December 27, 2007
To the Editor:
Some observations and questions about
The township managed to send a letter to each household explaining what happened in the past few weeks. Why couldn’t they have sent one to elicit opinions before the issue was presented for a vote? Why did they instead use an unscientific and poorly publicized email survey?
How do they know that the majority of residents pay $400-520 per year? If there are households that pay that much, they must need a level of service many other households do not need. Why should the community “pull together” to reduce the bills of larger households by making those who pay substantially less take on some of their burden.
How can the Council members who support this say that it saves the town money? They are creating a new town-run utility (read: bureaucracy) where one did not exist before and created a burden on many households that also did not exist before.
When Mayor Spekhardt was running for his council seat, I had a lengthy conversation with him in front of the Stop & Shop. He promised a more efficient, cost effective government reflecting good judgment and common sense. What we got instead is an arrogant government body that believes the people are too stupid to make decisions that affect their daily lives. A despot, however benevolent, is still a despot.
The town council, together with the Board of Education and a School Superintendent that act like unsupervised children, have made
John F. Ciaffone,
