Old Bridge mayor provided broken promises
In his last election for mayor, Jim Phillips promised the residents of Old Bridge that if he were elected, he would focus like a laser on overdevelopment.

I still remember his signs that appeared all over town. Jim Phillips' message was that more homes bring higher taxes and more traffic congestion. More than three and a half years after Jim Phillips was elected, all I see are broken promises.

As soon as Jim Phillips was elected mayor, he proposed selling 500 acres of township property to developers to build 850 new homes. I remember that he called the deal "tax relief." This wasn't what he told us when he was campaigning for mayor.

When the housing market slowed and Mr. Phillips couldn't find a developer interested in purchasing the township property, he came up with another scheme. He now proposes to sell a portion of the 500 acres of township-owned property to Middlesex County to build a nursing home. The purpose of the sale is to generate $2.2 million in revenue to close a township-budget gap. With this money in hand, Mayor Phillips can then tell the residents of Old Bridge that his proposed budget does not contain a tax increase.

I believe Mayor Phillips should cut expenses and not rely on the sale of township land to balance his budget. What is going to happen next year if Jim Phillips is re-elected? Is he going to find more township land to sell to developers and call it tax relief?

I've made up my mind. This November I'm going to support Councilman Richard Greene for mayor and his team of Brian Cahill and Owen Henry for Township Council.

Cathy Born

Old Bridge