To the editor:
Judging from the recent letters to the Hopewell Valley News by Todd Brant and Harvey Lester, you’d think the upcoming Township Committee election was a referendum on Democratic versus Republican politics and on “divided government,” rather than on policy and the future of our locality.
I do see policy differences between the two local tickets, but their letters also move me to comment on what it means for current and former Republican office-holders to tout their party affiliation.
I’ve spoken at length with Kristin McLaughlin and Michael Ruger, and they’ve expressed strong commitments to the issues that unite the community (particularly thwarting the needless damage of the PennEast pipeline) — but they strike me as offering much more than bluster and “believe me” posturing when they do so. They also differ from the incumbents in their strong interest in child safety, in moving purposefully to create facilities for the benefit of senior citizens, and in incorporating concepts of environmental sustainability into whatever development does occur.
I’m glad I supported Todd Brant three years ago, when there were some Democratic incumbents (one who switched parties soon thereafter) who are gone and not missed, but his one-note letters about the dangers of Democratic candidates sound tone-deaf to me. He offers no evidence that he and John Hart prevented a single unwise action that a “supermajority” could have taken. Actually, where he extols “divided government” I see only gridlock for its own sake. I do worry about one-party rule, but not as much as I think it’s worth instead trying out a committee whose main work isn’t bickering with each other.
And I’m no fan of the freeholders in Trenton either, but c’mon — Brant and Lester fail to mention that it is their party which has made Trenton the traffic-stopping, empty-office laughingstock of the country. 2016 is not the year to run as a Republican, given the monstrosity at the top of the ticket, and I’m proud to come home to the sensible party for this local election.
Adam Finkel
Hopewell Township
