Scharfenberger' Plan: Raise Sales Tax By Unknown % To Fund Education

By MiddletownMike

It seems as though Middletown's appointed Republican mayor Gerry Scharfenberger has a rather novel, but highly unoriginal idea to help unburden tax payers by asking his good friend, Governor Christie, to increase the State’s sales tax by some unnamed percentage and use the money to offset property taxes, using the revenue from the sales tax increase to pay for school funding. He thinks that it is such a good idea that he recently instructed the Township Attorney to draft a resolution that would call upon the Governor and the State Legislature to consider his idea to solve the school funding issue.

He has been quoted as saying that “Everybody sort of commiserates, (and thinks) this could be a great thing...It’s something that’s got to come, because we can’t just keep burdening taxpayers.”

Wow, Scharfenberger has become a liberal Progressive overnight? I would be impressed if this was his idea, but as I mentioned it wasn’t an original idea on his part, similar proposals have been made by others in the past, most recently by the progressive think tank, New Jersey Policy Perspective, which addressed this very issue in its Monday Minute newsletter back on March 8, 2010, while the Governor was in the middle of his battle with teachers and their union over a wage and benefit freeze prior to school board elections.

If Scharfenberger had proposed this idea earlier in the year, before he joined the governor in his attacks against the teachers of Middletown’s school system and their union, blaming them for driving the local tax rate up through the stratosphere, I very well may have given him kudos for think outside the box (even though he gave no details or guidance on how the State should allocate or disperse funds to local municipalities once it was gathered by the State).

Unfortunately that is not the case.

This latest headline grabbing scheme by the mayor however, seems to be more driven by his intention to deflect criticism away from his personal record of raising local taxes. Since Gerry Scharfenberger joined the Middletown Township Committee, the local municipal tax rate will have risen by 41.9% over the 5 year period in which he has served on the Township Committee (3 of those years as Mayor, 2 as Deputy Mayor) if the currently proposed Township budget, which includes a 13.87% tax increase, is adopted by the first Township Committee meeting of September, which seems unlikely at this point due to the cancellation of the town’s hearing in front of the Local Finance Board on August 11th, which was to decide if Middletown could exceed the 4% state mandated cap on spending.

The mayor must figure that if he can raise the evil specter of the Middletown Board of Education and the perceived wasteful spending of tax dollars that are being paid to those that educated the Township’s children by pointing out once again, that ~60% of local tax bills go to support the education system, people will forget his tax and spend record, if only somehow, those in Trenton could take care of educating Middletown's kids so that residents can forget about the municipal portion of their tax bills.

Based on past performance and record of the legislature, it sounds unrealistic to think that those in charge of Trenton can be trusted with the revenue raised by a sales tax increase. After all, look at what happen to the money that was raise the last time the sales tax was raised a couple of years ago, the tax was raised from 6% to 7% and half of that increase was to fund property tax relief through homestead rebates, which have now been eliminated by Governor Christie.

It is evident from comments left on my MiddletownMike blog and the 100 that were left at the Redbankgreen.com website after first reporting Scharfenberger’s idea, that I’m not the only one who thinks so.

Here are just a few:

“So instead of finding a way to lower operating costs and reduce budgets, the mayor seeks out a way to shift the burden to someone else. Great job.” - Tom S. - Redbankgreen.com

“Let me guess- the town council will support this inane, meaningless resolution 4-1. He’d rather see sales tax increase to something like 15% so that every NJ resident will go out of state or online to shop, which in turn will hurt NJ businesses? Well thought out.” - Midletown4eva – Redbankgreen.com

“Middletown will the laughing stock of this state. No fiscal responsibility for the last 6 years and he wants to pass the burden onto everyone else. Great example of leadership. This guy ceases to amaze me!” – John D – Redbankgreen.com

“Gerard Scharfenberger is totally out of touch with reality .His excuses only reflect just how at fault he is and it's about time he accepts responsibility for his mismanagement. He was mayor 3 of the last 5 five years and he has been a disgrace as far as representing the "people" of this town.... ALL of the people !!

His sole purpose has been republican politics. 

Can't wait to bid GOOD RIDDANCE to this inadequacy !!” - Anonymous – MiddletownMike blog

Instead of focusing on ways to raise everyone’s taxes and divert attention away from his abominable tax and spend record in this time of economic turmoil, Gerry Scharfenberger and those in the majority of the Township Committee need to figure out a way to decrease the proposed 13.87% tax increase that he supports, by cutting spending rather than relying on others to do it for them or writing resolutions that fall within the jurisdiction of the State Legislature.

M'town celebrates its vols in ceremony

The Middletown Committee honored its volunteers for various boards and commissions yesterday at Croydon Hall. Courier Staff Writer Melissa L. Gaffney has this story in te upcoming edition of the newspaper next week. In the meantime, there's a brief at The Courier Online. Click on the headline to go there.

CAPTION: Middletown Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger was at the event last night, along with Deputy Mayor Pamela Brightbill.

COAH is coming home for township

The Middletown Committee meeting last night adopted a new resolution involving COAH. There was some discussion about the language of the resolution, and comment was made by Committeeman Patrick Short that there may be some drama going on in statements about this issue being made in some corners, in general.

Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger is convinced that complying with COAH (a.k.a. the law) will have a result that is something like a meteorite hitting Middletown. I suppose that leaves the township with two alternatives: Either notify Bruce Willis and a maverick group of wildcatters or obey the law. Since Bruce Willis is busy, I suppose that leaves obeying the law.

Will COAH compliance mean the 'gloom and doom' that is being portrayed by the administration? Some say it will and others say it won't.

Compliance with COAH is dramatic in the township because, for over two decades, the township has put off its obligations or used RCAs to remove its obligations. Not so long ago the governor signed legislation that wiped out RCAs. Long story short: The township's poor planning is catching up with it.

Be sure to pick up a copy of The Courier this week for more news about COAH.

Sableminded has audio clip of HRC meeting

There is a whole lot of 'not being candid' going on about the HRC meeting in Middletown last week. Courier Staff Writer Melissa Gaffney happened to be recording parts of the session. Click on the headline to go to Melissa's blog, Simply Sable, for some audio about what was said.

There is some controversy, apparently, because Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger reportedly said he didn't call the special meeting of the HRC. In general, though, members of the body weren't sure about much else when the meeting began aside from the fact that the mayor called the session.

Anyway, click on the headline to go to the audio on Simply Sable.

Middletown Human Rights Commission takes on issue of race

Last night, at the Middletown Township Municipal Building, at a meeting of the Middletown Human Rights Commission, the body condemned the July 17 post of an area blogger that included the n-word.

The event was attended by presidents of three branches of the NAACP, as well as about 22 township residents. There was a lot of input about the use of the n-word. According to the commission, the meeting was convened at the request of the mayor of the township, Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger, who was not in attendance during the session.

The body allowed me to speak, as The Courier and its alleged ongoing affiliation with the site that included use of the n-word was an issue in front of the commission. I made it clear to the commission that The Courier is a family friendly newspaper that has never, and will never include racial slurs in the context of any written content of the newspaper.

I offered my belief to the body, which is that the n-word or any racial slur is terrible. In particular, the n-word is a representation of violence in language, reminiscent of a tragic past. To evoke the n-word is to recreate the violence and hatred of the past. To do this, and then hold a reasonable conversation with regards to race is, in my opinion, impossible.

There was a great deal of input from the public last night, and it was very productive and positive, to my view. Middletown's lack of diversity demographically did not prevent the Human Rights Commission from making a call that stood up for what is right, family friendly and positive in this community and every community.

My thanks to township Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger for referring this matter to the commission, since otherwise this issue could not have been a matter of public discussion in Middletown. In the beginning of the meeting, which took place at 7:30 p.m., there was a feeling by the commission that Courier had some kind of culpability in the use of this word. However, upon closer examination, the commission was satisfied that the newspaper had done everything in its power to distance itself from the offending material. In addition, Deputy Police Chief Eugene Hannafey, who sits on the committee, lauded Courier's efforts to get this dialogue into the public, and that thanks is greatly appreciated.

In general, those in attendance were very appreciative. I truly thank everyone for coming and supporting the issue and, in this case, the newspaper and its work. Thank you very much.

Letter from Mike Morris about town government

EDITORIAL NOTE: I received a letter in yesterday from Middletown resident Mike Morris. I encourage folks to write on in. It's always good to get more voices involved with the community. Thanks, Mike, and please keep sending them in.

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Much like their Republican counterparts down in Washington DC, the Middletown GOP is devoid of ideas and is morally bankrupt. Mayor Scharfenberger, Deputy Mayor Brightbill and Middletown GOP candidate for Township Committee Anthony Fiore and many of their cronies and supporters, such as Middletown Republican County Committee members Michael Vitkansas, Cathy Rogers and James L. Hinckley, or GOP supporters like Kathy Russo and Kira Nelsen, must rely on secrecy, deception, lies, finger pointing, character assassination and name calling to cover up their inequities. Whether it is an ongoing attempt to discredit their Democratic colleagues on the township committee, Patrick Short and Sean Brynes, or the ongoing smear campaigns against community stalwarts’ former Assemblyman Joe Azzolina or former chairperson for the Middletown Human Rights Commission Carolyn Schwebel and township citizens like Don Watson, their policies and actions speak volumes about their integrity and character.

The Middletown GOPers are content with their borrow, spend then tax policies. They have refused to listen to or consider proposals to eliminate the need for tax increases from Patrick Short and Sean Byrnes or take seriously the input of township residents when it comes to the ongoing budget process. Instead, Michael Vitkansas recently wrote that he was “outraged” at the thought that residents could possibly know better then his GOP leadership, when it comes to formulating an operating budget for the township. Mayor Scharfenberger also wrote recently that “proposals by Mr. Byrnes and Mr. Short, after a collective scrutiny by all involved in the process, it was determined that they would have decreased revenue in the township, but would have increased the size of the budget by several million dollars”.

Mr. Mayor, a few questions please, who was involved in collectively scrutinizing Mr. Byrnes and Short’s proposals? It certainly did not include Byrnes or Short because they expressed shock upon reading your comments.

How is it possible to have open, transparent government and trust in our elected officials when secrecy and deception is the norm for the Middletown GOP?

Mayor Scharfenberger and his fellow Middletown republicans need to stop blaming Trenton for the mess that is Middletown’s budget. Reduced state aid, pension funding and other mandates affect every town in the State, not just Middletown. Middletown needs to learn how to deal with it. It is time to cut spending, not increase it and live within our means. Practically doubling the township debt ($48 million - $80 million) from 2003 to 2008 and dolling out a 35% raise to the Township Clerk, are not examples of fiscal conservatism that the Mayor wants everyone to believe that they practice.

At a recent public meeting in the Oak Hill section of town, Mr. Scharfenberger again showed the lack of ideas and vision that is missing from the Middletown GOP. Again the Mayor attempted to link the proposed “Town Centre” project with the Middletown Democratic Party, telling the attendees that if you vote for a democrat, then Town Centre will definitely be built. As we know, this is a total falsehood; at no time has any Democratic candidate supported the Town Centre project. Anyone with the slightest knowledge of the history behind the fight against Town Centre knows that Democratic Committeeman Patrick Short lead the fight against its development. As a result of this fight, the republican leadership, which had originally proposed the project to Mr. Azzolina and given it’s blessing to the project back in the 1990’s, were compelled to stop the project, which has since lead to a costly legal battle between the Township and former Assemblyman Azzolina.

If Town Centre is built it will be as a result of this legal battle, not by the support of the Democratic Party.

The retaliatory and mean spirited attacks against Carolyn Schwebel are a disgrace. As a member and Chairperson for the Middletown Human Rights Commission for close to twenty years, she dedicated herself to the service of helping others less fortunate then herself, only to be dropped from the commission because she questioned why Middletown had failed to comply with changes that where agreed to in order to settle a lawsuit, which pertained to the Americans with Disabilities Act in 2007. Being a disabled person herself, Mrs. Schwebel was fulfilling her duties to ensure that Middletown was accessible to all individuals not just the more fortunate.

Mayor Scharfenberger’s personnel attacks against Don Watson and anyone who would dare to question or point out the Middletown GOP hypocrisy is totally unprofessional and shows his lack of moral fortitude. Instead of directly answering question that are raised, the Mayor and his Republican colleagues feel that it is necessary to continually address old news, in an attempt to discredit the legitimate concerns of Mr. Watson and other dissenting voices.

Is this the type of leadership that the citizens of Middletown voted for or deserve?

I can go on and on about the wasteful spending and the costly pet projects that are buried deep within the Township budget, much of which is hidden throughout various line items in the budget with little or no explanation. Is it any wonder then, why it is so difficult to get a proper answer from our elected GOP officials? If this practice is the model for which the League of Municipalities recommends to its members to follow, I have to wonder then who is watching out for the taxpayer?

It is truly sad to see that those who campaigned on a “New Faces, New Ideas” platform 3 years ago have nothing new to offer those that they represent. The only thing that is offered is more of the same type of government that the people of Middletown do not want.

Morehead pens letter about COAH

The Inside Clamdigger received a letter from Middletown resident Matthew Morehead, a young man who is chairing the Bayshore Young Dems Group. Thank you, Mr. Morehead, for sending in a letter, please keep them coming.

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
April 3, 2008

P.O.C. Matthew Morehead
Chairman- Monmouth County Bayshore Young Democrats
639 West Front St.
Red Bank, NJ 07701
Phone: (732) 693-1904

The Real Facts About Middletown And COAH

To the Editor:

The facts that Middletown Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger and Steven Lonegan of Americans for Prosperity NJ are leaving out of their misleading rhetoric is that Middletown has around 260 units of affordable housing that it has not built from round one and two of its COAH obligation. Middletown has only completed 88 units of new housing, 122 rehabs of existing housing and has signed RCAs for 649 units of housing at $12.1 million going to other municipalities. This leaves a sizeable surplus from poor performance for the last 20 years.

At the rate that Middletown is going it will not meet its constitutional obligation by 2018. This is the real reason that Mayor Scharfenberger and his majority are worried about the “third round” obligation in my opinion. Middletown’s “gated community” approach to its affordable housing obligation has failed the town and its residents as well, do to the fact that if we do not meet our obligation we loose our protection under the FHA of 1985. This will mean that anyone wishing to develop, or in need of housing, will be able to sue Middletown, which will mean rapidly rising legal fees and rising property taxes for the residents of Middletown.

As for these mandates being unfunded, it is not true in my opinion. The federal and state governments have funds set up to relieve municipalities that build the housing in their communities. On the other hand, the municipalities who sign RCAs to get rid of their portion of affordable housing do not get to benefit from these funds, which in turn puts a heavy burden on tax payers. There is also a burden placed on residents by not having the housing in Middletown for our young adults starting out in life and our seniors who are facing rising costs on a fixed income.

In conclusion, is Middletown’s “gated community” approach to COAH in the best interest of Middletown’s residents or in the best interest of the majority of the governing body?

Matthew Morehead
Chairman- Monmouth County Bayshore Young Democrats
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Blogger's Note: To send letters to "The Inside Clamdigger," e-mail them to: jimpurcell0309@yahoo.com.

Proposed Middletown tax increase -- it's just nuts

According to the APP, the Middletown Township Committee is considering raising taxes 10.2 percent this year. The spending plan is about $63 million, and the amount to be raised through taxation is $38,871,437, up from $34,956,593. The tax rate itself would be 77.94 cents per $100 of assessed value. Each cent represents $498,727.

Also according to the APP, the committee majority is actively considering postponing the hiring of six police officers.

Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger railed against "the state" again because state funding was cut by $634,511, to $7.8 million. The mayor said it was unfair of the state to require Middletown to take on added expenditures such as pension contributions and the public library allocation.

Interim Township Administrator Frederick Jahn characterized cuts the administration has already made to thew spending plan as "...kind of ruthless..."

In my opinion, such assertions by Mayor Scharfenberger are invalid. The library was expanded in some part with tax money -- it shouldn't have been. This committee majority built a more than $8 million vanity project just a few years ago with the Middletown Cultural Arts Center. This committee has just got done giving its clerk and enormous pay increase (Why? No idea). This committee majority does not micromanage expenditures on the deluxe television sets and other durable goods that are purchased; there has been no eye to savings. And litigation...ah, litigation.

This committee majority has a history of picking unnecessary, lengthy and expensive court fights with the PBA in the township -- and usually losing. Trying to get a grasp of how much this committee majority is spending on litigation is very hard, given the fact that in the past legal expenses have been hidden in line items that are totally unrelated to litigation expenses.

Years ago, someone made the jovial remark that Middletown would bond for lunch if it could. This came up in a conversation regarding the township's more than $80 million in bond debt.

Frankly, I do not believe this committee majority is competent where it involves fiscal oversight of the township. Cultural centers, high-priced clerks, and not even libraries are more important than even one police officer, let alone six.

The basic mission of government is not to operate cultural centers, create opulent libraries, turn partisan lawyers and contractors into wealthy people off vanity projects on municipal projects, or expand into areas non-essential to the governance of a community. But, the government does have a basic duty to safeguard citizens, hence police officers are needed. There is a lot of excess going on in Middletown's government, and partisan people are having a field day at taxpayers expense.

I have said it before, and will say it again, anyone raising taxes at all in this environment should not hold office. Yet, a 10 percent increase -- that is insane. There's way too much fluff and posturing on this committee, and not nearly enough 'getting it done' where it involves fiscal management. As for the 'blame it on Trenton' line -- that's Politicalese for 'the dog ate my homework,' and it's ridiculous. Government should be about money and basic services, and not frills.

Click on the headline to go to a great story about this by the APP's Kevin Penton.

Caption: Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger and Deputy Mayor Pam Brightbill at last year's Memorial Day Parade in Middletown.

Middletown Matters when it comes to money too

This morning, I stopped by Town Hall, in Middletown, again. The purpose of the visit was to again hear why Courier staff writers are not permitted the same access to the governing body as are other newspapers or the public. In fact, this newspaper has not reported on any matter that did not bear public review. The newspaper attends to matters of tax money and how it is spent.

In the midst of Recession, amid a time of skyrocketing taxation, it is not out of line to cover and discuss the Municipal Operating Budget candidly. Indeed, items of great excess have been revealed through previous examination of the township’s budget in the past.

Lawmakers and administrations that have something to hide are not transparent: It is as simple as that. That The Courier does not practice institutional flattery of the municipal governing body is neither out of line nor expresses discourtesy. Newspapers should not ignore the issue of tax money for any nicety’s sake. What is discourteous is making residents of any tax bracket pay more than they should for municipal government. Residents should possess wealth, and businesses should possess wealth. Since all of government’s money is derived through taxation, it would be wrong for government to be wealthy, as wealth connotes that excess taxation has taken place. Personalities have nothing to do with that, though the ego of politicians (as all elected officials are) dictates that this is somehow a ‘personal’ thing.

A question I posed to Public Information Officer Cindy Herrschaft also involved the future administrator — whomever that may be. The question was simple enough: ‘What vehicle is the new administrator going to be assigned?’

Ms. Herrschaft said that Mayor Scharfenberger would be the authority as to if either of the questions I posed would be answered.

Mr. Scharfenberger is not an elected mayor. He is the president of the board, elected by a simple majority not of town voters but of committee people (and he had to vote for himself to win the job).

Why is a committee person with what amounts to an honorary title awarded the prerogatives of a strong-mayor form of government under Robert’s Rules. Specifically, this mayor is given an aide, which is superfluous under this organization, and executive oversight of staff, which is not a prerogative I have ever seen a mayor under a "township" form of government possess (meaning not a strong mayor, or even a weak mayor form). This is not a doctrinal road and, in my opinion, panders unnecessarily to this mayor, who is not elected by municipal voters. He was elected by a simple majority of five people, apparently to make financial decisions and rate a personal staff that township voters and taxpayers subsidize.

If the Republican Party in town wishes a strong-mayor form of government, and it certainly operates as such, I do not see why this issue cannot go to voters. What is more the shame is that actual oversight of this government does not take place by regulatory state or other agencies, ensuring the standard statutory propriety within the operation of the municipal government. There are exceptions being made in this municipality that represent what I believe is a dangerous precedent for governments organized in this state. I believe the first order of business relates to the transparency of government, but that is only where this situation begins, in my opinion.

Meanwhile, I believe it is wholly improper for any one committee person, who represents only one vote among five, to have broad executive powers when they were patently not elected to do so under this form of government.

Statement read into the record at Aug. 20 session

The following statement was submitted by me to the Middletown Township Committee, furnished to every member of the governing body, as well as all members of their primary support staff today (august 20th) and read into the record at tonight's committee session:

During the August 2nd Middletown Committee Workshop Meeting, Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger and Committeeman Thomas Hall made public comments about The Courier's coverage in town.

It is my intention tonight to answer the allegations directly made by Mayor Scharfenberger and inferred by Committeeman Hall.

I want to make it clear that responses and due diligence with regard to township government, Mayor Scharfenberger, Committeeman Hall or the rest of the committee for that matter, answering questions posed by my reporters, is all but non-existent. This mayor and this committee have a difficult time fielding questions about how they spend tax money, and so their choice where it involves my newspaper is not to deal with it at all.

This governing body has created a policy, at least to this newspaper, wherein all questions are posed to the public information officer, Cindy Herrschaft. No individual member of this committee is, I suppose, allowing themselves to speak with any reporter from Courier. Consequently, the many questions our reporters pose are placed through her and basically never answered. This tactic will not prevent news from being reported or stories from being written.

So, for any member of this committee to say they were not contacted before a story or about a story is patently untrue. What is true is that it was their respective choices not to respond to the stories produced by my newspaper's Editorial Section.

In response to Mayor Scharfenberger's allegations that my newspaper prints lies, I want to make it clear that The Courier has printed nothing that is dubious or, to the facts provided us by all parties contacted, in doubt by way of fact in any manner. Both myself and the newspaper at-large stand behind every word printed by our reporters. But not all facts are politically amenable to ambitious politicians or government that possesses a Nixonian style of management. This cannot be the newspaper's preoccupation, though, as out mission is clear: We print news of the day in Northern Monmouth County, something that has been our collective business at Courier since 1955.

Mr. Hall insinuated that Mr. Short, in working with Reporter Scott Shanley, betrayed some public trust for the sake of an alleged "Photo Op." In fact, Mr. Short was communicating with our readers, many of whom reside in Middletown. The Courier is as open to Mr. Scharfenberger and Mr. Hall, not to mention any other member of the governing body, as it is Mr. Short. This can be said of all elected and appointed people in all of the towns we cover. If there is any propaganda or manipulation of facts ongoing in this conversation, it is Mr. Hall's and, apparently, Mr. Scharfenberger.

With that said, I absolutely take exception to the comments made by Mr. Scharfenberger and Mr. Hall, the protocol under their respective mayoral administrations with regard to access to information, and the reckless diatribes these people have engaged in from the pulpit of governmental authority in this town.

MT mayor, committee make accusations at meeting

At last night's meeting of the Middletown Committee, Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger called for Middletown Committeeman Patrick Short to resign. In addition, he took great exception to the work of Courier staffer Scott Shanley, and to the newspaper itself...again. Somehow, he linked one to the other.

Outside of a public venue, like a committee meeting, where a public official, in this case the mayor and the members of the committee, make noise I would not feel a need to respond to what is patently politicking for its own sake. But, the mayor and his fellow GOP members on the governing body decided to put on a bit of a show last night.

First, he claimed that Mr. Short met with Courier secretly to do a story, which is just bizarre. The Courier met and will meet with anyone in elected office for a story about government in any town it covers. The fact is that Mr. Scharfenberger and his committee, as well as his public information officer, refuse to answer most questions about how the governing body spends tax money to this newspaper. Mr. Shanley writes out questions, submits them (the committee makes them funnel questions through the PIO) and then fails to answer anything of any substance whatsoever with great regularity. This is what I have to believe is an "official way" to not have to answer difficult questions.

It is refreshing, in fact, to have a member of the governing body, Mr. Short, who does not feel it necessary to come up with long, convoluted stories not answering questions about how he wants to spend tax money to improve the town.

Second, Mr. Scharfenberger and company do not like to communicate about issues involving expenditures or accounting issuesd within their budget or oversight if they are not "driving the train" on an article. Flatly, subjects do not drive the train in our articles. If this newspaper was in error on any fact or anything, it is our continued policy to announce that error loudly through our corrections (which are on Page 3 of our newspaper weekly).

As to the issues of "lies printed" in Courier, my response to Mr. Scharfenberger and Co. is "Hogwash."

The Courier has never failed to print a dissenting opinion, or anyone who has taken exception to our reporting, or to those who have some form of random gripe about our presence. In fact, the staff at the newspaper takes great pride in the fact that it will, on every occasion, address critics in a straightforward manner, without malice or negative attitide. With that said, when this newspaper's reporting is accurate there will be no apologies for doing our job. Last week, there was a correction on the name of a community within Middletown, and so we printed the correction. There have been no other errors, and certainly nothing to correct to this point, other than what has already been addressed.

If Mr. Scharfenberger, or anyone else, would like to speak with me about this personally, I can be reached at (732) 957-0070, ext. 6116. However, I will be sure to speak at the next committee meeting about this, and am providing ample warning so Mr. Carton et. al. can be sure to arrange for the appropriate shills in the audience to heckle, as they deem necessary. Nevertheless, I am not about to give way to any cheap theatrics from the bully pulpit, or allow any abuse of my reporters through any elected official using poor taste and ugly tactics at a public session to go unnoticed and uncommented about.

This is not uncommon in Courier's experience in recent years, though. This same sort of conduct was expected with some regularity during the Minervini years in Keansburg.