzaska and Pat Graham for Montgomery Township Committee. We need these experienced professionals on board to help address the township’s fiscal and other challenges, and, most pressing, to address the tax burden imposed on our residents in this time of economic recession.
It has been my privilege to serve on the Montgomery Township Committee for nearly two years now. This year, under Republican leadership, the Township Committee worked hard to pass a budget with no tax increase despite substantial cuts in state aid. We are also working toward the sale of Skillman Village to Somerset County, which will bring in over $14 million to reduce the township’s staggering debt. That sale will also preserve over 250 acres of beautiful open space as a county park.
I am proud of the Township Committee’s accomplishments this year, but there is more to be done. Mr, Trzaska and Ms. Graham understand that the Township Committee must continue to cut spending, shrink municipal government, and hold the line on taxes. Ms. Graham, a very experienced attorney, would bring to the committee not only her legal skills, but also sound judgment and a pragmatic approach to municipal government. Mr. Trazaska is an experienced business executive, whose business, fiscal, leadership and management skills will also greatly benefit the Township Committee.
On Nov. 2, please join me in voting for Ed Trzaska and Pat Graham for Montgomery Township Committee.
Kacey Dyer Montgomery
Ms. Dyer is a deputy mayor of Montgomery Township.
Candidates offer chance to balance freeholder board
To the editor:
As Jim Castelize and I walk door to door, talking to Mercer County residents, we are asked over and over again: "What are freeholders?"
Freeholders are legislators on the county level. They act as the county’s legislative body, much like the U.S. Congress or the state Legislature. Freeholders have the power to adopt the county’s administrative code; pass ordinances and resolutions; levy county taxes; review, modify and adopt operating and capital budgets; and contract with municipalities.
The freeholders oversee the funding for all county departments, like the county Board of Social Services, Mercer County Community College, the county Park Commission, Mercer County’s Library systems, Trenton Mercer Airport, the county’s Correctional Facilities, sheriff, and all county roads and bridges.
In Mercer County, the freeholders’ most important responsibility is studying and evaluating the county’s annual budget of nearly $300 million. Most of that money comes directly from your property taxes. No county funds are spent without the Freeholders’ express approval of the budget.
Because every single incumbent freeholder is a Democrat, the budget process is merely a formality. The budget proposed by the county executive, who is also a Democrat, is just rubber stamped. There is no real debate or meaningful discussion.
One party domination has never served taxpayers well. When one party controls every elected and appointed office, hard questions don’t get asked, shortcomings get overlooked, and our families get shortchanged.
According to official county tax assessor reports, over the last 10 years the Democrats on the freeholder board have increased Mercer’s taxes and fees by more than 160 percent. This year alone, the Mercer County freeholders raised county property taxes by over $12.5 million. The Times of Trenton recently reported that Mercer County now has the 14th highest median property tax bill in the entire United States.
The incumbent freeholders and administration are spending more than ever. And now the county is facing a huge budget deficit.
If you are tired of one-party rule, and want a balanced freeholder board made up of both Republicans and Democrats, who will work together to lower taxes, cut wasteful and unnecessary spending, and revive Mercer County’s economy, then elect Russ Wojtenko and Jim Castelize Mercer County freeholders on Nov. 2.
For more information please visit us on Facebook or log onto our website, www.abettermercer.com. Russ Wojtenko West Windsor
Mr. Wojentko is a Republican candidate for Mercer County freeholder.
Middle class gets nothing from Bush tax cuts
To the editor:
Rush Holt’s opponent in the current Congressional contest, a Wall Street hedge-fund manager, says that he does not want the top 2 percent of income earners to lose their Bush tax cuts. He has considerable support among high-income citizens – a drive past the mansions on Hodge Road in Princeton’s fabled West End with their waves of Sipprelle signs bears that out.
Unfortunately, research shows that our stressed-out middle class will not benefit from tax policies enabling multi-millionaires to hang onto this money. Numerous studies have shown that the middle class spends nearly all of its income, while the rich save a significant portion of theirs.
Mr. Sipprelle claims that keeping the billions in tax cuts for the top 2 percent would result in investment and job creation. He does not appear to have noticed that this is not at all what happened during the Bush years. When I asked him for statistical validation of the "trickle-down" effect as a justification for his tax policy, he remarkably cited a Wall Street Journal opinion piece which states: "In a tax code there are innumerable ways for high-income earners to seek out loopholes. The more they are incentivized to make an effort to game the system, the less the federal government will get to collect."
As a lifelong member of the middle class, I close with a quote from Warren Buffett: "There’s class warfare, all right. But it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning."
Andrea Bonette Hopewell

