Your Turn
Old Bridge voter apathy is response to 'tax and spend' cycle
Jeffrey Kress
Guest Column

This is an open letter to Mayor Jim Phillips and the Board of Education:

Do not interpret the low voter turnout as some sort of justification for saddling the citizens of Old Bridge with yet another property tax. Do not tell yourselves that if more people voted, you would have gotten all of the "goodies" that the defeated budget would have given you. The truth behind the voter apathy is that many in our community have given up hope that the "tax and spend" cycle of school funding will ever change. I am not one of them.

I publicly challenge Mayor Phillips and our Board of Education to seek out other sources of funds so that our school system can help contribute to their own costs. This mayor, this Board of Education and this school system must start fundraising activities to raise money rather than to continue to bury the citizens of Old Bridge under the mountain of property taxes. Here are some suggestions as to where you might begin:

1. Have a "school aid" concert at Veterans Park or the high school auditorium. I'm sure that there are plenty of bands willing to help, as well as the school band and glee club.

2. Seek to have Raceway Park sponsor "A Day at the Races for Education," since Old Bridge has had to provide a greater police presence for their events.

3. Seek contributions from local businesses, both large and small. Many will contribute, if only for good public relations. Perhaps one of the dozens of car dealers in our town can be convinced to have a new car donated for a raffle.

4. "Trick or Treat for Education" - have students, the Board of Education, faculty, local leaders and parents pick a weekend and go door to door. Nobody says that you have to wait until October.

5. Work the extra traffic on Texas and Englishtown roads, much the same as the first aid squads, veterans and fire departments do. Have people outside ShopRite and other high-volume businesses. Old Bridge can get funds from the out-of-towners that pass through Old Bridge to go to Englishtown Auction sales and Raceway Park, money that would not otherwise be spent here.

I'm sure that there are plenty of other people smarter than I that can suggest many more ways to help fund our schools. These also enable those in our community with a little extra to give, a chance to donate and help ease the pressure on those that don't.

Will it be a lot of work? You bet, but you have a small army of students, faculty, parents, local leaders and, yes, a Board of Education to help. Use them. Let's stop this "us against them" mentality. The taxpayers are not opposed to a better school system, but we can no longer carry the entire burden alone. The mayor, Board of Education, the parents and the students have the opportunity to work with the taxpayers, instead of against us. Let's get this community doing something positive for a change, something that we can all do together. The entire community will be so much better for it.

Jeffrey Kress is a resident of Old Bridge.