Letter to the Editor: Open Space Tax Referendum

To the editor:

It is time for each of us to decide how we will be remembered as we go to the polls on Nov.8 in Haddonfield. A vote “yes” will continue a commitment for conservation of open space.

There are times that we must think about the future of our community and look to see what we can do to better our town for the next generation. This vote will have lasting implications on how we protect and fund our last remaining open spaces for our children and grandchildren.

In 1916, two friends gathered their expertise to protect their beloved Hopkins Pond and Evan Pond from development by taking their plea to the citizens of Haddonfield. Samuel and James defended their position by showing that community ownership of these spaces would increase property values, protect wildlife habitats, and give the residents places for fresh air to exercise. Luckily for us they won the vote and two parks were protected forever. The conservation of the local parcels was the start of the linear greenway now called the Camden County Park System.  Now tens of thousands of people have enjoyed all the values Samuel and James defended and will continue to do so.

Now it is our turn. I would like my legacy to continue on like Samuel and James’s to protect the special places that remain in Haddonfield. How do you what to be remembered?

Kim Custer
Chair of Vote Yes for Haddonfield Open Space