Guest Column
Mayor, council have let problem overwhelm town
ANDREW DE FONZO
Ihave reached my wits' end. I can't continue to sit back and read the utter nonsense that is being spewed from the political machine here in Freehold Borough. When one guest column by someone ("Mayor's Missteps Over Years Have Hurt Freehold Borough," News Transcript, Nov. 7) prompts two town councilmen (Jaye Sims and Marc Le Vine), one town councilwoman (Sharon Shutzer), a former town councilwoman (Susan Sweetman) and the mayor himself (Mike Wilson) to write letters and articles trying to defend the mayor and shed a nasty light on the person who wrote the article, I can't help but wonder what's got them all so defensive? I mean, as Marc Le Vine just said in his letter, the mayor had just won re-election, he should be celebrating. Why the need to "release the hounds" over one man's article?

Perhaps it's because they are trying to divert attention away from the truth?

Let's look at an example of Mayor Wilson's ability to twist the truth to suit his own needs. In an article printed in this newspaper on April 11, he said about his battle with illegal immigration, "And when we tried to take some action ourselves by closing a muster zone that had made us the center of an illegal labor market by stepping up enforcement of dangerous and overcrowded dwellings, where did we end up? In federal court."

What Mayor Wilson fails to mention, but luckily for us, Ms. Shutzer points out in her letter, is that it was "the Borough Council which decided to create the infamous muster zone. In our ever-present quest to maintain, protect and improve the quality of life for our residents, we did exactly that."

You see, Mayor Wilson forgot to mention it was he and his fellow town officials who initially set up the muster zone that made us this "center of an illegal labor market."

Mayor Wilson then said "bring it on" when lawsuits were threatened after they did close the muster zone, but in the end, the town decided it was in their best interest to settle rather than fight. The mayor and council then tried to convince us this was not a loss. Well, let's see, the illegal immigrants are still allowed to muster anywhere they want to look for work, and the town had to set aside money to pay back fines that were issued for violations that apparently were not legal. Doesn't sound like much of a win to me.

The fact of the matter is this - while Mayor Wilson and his council stand up and say they are doing all they can to deal with the illegal immigrants in our town, they continually fail to mention it was them who allowed us to get to this point. Mayor Wilson has been mayor for 22 years. The illegal immigration issue is not one that suddenly popped up one day when the council and mayor decided to close the muster zone; it is a problem that has been building in this town for over a decade - all under Mayor Wilson's "leadership."

Years ago, concerned citizens brought the growing illegal population to the attention of the council and mayor, and their response was essentially, "Well, where else are these people going to go?" Their lack of forward thinking back then has put us in our current predicament, so to try and make it sound like you have been "fighting the good fight all along" just doesn't cut it.

Let's not beat around the bush - the illegal immigrant issue in Freehold Borough is destroying our town. It's not a minor burden, it's not a nuisance, it is destroying our town. Proponents of illegal immigrants, and now even members of the council and the mayor himself, speak of the "wonderful culture"

that a large Hispanic community brings to the borough.

Are they referring to the fine restaurants that they have now found twice operating illegally out of one of the many rental homes here in town? Perhaps they are referring to the record stores/travel agencies, or mini-grocery stores that have popped up with all of their signs written in Spanish, and all of which have Western Union available so money can be sent back home.

Hispanics do have a rich and historical culture, but that's not what the illegal immigrants are bringing to our town. What they do bring is overcrowded and unsafe rental units; an overburdened medical system; overcrowded (which has led to underfunded) schools; and even the signs of a gang presence thanks to graffiti that is now popping up throughout town.

To further that last point, at the last council meeting the chief of police apparently mentioned that the council should look into adopting an ordinance against graffiti. These are not signs of the rich culture a Hispanic community could bring to our town, these are signs of a town being overwhelmed by an illegal population that doesn't care about where they live.

There are a number of things Mayor Wilson and the council can do in order to deal with these issues, but they continue to take a "let's wait and see what happens to other towns" approach. This is not a sign of leadership, this is a sign of "follow the leader." While the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says it would not be a violation of the Fair Housing Act to require potential renters to provide proof of citizenship during the screening process, this town waits to see what happens with other towns.

While more and more cities and towns across this country take advantage of the now infamous 287g statute, Freehold Borough's leaders sit back, wait and complain that it's not something we could realistically take on (though we continue to "take on" the burden placed on our town by the illegal immigrants). How about we start simple?

Since the mayor and council continue to tell us about the "lines of communication" they are opening with advocacy groups, why not team up with these groups, find some lawyers and start getting some of these illegal immigrants on the road to becoming legal, taxpaying citizens of the United States? These are just a few things we could do here in town, but our "leaders" choose not to.

Mayor Mike Wilson, as all of his defenders have said, has been serving Freehold Borough for 22 years. For those of us who have lived in the borough for his entire time in office, ask yourselves a simple question. Are things better or worse today than they were 22 years ago? Just because people come out of the woodwork to defend a man doesn't make his actions right.

Andrew DeFonzo is a resident of Freehold Borough.