Herald - Lantern - Dispatch 1 1 September '85 67

Our Readers Write Mayor Sloan Stood Firm

To The Editor: As a former Councilman in the Borough of Avalon. I have taken a keen interest in the recent events involving the sewer problems in the Wiidwoods. We have seen their beaches closed during the busiest

months of the season As disastrous as that is to a seasonal economy, an even more dramatic action is the order from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection which imposes a complete building ban on these towns As I understand it. this ban will continue until the Municipal Utilities Authority is ready to tie into their system, which will probably be in 1988 Looking at that situation. I find it incredible that those who are heading a recall effort because our mayor and Council members instituted a short moratorium in 1988 and made substantial, although costly, improvements to the sewer plant, are not now admitting they may have been too hastv in their criticism. RATHER THAN RECALL Mayor Sloan, we should be publicly showing our gratitude that she stood firm against the pressures of certain builders and realtors in 1983 Our beaches are not polluted Our town's image has not been tarnished Our business economy has not been adversely affected. Those who have been most critical of our mayor actual ly have the most to thank her for. For the past two years and for the next two years, thanks in large part to Mayor Sloan, we are able t<f say "Avalon • Cooler and cleaner by a mile!" RAYMOND S. GRAY Avalon , Do you have an opinion on this subject? Write a letter to the editor, Herald and Lantern, P.O. box 430. Cape May ' Court House, N.J. 08210. • (

Where Do We Find the Truth? To The Editor: It would seem that most residents of Avalon. at this point in the recall of Mayor Sloan, are sitting in the middle somewhat bewildered by the happenings going on around them. They are by no means disinterested, just uninformed. James Busha. whose involvement in Avalon's city government has been fairly extensive, claims Mayor Sloan's decision-making has been less than satisfactory and not in the best interest of the community. Busha has indicated the administration to be irresponsible on many points. Mayor Sloan, on the other hand, has refuted Busha 's opinion on each point. Where do we. as a community in the middle of these two factions, find the truth — a much needed truth in view of the fact that ousting one's mayor is a fairly serious thing. Many of us plan to remain in the community and will have to live with the results of the recall. RIGHT NOW. the question most heard is. "How do you feel about the recall?" The answers vary from "I'm for it" to "I didn't know we had a problem." The second answer seems to be most prevalant. However, each usually comes with the follow-up, "I hope it doesn't divide the town into for-and-against segments. " Well, divided is what's coming if the recall efforts are successful. It is already evident that sides will be taken and that feeling will get stronger. Is this a situation that Avalon's residents can look forward to at a time of community growth, or will the fibres of the community be weakened by the process? No one can accurately predict the consequences of the recall movement, but the preliminaries look messy. Will the results be in Avalon's best interest and will they justify the means? Avalon's citizens need some questions answered and they need the answers A.S.A.P. ARE BUSHA'S accusations accurate? Is Mayor Sloan's rebuttal satisfactory? How long will the whole process take? The mayor's term is more than half over; will she be near the end of her term by the time she is reelected or a replacement is voted in? Can the results be worth the process? Is the recall truly in the best interest of the whole community? TO BACK OR DENY the recall is no small decision, a decision that cannot be made with the facts as vague as they are. Each side can accuse the other of most anything and the public will go right along searching for the truth. And. it will probably come down to the truth being what makes sense to the individual. Now is the time for those who call Avalon home to seek out what they consider factual information and base their judgement on it rather than hearsay Be guided by what you believe to be in the best interest of Avalon's future well-being. There is no good substitute. GEORGE W FEISE Avalon

Is This the Way? To The Editor: Last Wednesday I attended a township workshop and open public meeting where I voiced my opinion on a certain matter. When I left the work session. I was attacked verbally, then threatened bodily by a certain prominent Lower Township citizen. This person also proceeded to slander me and my family with false accusations and innuendo. I was completely shocked by this attack because there was no provocation on my part. After the open public meeting, this same person, with a few of her cohorts, tried to push me around by the shoulder, then deny they touched me. Attending for the first time at these meetings was a good friend of mine. She was also attacked by these same peopie They proceeded to ridicule her manner of speech, attire and opinion. Is this the way people behave at a township meeting, just becuase I voiced my opinion? And these are the same people who say they are the voice of the public In my opinion, these people are jealous of me and others like me. They feel we might be a threat to their stronghold over the township, because of our intelligence and youth, which they lack, as was proven by their behavior at the last township meeting. SUSAN KENNEY Villas

What's Funny? To The Editor: I fail to see the humor in the fact that Lower Township s paid board members do not attend their respective meetings. especially since even though they do not attend they still get paid. (Approximately $83.33 per meeting >. This month's meeting of the already disputed Board of Health did not even have a quorum It's appalling that when this situation is made public concerning the poor attendance, the mayor sits at the center of our elected of ficials and finds it humorous. That. sir. is taxpayers' dollars being spent carelessly I. for one. fail to see the humor In fact, it appears he is mocking the electorate. Or. perhaps as one of those absentee members he feels he pulled another one off. I feel he owes the taxpayers of Lower Township a serious explanation I suggest that if a board member finds it impossible to attend scheduled meetings, that the board member resign. There is work to be done and can only be accomplished with all of the members contributing Let someone in there who will attend the meetings ROSEMARY FERRIS CAPE MAY BEACH

Let Busha Run To the Editor: I have just finished reading James Busha s letter of Aug 13. I appreciate his concern with the management and leadership in Avalon. but you get what you pay for The small stipend awarded to the mayor could not hope to compensate for the daily pressures of the job from a town controlled by realtors Judgmental errors may have been made, but I submit that in Mrs. Sloan's thought process, she was most likely acting in the town's best interest Rather than pass judgment, as he so adeptly done in his letter, let him run against Mayor Sloan in the next election. Let him show he is willing to manage the borough, with all its problems and political pressures, for $6,000 a year I challenge him to have the guts to do that CMDR. MICHAEL R MATT. U.S.N Orange Park. Fla We're Killing the Ocean To The Editor: A After reading a smattering of public reaction to the closing of the ocean at the Wildwood beaches. I felt I must raise my voice in alarm. The ocean is closed; not a pool or a waterslide — the ocean. It is possible to go to the beach and watch the ocean. But is the beach a museum and the ocean an exhibit? The ' ocean is alive and we are killing it — first -degree murder, not manslaughter. Has anyone noticed? Does anyone care0 MARY K. DOUGHERTY Cape May

. ■ ii Joyride III By Libby Demp Forrest V JkF J Dear No. 1 Son. Thanks a lot for not taking the wallpaper off the walls when you were packing up to go off to college It gives me a good feeling to know you left something behind I know 1 have to grow up sooner or later You seemed to have grown up before I did You took the posters off the walls, you took most of the furniture, you took all the junk I "was always veiling about. WHEN I GO INTO your room now and look around. I wonder where the years went since you moved out of the room you used to share with No. 2. That seemed a little strange at the time. What that change signified at that time was a little independence for each of you; you liked to get up early and No. 2 never much cared for mornings Your room became a sanctuary, a stereo chamber, a museum or rock stars who papered the walls I used to say. "Look at this place How can you sleep in a room with those creeps starting at you?" Now. I miss those creeps, LAST YEAR when you went off to college for the first time there was a whisper of anticipation that you'd be back now and then Now those whispers seem to bounce off the walls where the creeps used to hang. Sure, there's Thanksgiving and Christmas to look for ward to. But if last year is any indication of what lies ahead, you'll come home and look around and say the • house seems different I think it is you who is different, not the house (ML THE CURTAINS come down and new curtains go up once in a while, and the old rocking chair that was broken for so long finally gets put up in the attic, and a new doo dad is hung up on the hall bookcase, but the house is the same. It 's been a spell since you flung a baseball bat across the front, its sound making my teeth chatter three rooms away while I stood at the stove. It's been a spell since I heard you fighting with No 2 in the driveway over who used your basketball and left is hidden in the weed patch I MISS those fights. I always fostered a clean-living, soft-speaking household, but oh. we had our little differences I miss those little differences. I miss hearing you say. "Mom. you're wrong. KM) per cent wrong." Love. Mom

'Smut' Headline Inflammatory • From Page 66 1 slavery which must Ik* opposed in an America where we are free and where the dignity of each person is protected The second objection of your headline was the sugges tion that it would be a lonely job. due to the lack of response from the community In the lime since the arti cle ran. I have talked with many people, most of whom were unaware of the deadline Perhaps it is because, in your own paper, the first mention came in Duffy's column on Lower Township, tucked far back in the paper Or perhaps the problem comes in the "advertising done by Township Manager James Stump, as reported in the article With one third of the voting population signing petitions, with the meeting of the Council packed by citizens concerned about the or * dinances. it se£ms difficult to understand how a publicized deadline would pass with such "apathy I am saddened that more people were not made aware of the situation I am grateful for the hard work done by Solicitor Bruce Gorman to write ordinances which maintain the spirit of the people of Lower Township and the letter of the law of the Land 1 am also grateful that our Township Council has had the foresight to enact the ordinances, showing great care for the people. I am just sorry your blaring headlines cheapen a worthy endeavor REV GEORGE B FINCKE Associate Pastor Covenant Bible Church North Cape May ( Ed Note Two more people applied for the CSRB by the extended Sept 2 deadline and another afterward for a total of six applicants, seven positions are available.) No Reason for Recall . 'From Page 66) vinced that there is no single ethical or moral reason for the recall of Mayor Sloan. In the normal ebb and flow of citizen satisfaction and disenchantment with our elected officials, we all have the same privilege of redress at the polls on election day. Thai should be every loyal citizen's way. So let us put aside these unhappy divisions which confound and confuse us. and solve any problem we might have at the proper time and place, and in a tried and tested manner — at the polls, by ballot! REV. KENNETH C. WERNER Avalon