Residents should know that speaker at meetings is a candidate Last year Manalapan Township decided to televise the twice monthly Township Committee meetings. The committee meeting is steeped with history. It has allowed residents to be truly informed about what is happening in their town. While the local newspapers do a wonderful job in terms of bringing local news and events to the residents' attention, they can't possibly bring all the issues to everyone's attention. So when the Township Committee announced that these meetings were to be televised I, like so many other people, welcomed the idea. It would allow our residents to watch in the comfort of their own home what is taking place in their township. However, at the June 27 committee meeting I saw a very disturbing trend taking place. Drew Shapiro, the Democrat candidate for Manalapan Township Committee, came up to the microphone throughout the evening and failed to identify himself properly by giving a false address and he neglected to say that he is running for political office. The viewer/resident should be informed that he is running for office so that he or she could "take the comments from where they come." Everyone has a right to speak at these meetings, but with that right comes a responsibility. A responsibility to be respectful and certainly honest. When a politician comes up to the microphone and does not inform the public that he is running for office and that his comments may be purely political in nature and not in the intended spirit of the forum then he does the township and its residents a disservice. We regrettably learned from recent court cases that while the camera was intended to shed light and openness it has also been sadly manipulated. A candidate seeking public office should properly identify himself so that the resident/viewers understand the context of his message. Rhoda Chodosh Manalapan