News Transcript serves Freehold by reporting housing violations
As the Freehold Borough Council liaison to code enforcement, I want to thank the News Transcript for its recent coverage of our town's successful code enforcement and municipal court activities and outcomes. You followed the operational piece with a related article enlightening us about some pending state Senate legislation, which we all need to learn more about and get solidly behind.

If it is passed, S-164, sponsored by Sen.Anthony Bucco, will increase the penalties for those found guilty of overcrowding rental properties. Passage of this bill could encourage many bad landlords to explore new careers and send some inconsiderate tenants packing to other more accommodating states.

Within the article detailing code enforcement's operational success, the News Transcript followed the recommendation of Freehold Borough's Rental Advisory Committee by publishing the full names, violations and fines of several guilty landlords and tenants.

This is a practice we hope they will continue. We also encourage other regional newspapers to adopt the same practice. Not only is this information of great interest to local residents, but it also should serve as a deterrent to the many landlords whose greed has overtaken their sense of responsibility and common decency.

Also deterred from the business of making other people's lives miserable will be the landlords who exhibit poor property management oversight skills and who often care less about their neighbor's right to live free of blight, disruption and inconvenience.

Those not willing to be considerate of the people next door and who regularly violate property ordinances are highly deserving of newspaper attention. Please continue giving it to them.

Prime positioning of News Transcript articles such as those mentioned here reinforces the sentiment that property code abuse (especially involving absentee landlords and inconsiderate tenants) disgusts most of us and should not be tolerated by anyone, anywhere.

Thank you, News Transcript, for recognizing that this subject matter deserves front-page coverage and also for putting everyone on notice that the "bad guys" will be publicly revealed. This is good news to those on the right side of the issue and bad for just about everybody else.

When ethical standards and social responsibility are devoid of good ingredients, then public ridicule is well deserved. Who wants their protected good name linked with wrongdoing? Your continued coverage of code enforcement issues should inspire all responsible neighbors, whether they be homeowners, landlords or tenants.

When newspapers like the News Transcript remind us of our communal responsibilities by publicizing the consequences of legal noncompliance and social indifference, they are doing a great service to society and they deserve our special recognition. Keep up the good work.

Marc LeVine

Councilman Freehold Borough