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OCPOLITICS•Com “Top Ten Citizens Most Responsible For The Successful
Adoption Of The Change Of Government In Dover Township”
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DiGiovanni |
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Luthman |
Seven Of These Citizens Are From Dover Township And Their Identities
Are Very Predictable
But,
Surprisingly, Two Of The Top Ten Folks Most Responsible For The
Success Of The Dover Change Of Government Are From Manchester
Township, And One Of Them Is From Berkeley Township
Angelo DiGiovanni -
Dover
Twp.
and
Nels Luthman -
Dover
Twp.
Angelo DiGiovanni -
Angelo is the ringleader. He ran a similar charge back in 1992; had no
promotion and no money; got beat by a coalition of development
interests and a climate that did not have the same features as the one
this year. People were generally happy with the state of affairs then,
which is most assuredly NOT the case now.
But the
development interests were twice as determined this time, had five
times as much money and were ten times as willing to lie about how
much the change to an elected mayor and council would cost. ("It would
cost $6 million”, they said, and the mayor would “get a $75,000
raise”.)
They did
not figure on Angelo’s determination to do it right this time. When
they correctly anticipated a hard time at town hall with the signature
count, Angelo was persuaded to up the target count from 7000 to
10,000, a decision which would save an enormous amount of aggravation
later but, as Angelo pointed out to the person who was dishing out the
advice, “you’re not the one who’s got to do the work.” And he was
right.
But the
work got done, and the question got on the ballot, though angry
members of the township committee killed an important explanatory
statement to make sure as many voters as possible were confused. The
rest is history, as enough unconfused voters squeezed through the
cracks to pass the question by nearly a thousand votes, and much of
the credit goes to Angelo DiGiovanni, without whom it simply would not
have happened.
Click to most recent
Angelo DiGiovanni article.
* * *
* * * * * * * * *
Nels Luthman -
Nels asked for a charter study on a government change and the Township
Committee said “no”. So he and other Citizens Alert leaders started
circulating petitions to get a specific change with an elected mayor
and a seven member council with four ward council members.
Nels is
a school teacher, and he got students to help with the project as a
civic exercise.
Then,
the phonies on the township committee said they changed their minds
and would consider a charter study. Nels and the other leaders said
“no”.
When the
Chamber Of Commerce sponsored a forum, Nels represented the proponents
of the question and acquitted himself admirably against developers
lawyer Joseph Coronato, who represents clients before the planning
board, and Gary Lotano, a local developer.
Nels
very capably turned aside the lies the development interests were
using to support their case, and presented a strong case for the
10,000 citizens who signed the petitions.
Nels is
another Government Change advocate without whom the project would
never have been successful.
Click to article on Nels Luthman's
letter on campaign lies.
More Top
Ten names soon on OceanCountyPolitics•Com |
