By: centraljersey.com
Thank you, Maureen Vella. I am relieved to have in our corner someone so completely dedicated to the future of Hillsborough. I have read your latest campaign message, and you are more than correct, we have allowed our current Township Committee to set the bar.
And, in my honest opinion, their current attempt to remain status quo will ultimately lead to a lowering of standards all around. That is a frightening possibility. I have been a resident of this community for fourteen years and in that time I have had the good fortune to meet many who strive for the ‘American dream’ of a safe, harmonious environment in which to live, work and play. I am committed to the same so that my children are a part of a wonderfully diverse community that cares for the betterment of all. And it begins at home.
What everyone must understand is that the bottom line is not always the almighty dollar. Of course, we, as a society, have come to work just that way. It is imperative that we shift this current paradigm and look beyond the ledgers and see a future bright with possibility – a truly sustainable township that is filled to the brim with a diverse community satisfied to call Hillsborough ‘one of the top 100 places to live in America.’
Your support of the BoroGreen rain garden project is just the tip of the iceberg. I am confident your position on our Township Committee will make a difference in many other areas as well.
Let’s make a downtown walking district a possibility; let’s build a recreation area at the site of the old train depot that calls for all families to join and play; let’s patronize our current local businesses so that they will flourish and do away with the need to fill their vacant storefronts that only perpetuates the cyclical pattern of open and close to which the common resident sees as negative; let’s put an end to constructing yet another development of McMansions and look toward sustainable housing for every economic level.
Yes, this is just a sampling of the way we can make a difference and inspire others to do the same. It must begin somewhere – and that somewhere is with you and your supporters.
We didn’t get the glory of Money Magazine’s moniker by chance. It is our duty to keep it alive by moving forward in a progressive manner – not laterally. With your vision and dedication as a catalyst, it is my hope that, come Nov. 2nd, the majority in this community votes in favor of a change that is so desperately needed. Thank you, Maureen Vella – you have my vote.
Katherine Beggiato Hillsborough
Devices turning many into unresponsive users
To the editor:
Recently, while typing into the Google search box, I noticed that sites were already being listed on the page before I even had the time to finish. This happened as a result of the newly-launched search enhancement called "Google Instant."
What I can’t understand is the necessity for such a tool considering how it could only save seconds compared to the time it takes to type in a subject and manually click search. I think this raises a significant fault found in this generation where technology is depended upon to make things faster and more efficient.
By using technology, people are expected to complete multiple tasks in a brief period of time. Now, with the creation of smart phones, people can go on the Internet, check their e-mail, text, and listen to music all at the same time. As a result, the amount of time it takes to do multiple tasks is being truncated merely for convenience. However, as our time is being reduced, so is our general attentiveness.
The capability of simultaneously completing multiple tasks has diffused our attention, resulting in our inability to center our minds on one task at a time. Instead of picking up the phone and engaging in a conversation with a friend, we take comfort in sending them a quick text and then moving on to whatever event is ahead of us. Our lack of concentration is also seen in our demand for information to be given in brief and concise snippets. We avoid reading long articles and search for whatever facts can be given succinctly. Books, which once allowed our minds to wrap itself around a certain subject or theme, are now considered wearisome to most people.
We praise technological progression for its ability to increase productivity in our lives, yet we do not notice how this reliance can result in dire changes to our mentality. With technological devices practically running our lives, our minds have become sluggish and unresponsive. We expect information to be readily accessible and useful for reiteration instead of finding the time to internalize and process it for the development of our own ideas.
Ultimately, the more we rely on technology, the more mechanical we become. Therefore, it is essential that we step away from our dependence on immediacy and efficiency in order to avoid eventually becoming a mindless and inexpressive generation.
Nadja Delgado Hillsborough
Thanks to current leaders – they deserve to stay
To the editor:
Money Magazine says Hillsborough is one of the best places to live. I say we are definitely the best place to live.
Recently, I attended a conference in Whippany based on enhancing services for seniors. At that conference, representatives from other areas told me that we are "blessed" to live in Somerset County where services are bountiful for so many.
With the help of Mayor Frank DelCore, our freeholders and Congressman Leonard Lance, R-7th, the mercury Hillsborough has stored for so long is on its way out to the deserts of Nevada.
The members of the current administration in town is now completing a project to have a playground to suit the needs of physically challenged children, as well as others.
We have enjoyed music in our parks once a week, and our current budget report – worked on by fiscal conservatives – is below the 2009 level by $165,000.
Thank you to all who currently serve locally for Hillsborough and for all who currently serve Somerset County. We are fortunate to be deriving the benefits from all your efforts.
Good luck in November. You deserve to continue serving.
Estelle Julian Chandler Court
DelCore kept up pressure to get mercury removed
To the editor:
Having had the privilege of serving with Frank DelCore on the Township Committee, it is my pleasure to write in support of his re-election on Nov. 2.
When I joined the committee in 2006, the issue of the mercury stored at the "Somerville" DLA Depot had been going on for six years, and showed no signs of being resolved any time soon. I joined the rest of the committee in keeping up the heat on then-Congressman Mike Ferguson and other officials, but it was slow going.
Frank jumped right in to the fray when he joined us in 2008,and turned up the heat even more as mayor. I was particularly impressed when he went to Washington to join our current Congressman Leonard Lance in meeting with DLA officials, and succeeded in finally getting the message and sense of urgency across to them that the time for action had come. Mayor DelCore’s and Congressman Lance’s efforts have led to the mercury removal finally getting underway, and I want to congratulate and thank them both for finally making that happen for Hillsborough.
In office, I was a proponent of recreational programs and supported the township and county efforts to obtain and preserve the Belle Mead GSA Depot. Again, it was slow going in dealing with the feds. But, again, Frank DelCore worked to get the preservation deal finalized, keeping about 350 acres away from greedy developers, and dedicating it instead to recreation.
I’ve been pleased with the progress made by the township under Frank’s leadership in planning a new first-class recreational facility, and look forward to the varied opportunities it will offer us all.
In working with Frank, it was easy to see his dedication, ability and leadership, which he has demonstrated in abundance in getting many great things done for the township during his first term. He leads with class and skill, and has been great to work with.
It is my pleasure to endorse him for re-election, and I hope the voters will join me in voting for Frank DelCore for Township Committee on Election Day.
Lisa Nisivoccia Hillsborough
The writer was a member of the Township Committee from 2006-2008.
Support for tunnel is fiscally misguided
To the editor:
I noted in last week’s issue that the Democratic candidate for Township Committee is lamenting the cancellation of the ARC trans-Hudson rail project (and of the local Transit Village that would be built near a future rail station). How typical of a candidate, who’s out-of-touch with economic reality, to bemoan the cancellation of $11-14 billion of government spending that the state doesn’t have, and would have required income tax and other tax increases to fund, either up front, or to pay back loans with interest.
More mass transit is not a bad thing, of course, if it’s necessary, and the funding is available for it. Of course, that begs the question: if the ARC rail project is so necessary, why didn’t the $780 billion federal stimulus package legislation fund it in its entirety, instead of being spread out to favored government officials across the country as consignments of "pork?"
Since the project is instead so grossly underfunded, the state is broke, and massive state tax increases are the last thing we need in a recession, Gov. Chris Christie has had no choice but to exercise fiscal responsibility on behalf of taxpayers, and shut down the project.
But the local Democratic candidate doesn’t see it that way. She wants the project and the big government spending, no matter what it costs us. That lack of fiscal responsibility and concern for the well being of taxpayers scares me, if she were to be handed the purse strings of our local government.
So, I will be voting to re-elect our fiscally-responsible and business-friendly Mayor Frank DelCore on Nov. 2.
Karyl Rucci Simonson Lane
Support DelCore’s strong, disciplined leadership
To the editor:
I’ve read many letters to the editor in recent weeks by both Township Committee candidates and their supporters. And I’ve seen a clear but not surprising distinction in tactical approach between the two sides.
Letters from Mayor DelCore, and residents supporting him, focus directly on the Township Committee’s record of successful accomplishments during the past three years, and Mr. DelCore’s specific vision for the future. Conversely, rather than providing "specific" proposals for how particular issues or opportunities would be addressed, letters from his challenger and her supporters include the expected high level goals and complimentary comments, but also frequently include thin, insignificant criticisms of the current Township Committee and the incumbent.
I recognize and accept this tactic as tempting and sometimes necessary for challengers trying to unseat a very popular and successful incumbent, and I expect most other experienced voters will recognize it as well.
Last week, I read that Mayor DelCore’s opponent thought he should have been "up in arms" over the governor’s cancellation of the ARC Tunnel that would have "brought a renewed economic vitality to our region." First of all, this statement is deceiving , as the governor agreed to hold off a bit, after a visit from the Secretary of Transportation, hoping to help find a solution. After hearing the governor’s concerns about lack of available funds to pay for the project, the Secretary of Transportation promised to return in 2 weeks, with proposed alternatives for financing the project.
At a minimum, we’ll end the senseless spending of money that we the taxpayers of this state just don’t have right now. And, just possibly, the ARC project may end up being funded, and saving New Jersey taxpayers many millions of dollars in the process. This is called fiscal responsibility. This is called running the state like a business, which Mayor DelCore and the Township Committee agree with, as exemplified with their disciplined approach to managing this year’s local Hillsborough budgets.
And this is why we must use every vote possible to send a message to all levels of government … and send Mayor DelCore back to the Township Committee to continue the strong and disciplined performance we’ve seen in recent years.
Ken Hesthag Hillsborough
Vote for Vella to end nonsense
To the editor:
In last week’s Beacon, Mr. DelCore characterized the Hillsborough Township government as open and transparent, but this is not borne out by the events of this past year.
Take for instance, the $1.5 million school budget cuts this past spring. The dollar figure and allocation of the cuts was not shared with the public before the very meeting at which the Township Committee voted, so how could concerned members of the public be well prepared to come to the microphone?
Even the school superintendent reported that he only received the resolution after 5 p.m. that day. In this case and other cases, major votes take place with members of the Township Committee absent, which means public comment is not heard by all.
Then again, if Mr. DelCore already decided his vote, what difference would public comment make?
Regarding the website, it’s only as good as the quality of the information that is contained in it. Take, for example, the township CFO report, posted in September, and cited on the home page of the website. It counts budget items that went down from 2009, with no mention of any that went up.
A true comparison would show that the difference was sometimes miniscule, but without a full summary or year-over-year categorical comparisons, you’d never know. A lot was made of the reduction of full time employees, but there is no mention of how many more part-timers there are instead.
And finally there is a page of "mandatory expenses beyond local control," which includes $170,000 in cost this year and each year for the next four years for property re-evaluation, hardly beyond local control until our township got so terribly behind in rolling re-assessments over the years. "Mandatory expenses" also includes minimal grant matches. We could choose not to pay them, but then lose hundreds of thousands of dollars of grant money.
These expenses are neither mandatory, nor beyond local control.
At the end of September, a new article was posted on the town website pointing to that CFO report and stating that this year’s budget was lower by $165,000. It then went on to say "The final 2010 total budget is $27,962,137 compared with 2009’s $28,049,900" … but that’s only an $87,763 difference. It simply doesn’t add up. The complete budget was not posted until September.
We need full disclosure or at least a draft budget with multi-year information in May, June, or July, before the budget is passed.
Another article that just came out this past Friday cites $5.6 million in "added commercial taxpayers" so far for 2010 but says nothing about businesses lost in 2009 or 2010. It’s impossible to tell what the $5.6 million means in terms of new ratables.
Let’s get past the self-congratulation and artful misinformation in these articles. If we have to be told that our township government is open and transparent, then it probably isn’t. It’s time to vote out our incumbent and vote in Maureen Vella because it’s time for this nonsense to stop.
Meryl Bisberg Hickory Hill Road
Township plans lack vision for agriculture
To the editor:
Hillsborough will continue to be attractive to land developers based on our amount of available land, good schools and above average income levels in the township. As a result, we can expect a corresponding loss of farmland and other rural community assets unless we take action to create new opportunities that add value to agriculture as an industry in the township.
Farming as a way of life continues to face uncertain economic realities in the township, as evident by the recent loss of the last dairy farm in the township. It must be extremely difficult to run an industrial farm that is so dependent on the commodities market, the weather, the long daylight hours, fuels costs and the price of labor in order to provide for your family.
My family lives on a small farm in the township and we raise 100 percent grass-fed beef and organic chicken eggs. This is a labor of love that requires a lot of hard work, but it is something that we enjoy and it provides me with a unique perspective about the fate of agriculture in the township.
Hillsborough has a proud agricultural heritage and our remaining farmland in the township represents a community asset where fresh produce, livestock and other farm products can be locally grown to reduce food insecurity and to revive the agricultural industry in the township.
I suggest as part of the sustainability plan, Hillsborough can provide a piece of land dedicated for the sale of locally-produced food. I picture, a family coming home from work and school each evening and stopping at a real farmers market where they can purchase the evening’s bread, vegetables, cheese and meats for a fresh and healthy meal that is ecologically responsible. This would be a great addition to the downtown redevelopment.
Unfortunately, the present Township Committee’s measure of success for farmland "preservation" has been to espouse how many new homes that they have prevented from appearing on the landscape. Yet, they have no true agricultural plan, which in turn diminishes the value of the remaining agricultural industry in the township.
We must find ways to keep farming profitable, if we are going to preserve farming as an industry in the township. We cannot afford to keep reacting to growth pressures on farmland which is no longer economical to farm because the township missed the mark to support the agricultural industry.
There are other options, including the adoption of a sustainable forward-thinking agricultural industry plan, improved coordination with the Natural Resource Conservation Service, the recognition of agricultural land equity, creating new opportunities and markets for locally grown produce and a database of locally grown farm products. These are not new ideas, but they represent a major step forward for keeping farms producing farm products, which exceeds the land value for development.
The lack of vision for the future of Hillsborough’s agricultural industry is most troublesome. Across the township, there are multiple farmland preservation parcels have been acquired that have lain fallow for years. These lands could provide for the establishment of community-wide agricultural cooperatives and individual leased garden plots to grow local produce. Sustainable agriculture represents one vision for our future in a world that will be challenged by prevailing economic trends to grow food locally.
Jim DiCorcia Montgomery Road

