Critic should direct his anger at federal government, not Freehold
It was with a great deal of dismay that I read Richard Kelsey's latest diatribe published in the News Transcript on Nov. 7. Although I like Rich Kelsey and I respect him for voicing his opinions, I vehemently disagree with the vitriol expressed in his guest column. It probably should also be said that I think Freehold Borough Mayor Mike Wilson needs no defending, but as a borough councilwoman I absolutely must respond.

I sat on the Borough Council which decided to create the infamous muster zone. Because of a myriad of resident complaints about the neighborhood disruptions caused by the day laborers, we called in the INS (now known as ICE). It was their suggestion that we create a pick-up zone outside of the residential sections of town. In our ever-present quest to maintain, protect and improve the quality of life for our residents, we did exactly that.

When this area became a problem, we notified Conrail about the use of its property and we were directed to shut the area down. As far as the "settlement" is concerned, we as representatives of the borough acted in its best interest in amicably resolving what was guaranteed to be a protracted and costly litigation.

We feel that we did not compromise our integrity or the rights of borough citizens in doing so. Apparently, Mr. Kelsey thinks we should have told "...an unfriendly, partisan federal judge..." to go scratch her "...unfriendly, partisan..." behind!

When Mr. Kelsey said, "I publicly pushed the borough to take aggressive legal, political and public relations position to reverse a tide that was destined to sink the town," he simply neglected to mention that his presentation was given during an executive session when he and another attorney from his firm in Washington wanted us to hire them to sue the American government and, possibly, the Mexican government.

This would have cost our borough taxpayers, by his own estimation, millions of dollars with absolutely no guarantee of legal success. Consequently, the council, not the mayor, made the decision that we could not afford to take that chance.

So, his, "...aggressive legal..." plan was not accepted and he was not hired. If he has such strong feelings about the town and if he is so desperate to make a name for himself, instead of constantly denigrating us, he should volunteer to use his legal expertise and his energy in directing his ire at the federal government, which continues to be the source of the problem.

Sharon C. Shutzer

Councilwoman Freehold Borough