Builder says he has done a lot for town, but is being forced to court

I would like the Marlboro residents to know that now it seems apparent after considerable long-standing negotiations with township attorneys that I have no other choice but to return to court and exercise my legal rights.

Regardless of what Rabbi Donald A. Weber claims (in a guest column published in the News Transcript in 2002) — that I am no friend of this township because anyone who sues a township is not a friend. Is the rabbi implying that anyone who receives a violation and tries to defend himself should not have that right?

Maybe the rabbi would like us to return to the days of Fascism, where ordinary residents were afraid to speak and defend themselves. I, who was born in Italy, am all too familiar with the former Fascist ways, where if someone spoke out against the government, they were shot and their families placed in great danger. Did the rabbi forget the Holocaust?

Rabbi Weber should recognize that I am not one of the biggest builders within this township, but have done the most of any builder for the township.

Does the rabbi know that I donated 17-plus acres for the Marlboro Little League; 12 acres to the Board of Education for an early learning center that was desperately needed; built a sewer line for the residents of Blossom Heights, where they had failing septic systems, and also brought sewers as far as Main Street and School Road to the center of town; and constructed a badly needed jughandle at Route 79 and Ryan Road? I also brought in more than my share of commercial tax revenues to this township.

The rabbi further stated that I should not receive any favors from any township officials and that I should be treated as a "persona non grata."

The rabbi should recognize that I have never received any favors from anyone in this township. If I did receive favors, I would not have had to resort to the court system. The only "favor" I did receive was when my court ordered that 1,060 housing units were cut by the township to 648 units.

Anthony Spalliero

Marlboro