Your Turn
Steven Johnson
Guest Column
Resident inspired to get involved

This year I felt compelled to work on a political campaign. I owe this epiphany to Drew Shapiro. I talked to many residents of Manalapan and heard stories of such distress. I heard of Pop Warner football being allowed to build a stadium literally spitting distance from the Dreyer family homes. I heard a farmer whose land was rezoned to residential lots and then rezoned again when he found a builder to buy his land. I heard a man telling us he had to work three jobs to pay the high taxes. These stories were so upsetting.

What has happened to these residents? Well — the Pop Warner field was built next to the Dreyers to devalue their land, so the township could force them out and buy their land for pennies.

As for the farmer, now that the township rezoned the land to block the builder’s interest, the township offers to buy it at low farmland prices. As for taxes, more are in our future.

How did I come to be so influenced by Drew Shapiro? Last year I was a member of the Heritage Committee, which puts on the "Manalapan Under the Stars and Stripes" celebration. I had raised over $7,000 from local businesses to help pay for the event. (The Township Committee budgets $18,000-plus and that doesn’t count the money used to pay the recreation department, the road department, the police department and other overtime expenses. This figure could easily double the cost paid by taxpayers).

I had emceed the event for free instead of the $500 paid to this year’s emcee. I produced all the posters you saw around town and made the 5,000 fliers handed out at the event, again for free. My wife coordinated all the food vendors and picked up the slack by contacting the high school cheerleaders, getting them to participate. We did all this as volunteers.

Then, Drew Shapiro treated my family with total disrespect. How did he show disrespect? He kicked my wife and I off the Heritage Committee. He didn’t even know who we were and he didn’t try to contact us. He had the gall to blame all five members of the Township Committee who he said had "voted us off the committee 5-0." FYI, the Heritage Committee is an ad hoc committee appointed by the mayor. Drew putting residents first is just another lie.

Steven Johnson is a resident of Manalapan.