State senator responds to claim in candidate's election literature

A recent political mailer was distributed to the residents of Manalapan by the Republican candidate for Town-ship Committee. One article in her mailer focused on the problems that occurred last month at the Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School (MEMS). I was shocked to learn that Nikki Pezzullo, the Republican candidate, seems to claim sole responsibility for sounding the alarm about the critical delays at MEMS. This is untrue. Since she mentions me by name twice in her literature, I feel compelled to set the record straight.

Yes, I was instrumental in getting the state Department of Community Affairs into Manal-apan on short notice to mediate between the contractor and the construction officials in order to get the school open in the safest and quickest manner possible. Yet my office has no record of Ms. Pezzullo calling my office on this or any other matter affecting Manalapan.

Yes, along with Mayor Drew Shapiro and Deputy Mayor Michelle Roth I attended two emergency meetings of the Manalapan-Englishtown Board of Education. Yet I did not meet, nor did I even see Ms. Pezzullo at the meeting at the Wemrock Brook School or the meeting held in Englishtown.

The fact is the "alarm bells" alerting me and state officials about the brewing crisis at MEMS were sounded by both Mayor Shapiro and Deputy Mayor Roth in the days leading up to the first day of school. Mayor Shapiro contacted my office and the offices of both Assembly representatives.

In early September, Deputy Mayor Roth spoke with concerned residents and parents, as well as the school board president. She then attended a meeting with Manalapan's administrator, construction department and the police department to start working toward a solution. Deputy Mayor Roth also went to the construction site with Manalapan's construction officials and members of the Board of Education and attended the meeting I organized with the DCA on Sept. 13. It was at this critical meeting that the state helped to create a construction timetable to get the children safely back into the building ASAP.

I applaud the efforts of the residents, school, municipal, county and state officials who worked together to get MEMS back on track. The children of Manalapan did a great job handling a difficult and stressful transition back to school.

As elected officials we should always strive to work in a bipartisan manner when it comes to troubleshooting issues affecting the quality of life in our community. What we should not tolerate, however, are people who are willing to mislead the public for their own personal or political gain.

Manalapan residents deserve to know how the MEMS issue came to light and who in fact has been instrumental in implemen-ting both long- and short-term solutions to the school construction and inspection dilemma. When the facts are out we can all graciously give, and receive, credit where credit is rightfully due.

Ellen Karcher

State Senator

D-Monmouth and Mercer

Freehold Township