Government Change Leader Versacio: "Two Party Checks And Balances Not Evident In New Government"

Open Space A Disaster With No Referendum; Mayor: No Opposition On Anything That Counts

To The Editor Of OceanCountyPolitics•Com:

I applaud the editorials which call on voters to replace incumbent council members in Dover Township for good reasons, including duplicity on pay-to-play and the brutal, self-serving way they destroyed their remaining credibility on open space acquisition.

Tax Reduction, Less Spending Pressure
No Longer Available From Open Space Acquisition

 Five years ago, just five years, the township could have cut taxes over time, reduced spending pressures, eased overcrowding and made sure traffic wouldn’t get any worse with a plan to buy several thousand acres of open space at a fraction of current prices.

Even when they ran for office only sixteen months ago, the current council, every one of them, endorsed a $20 million open space acquisition program to be supported by equal contributions from the school system, the township and the local utilities authority.

Gilmore Says School Referendum Needed On $6.6 Open Space Program, But Not On $25 Million Pension Bonds

This program, which included a big piece of property on Long Swamp Creek, was scrapped as soon as the ink was dry on the election returns and, to add insult to injury, the school system reneged on their share, as their attorney, Republican County Chairman George Gilmore, advised a referendum would be needed to come up with $6.6 million.

School System And Their Attorney
Had Their Priorities Backwards

But they never held the referendum on the open space purchases and never came up with the money.

Instead, they decided they did NOT need a referendum a few months later when they appropriated $25 million in pension bonds to let nearly 200 employees retire early.

The current open space “program” is a joke: There won’t be any tax benefits; there won’t be any reduction in overcrowding, and there will be no effect on the traffic mess because there isn’t enough property to be acquired.

Council Should Hold Referendum To Get Public
Support For Open Space Buys At Outrageous Prices

Instead, the council will buy high visibility tracts at outrageous prices that cannot be defended except by the politically-connected property owners who will be enriched by the council’s duplicity. The situation cries out for a referendum to gauge public support for this gratuitous waste of public funds.

To make matters a lot worse, there are none of the traditional two-party checks and balances: the mayor, a Democrat, is providing no real opposition on anything that counts.

Good Luck With Election Process
And Two Party Greed conspiracy

So good luck on using the election process to get the job done when party hack Democrats and party hack Republicans present equally unacceptable choices.

Ted Versacio - Dover Township

This article prepared for publication on March 22, 2005.