Thinks it's time to break stranglehold on town's purse strings
Itry very hard to resist the urge to add to the "political pollution" that almost chokes us in November, but this year I think there is something too important not to say.

I have been a lifelong Democrat and have never voted for a Republican. This year's local elections in Old Bridge will change that. I have given our mayor, Township Council and Board of Education much closer scrutiny than ever, and there are some unassailable facts that have convinced me that we must dismantle the "good-old-boy network" that has a stranglehold on our town.

The following are some events that clearly illustrate the sham that our mayor and council call "tax relief."

The council put the recent repairs to the library roof up for bid. They selected a bid in the neighborhood of $2 million, which is a very expensive neighborhood. It was all but a done deal. On a hunch, Republican Councilwoman Lucille Panos asked Owen Henry, whose profession is jobs like this, just to take a look to see how much this job should cost. After assuring Councilwoman Panos that he didn't want the job, he went onto the roof to give an estimate. They were stunned. His estimate saved us $1.9 million of our tax dollars. This is what our Democratic mayor and council call "responsible spending" of tax dollars.

When we voted down this year's school budget, the council, with much ballyhoo, cut the hiring of five guidance counselors for the grammar schools to reduce our tax increase by about $12. We voters understood that the teachers, principals and school nurses are very well-trained, and when there is a child at this early age who appears to have a problem, they can call for a parent/teacher conference or, if they suspect a problem at home, they can have the school nurse call in a counselor from one of our other schools or call upon state and county help to look into it (services that are already paid for with our tax dollars). Then, with no ballyhoo at all, they gave it right back out of another part of our budget. The budget that was "cut to the bare bones" still had another $450,000 for salaries, which will now be part of our school budget, along with all the annual salary increases every single year. In other words, instead of making a further cut in our tax increase with that "found" money, they just gave us a minimal cut in the tax increase with one hand and took it right back with the other.

These are just two examples of how our Democratic mayor and Democratic-controlled council are wasting our tax dollars. We must break up this insidious stranglehold on the township purse strings and elect those who will not keep playing a smoke-and-mirrors game with our money.

I am over 55 years old and vote every year. It's time to give someone else a chance to change this town. That is why I am voting for Republicans for the very first time in my life, and I urge my fellow residents of Old Bridge to do the same.

Jeffrey Kress

Old Bridge