Forum on off-track wagering site is next Wednesday, April 16
By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Editor’s note: This article has been updated Thursday. April 10, with a clarification of Mr. Tomson’s remarks.
Township Committee candidates John Beggiato and Thuy Anh Le say they believe that the Township Committee knew about the off-track wagering (OTW) facility for months before they notified Hillsborough residents.
”At the March 25 meeting, the Township Committee stated that they knew about the off-track wagering facility months before,” said a release from the two Democratic candidates.
Mayor Douglas Tomson, who is also a candidate for re-election this year, called the statement that he knew about an OTW last summer “an absolute lie” and said he personally became aware in January of the OTW site in a renovated restaurant on southbound Route 206 after Darby Development was were talking to the township building department.
Other township officials have said they knew Darby purchased the property in the third or fourth quarter of 2013.
Mayor Tomson said he thought Ms. Le and Mr. Beggiato were trying to confuse voters. He said his purpose is to educate the township as much as possible how residents can have their voices heard.
That’s why he pressed for a township-sponsored informational forum — not the required hearing before the N.J. Racing Commission — and urged everyone to attend next Wednesday, April 16, from 7-9 p.m. at the municipal building.
Police Chief Paul Kaminsky said at the Tuesday meeting he was making calls to places that have the five other OTW sites in the state and will make a presentation on April 16. Representatives from the developer, Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli and the Township Committee will attend.
Citizen opponents of the OTW site continued to press an online petition they said they will present to the Racing Commission. They sent out an email to Hillsborough businesses Wednesday urging them to sign. At noon Wednesday the petition had 1,000 signatures. The URL is www.petitions24.com/signatures/no_off_track_betting_in_hillsborough/
”Many of you own business that will be affected by this type of operation,” the email said. “When a gambling facility is brought into a town, it has a negative impact on housing, schools, traffic and overall quality of life. . . Lastly this business is getting a reduction in taxes, thanks to the local and state government. I am sure most of you are not.”
Mr. Tomson said it will be an opportunity to “get the facts” before the required hearing the state Racing Commission must hold in Hillsborough, probably at a date to be determined in May, said the mayor.
In a statement, Ms. Le and Mr. Beggiato suggested the Township Committee could have known about a plan to put an off-track horse wagering site months ago.
”This is information that the residents of Hillsborough deserve to know in a more timely way,” the statement read. “Those months are critical for the public to understand the type of business being proposed and how it affects the quality of life in our town.”
Mr. Beggiato and Ms. Le said the township may have known as early as July 20, 2013. They referred to an Asbury Park Press article that read in part, “In addition to the Woodbridge OTW facility they (Darby Development) operate, the original plan was to have two more OTWs open within 24 months. But 17 months later, all they have are plans to open one in Hillsborough, which they hope to have operational sometime in 2014.”
”Why is the mayor only now making an attempt to inform residents?” Ms. Le and Mr. Beggiato asked rhetorically.
The Democrats claim that Dennis Drazin, a consultant for Darby Development, said Nov. 27, 2013, on a horse racing industry website, “We’ve cut significantly into the state losses, and we’re getting started on a new off-track wagering facility in Hillsborough Township.”
The two candidates said that, between November and early January, Hillsborough residents could have been informed via the mayor’s township e-news letter or an informational forum.
”Our elected officials should have responsibilities to the residents beyond what is legally required,” Ms. Le and Mr. Beggiato’s release said.
They urged Hillsborough residents to attend the April 16 meeting to “let the Township Committee know how you feel about having a gambling facility in town and how poorly the township has communicated with residents.”
Resident Peter Elmalis, an opponent of the OTW idea, asked the Township Committee on Tuesday why they were organizing a forum now, and not in December, when they said they first heard of the idea. He asked if any of the five committee members wanted to go on the record on the issue; none answered. The mayor said he “needed to see the application.”
The Township Committee has steadfastly maintained that it had no approval power over the application, thanks to a change in state law that allows OTW sites in any industrial or commercial site in the state. Mayor Tomson said, “The state took our home rule away.”
State Sen. “Kip” Bateman and Assembly members Jack Ciattarelli and Donna Simon said last week they would introduce a bill to give approval power back to the municipality. Whether it could pass quickly and affect this application was unknown.
Mr. Elmalis also asked why the district’s three state representatives were putting a bill on a “fast track” now, and not back in December. Was there no sense of urgency then? he asked rhetorically.
Committeeman Frank DelCore said the township had a lawful, conforming application and was treating the applicant like it would any other, lest it be accused of discrimination.
”There is a process we have to go through here,” he said.
Ms. Le and Mr. Beggiato in their statement said that “traffic and clientele (issues) were glossed over” at the March 25 Township Committee meeting, “but residents apparently raised valid concerns.”
They said a daily newspaper article that covered Green Brook Township Committee’s rejection in 2008 of a proposed betting site wrote, “But Woodbridge officials said with Favorites’ popularity came problems with parking and traffic, along with expenses, such as inspections and police, that the municipality has to shoulder.
”In fact, Woodbridge Committeeman Frank Mercuri said of the Woodbridge site, ‘During the lunch hour, I was surprised to find so many people. Most seats were occupied. The standing area behind the TVs were two to three people deep.’”
Ms. Le and Mr. Beggiato said they “would have spoken up whether we were candidates or not, as we have in the past against other issues.”

