opinion

Our Readers Write

Contempt for the Truth?

To The Editor: Once again your publication has quoted a public official grossly misrepresenting facts about this agency without calling on us for comment, something no reputable newspaper would do. This leaves us in the position of having to present the facts through another vehicle rather than having them set straight in the original article. It's a shame that both your reporter and Lower Township Mayor Robert Fothergill have such contempt for the truth. In regard to Fothergill 's first charge, the Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority has both the legal right and the moral obligation to commmunicate facts surrounding its efforts to secure a clean environment for future generations of Cape May residents. IF IT WEREN'T for newspaper articles such as the one you ran in your May 22 edition in which the facts were so grossly misrepresented, this task wouldn't be such a difficult one. But obviously political charges from one such as Fothergill will not deter this agency from fulfilling its responsibilities of communicating the import of its activities to its constituents on a regular basis. AS TO FOTHERG ILL'S second charge, both your reporter and he should know that this is a blatant misrepresentation of the facts and can be seen only as an attempt to mislead your readers. Fothergill said in the article that the authority "consistently opposed secondary treatment of sanitary > sewage. " In point of fact, the CMCMUA has consistently pursued secondary treatment of wastewater for its plants. When the state Department of Environmental Protection told us to pursue a phased approach to the construction of our Wildwood/Lower and Seven Mile/Middle Regional treatment facilities — which would have meant beginning operations with a primary treatment system — we consistently opposed this approach. When it appeared that the DEP was going to overrule our objections, however, we decided to force the issue by applying to the Environmental Protection Agency in

Washington for an ocean discharge waiver for primary treatment effluent. The end result was that we were both given permission to go ahead with a secondary treatment plant, which is what we argued for in the first place, and we received $44 million in funding which will result in a vast savings to present and future users. FOTHERGILL CAN MAKE all the charges he likes, but that won't change the facts, regardless of how many times he repeats them. This agency has taken a lot of bumps and bruises during the more than a decade it has been implementing systems to address Cape May County's wastewater and solid waste problems. Some of these wounds have been self-inflicted, but a vast majority have been from politicians such as Fothergill who have used this agency as a whipping post for their own political ambitions without concern Tor the public good. Now that many of our systems are in place and the results of that decade of planning can be seen, we have put Cape May County in the enviable position of being a leader in environmental planning in New Jersey and will therefore no longer allow misrepresentations of facts to go unanswered. For you to print these misrepresentations without checking their authenticity does a disservice both to your readers and to your profession. Thank you for this opportunity to reply to Fothergill's charges. William F.X. Band Chairman Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority Swainton ( ED. NOTE: This newspaper accurately reported Mayor Robert Fothergill's remarks.) ^

Lest We Forget To The Editor: I read where Freeholder Ralph Evans questioned the flying of the flag at half staff at the demise of the late Dennis Township Mayor Frank Murphy. I wonder if Evans can boast of a record like Mayor Murphy had as a paratrooper while serving this country0 I think (his is the least we can do for our dedicated heroes and our elected officials who give so much of themselves, serving the communities to which they were elected. Evans claims he had complaints from an American lx'gioq Indies Auxiliary. This I find hard to believe since the American Ix-gion and the VFW Imth use the words "Lest We Forget." Evans has not only offended the grieving family of Mayor Murphy, hut every veteran in Cape May County. I think he owes this family a public apology Evens would do better to do his job as a freeholder more efficiently , because, as of now. he promises wonders and gives blunders. ELMER DOYLE Eldora (ED. NOTE: Freeholder Evans brought this question to the entire Board of Freeholders after receiving a com plaint from the Stone Harbor American Legion Auxiliary.)

fHtralfcVLAMRr Pvbftalwtf t«nr By TW hwtvt C<rapar*tkM> r.O. bom 4X> cap, M«y ctmrt Ho—. N.J. OWIO Joseph R. Zelnik Editor Bonnie Reina C.encral Manager Gary L. Rudy Advertising Director John Dunwoody Special Promotions Director Darrell Kopp Publisher SM*o.t Co'p '915 All >^Mi i*wi,td AD i.dMi 'or fAfl toMtnti ol lAii pwbWo**®" tkok b« piop*«*y ol Wo-o..C vp No po" K«.»ol «a, b« '•p'odut^d DEADLINES News & Photos ThursdayAdvertising Friday — 3 P.M. Classified Advertising Friday — 3 P.M. 465-5055 For News or Advertising Information <w "**" **' "* J* CAPE MAY fUrali-Btspafcli V P*hh»h~5 Every W«drv*»<l«y By The Seeweye Corporation / PO Boa 430 Cape May Court Houae. N.J OM10

noboov an coos -re UJHEN E F HUTTOH -TfcL»<3S.. .G€Me«fcl_ EcECtWC LIS1ENS \ Lower County Flag To The Editor: Our flag is something we as Americans are proud of. "Long May It Wave." Maybe some of us have forgotten our flag "etiquette." Sometimes we don't notice until someone brings it to our attention. It is fine to honor our public officials their deaths, but let's do it by lowering the county flag. Our American flag should fly at full staff unless our U.S. President decrees it. I heartily agree with the American Legion Auxiliary who spoke out. PLADYS HEISE Stone Harbor

Keep Scrutinizing the Pols

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To The Editor: I want to thank the Herald-Dispatch and particularly reporter Joe Zelnik for his persistent and adept coverage of the Board of Chosen Freeholders. As a member of the county's Cultural and Heritage Commission for the past two years, I saw a lot. And heard a lot. One of the things I heard from freeholders and county employes alike was, "Oh, we can't do that. Joe Zelnik will find out. We can't say that. Zelnik will put it in the paper." Please keep up the good work. The local pols need all the scrutiny you can give them. SUSAN LAIRD Cape May

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-Paid for Every Dance

Whither the Gramaphone?

By JOE ZELNIK The maii really piled up while I honeymooned for 20 hours in Avalon I'll .try to answer the most important inquiries The third-grade class at Heritage Christian Academy wrote to ask. "What is a gigolo0" A gigolo, children, is paid for every dance, selling each romance But there will come a day when youth will pass away and what will they say about him° When the end comes, I know, they'll say just a gigolo.' and life will go on without him. In other words, kids, like most of the jobs in this tourism county, it's got a short life with little lasting satisfaction. A NUMBER OF tourist-conservationists from Penn sylvania have written to say they were delighted to learn that jelly fish can be made into jam because they've been scooping them off the sand and throwing them back into the ocean. Florence Heal's jellyfish jam recipe will appear in this paper shortly THE HIGHEST VOLUME of mail resulted from my innocent remark on who had the most relatives on the county payroll Many people thought I was launching another contest and I've been flooded with entries. It's an embarrassment of riches, if you know what I mean It also poses a number of problems. Do I include only blood relatives or also ones by marriage0 What about people who are not relatives: boyfriends, girlfriends, those who also work for the county employe in some private capacity? Finally, does the crown go to the person with the most relatives, or to the family that reaps the highest amount of taxpayers' dollars0 This will require further study. In the meantime, keep your entries coming. THERE WAS A POLITE letter from a representative of the National Geographic Society asking where I sighted a lazy-eyed gramaphone. never before seen north of Chincoteague, Md 1 saw that bird off the deck of "Touche" in Stone Harbor It was "Name Your Price" night and I had downed six quick refreshments while the prices were low. There was a not-so-polite letter from the Cape May County Photography Club inquiring why all our dead fish photos are blurry I've checked and found two reasons In some cases the fish are not quite dead and refuse the photographer's request to hold still On other occasions.

the fishermen have celebrated their catch prior to taking the photo and they're a little unsteady. Speaking of sharp eyes, someone in Nummy with 20-20 vision spotted a iine in our Stone Harbor bridge story that blamed the late awarding of the contract in 1983 to "numerous red rape " This was not a slur on our American Indians, but a simple typographical error. It should have read either bed rape or red tape As usual, the mail included a number of complaints. An Avalon man wrote to say our paper is too big and his 70pound springer spaniel can't carry it up the front steps anymore. This is a common problem in dog-abundant Cape May County and we will be doing out best to reduce the weight of the paper sometime after Labor Day. THERE WERE ALSO some complaints about th§ final stanza of Owen Murphy's poem. "Stone Harbor Bridge Closing," in which he referred to "the jerks who are fixing me ..." Among the unhappy were bridge workers with large muscles, and I can guarantee Murphy meant them no harm. Also unamused were some state DOT people and I pledge that Murphy didn't mean them because they weren't doing the "fixing." By the process of elimination. I'm sure Murphy only meant the contractor, and I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't send him this column. Finally, the nastiest letter appears elsewhere on this page, a missive from the county Municipal Utilities Authority which is mad not only at Lower Township Mayor Bob Fothergill but at this newspaper for accurately reporting what he said. AT LEAST this MUA response only cost the public°22 cents postage and the typist's time. The last time the MUA got angry, it spent $3,506.37 to defend itself in huge ads in a half-dozen newspapers (including this one). Each person should judge the MUA by his own standards. Being a writer, my own impression is based on comparing an original news release on the MUA composting plant, prepared by a paid public relations person, with the final news release, as edited and issued by the MUA. The P-R person wrote about the salable fertilizer" produced by the Crest Haven plant. The MUA changed "fertilizer" to "soil amendment." Would you buy a used car from somebody that called fertilizer a soil amendment0