Barnegat Candidates' Night Coming Up Soon

An Open Letter to Barnegat Residents From Marianne Clemente:

We have a real choice this year in electing two Township Committee candidates with the dedication and drive to do the right thing for Barnegat. Yes, Armando Quiroz and Craig Kleinfield are Democrats running for Barnegat Township Committee, but party should not play a role in local politics.

The incumbents have done nothing over the last ten years except raise your municipal property taxes to extreme highs (9.6 percent in just this last year); forsake being open and transparent by reducing Township meetings from four per month to one per month (all because they don’t like answering questions from residents); refuse to let us know, after almost four months, why the police chief was suspended; hire an uncertified business administrator without a proper job posting and interview process and paying him $120,000 a year (which was what the previous Certified Business Administrator earned); fail to deliver adequate services to our citizens until there is a mass demonstration for them to act; ignore the condition of our parks, all of which have numerous and hazardous safety violations, forcing parents to take their children to parks in neighboring towns.

You can and should vote with your head and your heart since you can actually have the opportunity to meet and speak with your candidates up close and personal at a Candidates Forum. I have set up a proposed Candidates Forum for all candidates – Democrat, Republican and Independent – which will be moderated by a non-partisan member of the League of Women Voters.

It is scheduled for either Monday, Oct. 24 or Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 6:30 p.m. at the Barnegat Recreation Center. I am awaiting word from the Republican and Independent candidates that they will participate in this Forum for the benefit of ALL Barnegat residents.

We will try and get positive word out when we know on which day it will occur by creating a flyer and contacting the schools to send word home to parents, retirement communities to communicate with their residents and perhaps we can get a Nixle message out – what a perfect application for Nixle. Let’s bring democracy and transparency back to Barnegat.

Marianne P. Clemente