Letters
Candidates must state views on The Village

In response to Jim Gray’s Sept. 21 guest column in the News Transcript concerning development plans for the Probasco farm (The Village at Manalapan), one thing is for sure, the local government officials of Manalapan must take an official stance prior to the Nov. 8 general election.

Mr. Gray is right on target when he says that the “future of Manalapan is at stake” especially for those residents of southern Manalapan including the developments on and off Sweet-mans Lane. Every voter in this region must demand an answer from our elected officials since they should serve us, not the pockets of “special interests.”

The column, which raises all the red flags concerning delay after delay in laying out specific plans and the proposed changes in the developer’s plans that have occurred during the process, should alarm all of us who want to remain and be able to afford to live in southern Manalapan.

We simply don’t want the local planning committee or township officials to pass future variances that allow for the construction of a 16-screen movie house, hotel, lofts, apartments and whatever else characterizes this ridiculous mega-mall concept in the middle of a beautiful, peaceful community, which is already growing at a rapid pace.

Why? Common sense tells you that this kind of development will create unprecedented levels of traffic.

Over the years, Sweetmans Lane traffic flow has increased. We don’t need to further intensify it and contribute to the decline of property values of residential properties on and off Sweetmans Lane. That’s just plain old common sense that is currently lacking among our public elected officials.

As Mr. Gray correctly says, stop the “silence” of our municipal elected officials and stop the trickery of scheduling a meeting on this very significant issue and newly proposed plans two days after the Nov. 8 election.

Hopefully, this is still a government “for and by the people.” Every concerned citizen should be shaking down the walls of our town hall to ensure that their rights are protected and that their “will” is followed.

Deborah Smarth

Manalapan

Resident endorses Morgan for re-election

I would like to tell you about one public official who we will not see led away in handcuffs because of corruption and malfeasance. I expect more from the individuals I elect and in the 12th Legislative District, I have found just that in Dr. Bob Morgan.

Our representatives should be fully invested in the communities they represent. This community involvement leads to the commitment that they would never dream of betraying the public’s trust.

Assemblyman Robert Morgan, M.D., is not only a superb legislator, he is also an exemplary person who fulfills many civic duties outside the Legislature. He served on the Board of Education for the Little Silver School District and completed a term as president of the Red Bank Regional High School Board of Education.

He presently serves on the board of the Parker Family Health Center in Red Bank, and volunteers his time providing free medical care to uninsured patients and their families.

Recently, Dr. Morgan worked to establish the “Red Bank Bright Smiles” dental program in cooperation with the Red Bank Education and Develop-ment Initiative and with local dentists.

This program will provide free screenings to students who attend Red Bank primary and middle schools, as well as the charter school. The examples of his efforts to improve our communities as a private citizen, a pediatrician and as a legislator are seemingly endless.

Assemblyman Morgan is a model of superlative service that other elected officials should strive to emulate. His longstanding connection with our community is well-documented and impressive. I hope other residents of the 12th Legislative District will join me in supporting the re-election of our good neighbor, Dr. Bob Morgan, to the Assembly this Nov. 8.

Gayle L. Hershcopf

Manalapan

Close attention must be paid to benefits of planned development

On Sept. 14, 21 and 28, full-page ads were published in the News Tran-script by the developers of The Village at Manalapan outlining how their proposed shopping center at Millhurst Road and Route 33 would benefit the residents of Manalapan, such as tax relief, loft-style residential units and millions of dollars invested in new and existing roads.

Let’s look at some of these alleged benefits.

Tax relief of $5 million to the residents of Manalapan, explicitly upon approval of the entire project.

Freehold Raceway Mall generates $8.5 million in taxes a year, of which $946,000 is dispersed to the town. How does the mall generate these taxes?

Anchor stores such as Macy’s, Sears, J.C. Penney, Lord & Taylor, Toys “R” Us, Office Depot, Sam’s Club, Home Depot, and Dick’s Sporting Goods, along with many other big-name stores.

Where will the revenue come from in The Village shopping center?

Loft-style residential units — or are they apartments over stores? Is this for suburban Manalapan or an urban Manal-apan?

Millions of dollars invested in new and existing roads. Yes, for the traffic entering and exiting the shopping center as required for the development.

Rezoning Manalapan took place many years ago. It did not include shopping centers on Route 33, except for 50 acres in the Mount Laurel agreement, which was to be developed by K. Hovnanian. Included in that proposed development was a supermarket with retail stores.

When Stuart Moskovitz, Manalapan’s (present) township attorney, became mayor (in 2000), he rezoned the property at Route 33 and Millhurst Road for a shopping center, allowed 300 homes built on the 50 acres that was set aside for retail stores, and misled the residents of Manalapan by pledging a cutback in development.

The residents of Manalapan are not being represented by the Township Committee who is allowing Mr. Moskovitz to coerce the Planning Board to approve this project.

With the initiation of this shopping center, builders rejected in the past with shopping mall plans, such as the attorney representing The Village at Manalapan, will seek to obtain approval for other shopping centers along Route 33, and in a few years Route 33 will be a carbon copy of Route 18.

It is time for the residents of Manalapan to vote out the members of the Township Commit-tee.

Jack McKenna

former mayor of Manalapan

Freehold Township

Former councilwoman lends support to Reform Dems

Mayor Robert Kleinberg’s total control over the Township Council has tainted his objectivity and resulted in disastrous missteps and dire consequences for Marlboro. I speak as a former council member in Marlboro who has kept current with the issues facing the town, as I have family and friends who send me articles from the News Transcript and I read it regularly on-line.

Kleinberg and his council’s roadblock approach to the purchase of the Marlboro hospital property is misguided. As a council member, I worked tirelessly negotiating with the state so Marlboro could control the destiny of the hospital property. Mayor Kleinberg has done nothing but interfere with that process and placed the purchase itself in jeopardy.

The current Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) crisis was created by [former Mayor] Matt Scannapieco and his Planning Board’s corrupt deals with developers. COAH continues to be mishandled by this administration’s misguided solution of building the densest development in township history on an 18-acre contaminated site on Route 79. The proper placement of COAH units should be spread around the township so as not to overstress one particular area over another.

As for Kleinberg’s claims of ending corruption, I served on the 2002 council, which called for federal investigations of Scannapieco and other municipal officials. Kleinberg’s claim of credit for the cleanup is both arrogant and untrue. His attempt to fashion himself as the white knight saving Marlboro is an attempt to draw attention away from a tainted Republican machine led by those who placed Scannapieco and Kleinberg’s team in power — a truth that was so accurately exposed by Steven P. Sukel’s series of articles last June and July.

Marlboro Republicans could have cleaned the tarnished image of Marlboro in 2003. But at the Republican nominating committee meeting, Scannapieco handpicked Robert Kleinberg to run for mayor over me because the party faithful knew I would not blindly follow the party line. Scannapieco made an impassioned speech urging the committee to vote for Kleinberg to be the party’s candidate.

To be absolutely clear, Matt Scan-napieco supported Robert Kleinberg for mayor and Kleinberg welcomed his support. With the power of the Scannapieco-Kleinberg team against me, I nevertheless financed and ran my own primary campaign and was defeated by fewer than 90 votes.

Although that is in the past and I have since moved on, I care about the town in which I lived and served. Everyone knows that from the day I took the oath of office, I always supported what was best for the township and voted my conscience regardless of which political party sponsored an ordinance.

I have read the platform of the Reform Democratic candidates and believe these people are for real change. Their positions on coordinating zoning, planning and municipal ordinances as well as their proposal to change the strong mayor/weak council form of government in Marlboro are all policies which I endorse. It is time that the residents of Marlboro send a strong message this November and support these Democratic candidates.

Mary R. Singer

former Marlboro councilwoman

Tampa, Fla.

Visit from loving pet helps cheer up patients at hospital

I have never really been comfortable in a hospital environment, but I like helping people. So, I decided to volunteer my dog, Sami, to be a pet therapy dog at Raritan Bay Medical Center.

Our first day on the job was near the end of August. As we were completing our rounds in the oncology ward at the hospital’s Perth Amboy campus, a man beckoned us toward a room where a patient had previously been deemed “unresponsive.” The man asked if my dog would visit his sister.

After the nurses gave us their approval, I brought Sami into the hospital room. The woman was actually sitting up in her bed, with a tracheal tube in her throat. Sami, an 8-year-old golden retriever, walked right up to the woman and placed her head on the woman’s stomach.

The patient began petting Sami, but then emotion overtook her. Leaning forward, she grabbed hold of Sami and hugged her tightly for a full minute, shaking with emotion as she sobbed. It was as if her life was fully restored, if just for a minute or two.

It was an emotional moment for everyone in the room, and I quickly realized how wonderful a visit from a therapy dog is. I promised to bring Sami back to Raritan Bay Medical Center on a weekly basis. Both of us are eagerly looking forward to our next visit.

Jay Lillianthal

Marlboro

Solution suggested to provide local affordable housing

Immediate affordable housing and property tax relief begins with town governing bodies allowing homeowners to begin renting a room, rooms or a portion of the house to cover the cost in part of their own property tax and to give affordable housing to those who cannot find it elsewhere.

The first reasonable stipulation would be that the homeowner must reside at the residence of rental, in order to give greater assurance that the property will be properly maintained.

The second reasonable stipulation would be that if the homeowner has children, the homeowner can only rent to couples or single individuals without children so as not to financially overburden the public school system. Likewise, if the homeowner is without children, the homeowner can rent to one family or single parent with children in conjunction with renting to individuals and couples without children.

It is now up to housing advocates, editorial boards and those running for political office to push fast and hard for this immediate solution to affordable housing and property tax relief.

Ray Kalainikas

Manalapan