To the editor:
A young Alexander Hamilton is advised to “talk less, smile more; don’t let them know what you’re against or what you’re for” by a sly Aaron Burr in the hit Broadway play “Hamilton.”
Republican Township Committee candidate Harvey Lester is using the same script, saying little about his actual record as mayor and even less about what he will do if re-elected. His silence is understandable, as he presided this year over the largest increase in township taxes and spending in a decade and then expressed his hope that New Jersey courts “will not get to” Hopewell Township when enforcing compliance with state affordable housing laws.
Government spending never goes down by itself, so Lester’s failure to lead on the budget pushed township taxpayer bills up more than 5 percent this year, with the burden growing in future years. Perhaps more important, his head-in-the-sand attitude toward planning for affordable housing, a state requirement reinforced by four decades of Supreme Court rulings, invites wholesale changes to the nature of Hopewell Township with little local control.
Julie Blake knows that Hopewell Township deserves better than this, articulating a clear set of positions on managing costs and taxes and willingness to tackle the tough issues facing the Township. Julie Blake deserves your vote for Hopewell Township Committee on Nov. 3.
David Sandahl
Hopewell Township
(Editor’s note: The writer says he is a former deputy mayor and Planning Board member.)
