opinion

' Our Readers Write Recall Hurts Residents

To The Editor: We are at a political crossroads with a big decision to make and many facts to consider. Do we take the high road or the low road? First, let us consider the grand prize: Mayorship of Avalon, once a small town. , A few with selfish interests and bruised egos declared civil war without caring about the end results. These battle scars may never heal. Who are the losers? We are. because we have allowed this to happen. We alone are the ones who can end it. TllE FACT IS that we have a mayor at the present time. Rachel Sloan, who has committed a crime in the eyes of these few people. The "crime" is being able to think inThat's All, Folks No letters on the Jan. 28 Avalon Recall Election will appear next week because of this newspaper's policy to discourage unanswerable last-minute charges. dependently and stand firm on certain decisions. Is this grounds for a court martial? Throughout all the pressures, false charges arid castigations she has maintained her dignity, turned the other cheek and refused to become a "street fighter". None of us are perfect. A famous quotation once made was "For if 1 should love my friends just so long as they are perfection how long would friendship last." We all try to do our best whether it be political or otherwise. Many times we learn from mistakes and do a better job. Her biggest mistake, in their eyes, is resisting pressures and refusing to be intimidated. They have twisted facts to justify their actions. Another fact is that Mayor Sloan has worked to preserve and protect our beaches, private property and the family image of Avalon. She has spent many extra hours with federal, state and local officials presenting factual information to justify our getting millions of dollars in needed funds. She refused to take no for an answer and her perRedditt Distorts Truth To The Editor: 1 am in tears tonight over the lie printed by recall candidate James Redditt in your paper Jan. 8. He knows full well that the lots in question are not a sale, merely an easement on a small portion, and that their value was established by the tax assessor May 1985 as $2,500 an easement, not $25,000. THE FACTS ARE these: We purchased a property on 21st Street over two years ago. When we applied for a permit to replace the brokerdown. unsightly and dangerous bulkhead, it was learned that the back lots, which are about three-quarters underwater. had never been claimed by the then-owners, even though they were offered to them for $100 by the borough in the 1950s. No one can reach these lots except through our own property. They are not buildable. „ ON THE ADVICE of counsel, we approached the borough, through council, for an easement. They were very understanding and helpful, particularly (former Councilman) James Busha. We did not rush the matter — investigation took some time. Just as we thought, we would be able to reconstruct the bulkhead at a cost of more than $15,000. Phil Jadiski ob ' jected from the audience and the case was shelved. Why. I do not know. Now Redditt distorts the truth for his own political gain Is this the type of man you want for mayor? I don't. MRS. GORDON M. SMITH Avalon Th, sJZZ Cm.n*SL "I ""SjfomTo C<wrt CWHTCMUBctM Joseph R. Zelnik Editor Bonnie Reina General Manager Gary L. Rudy Advertising Director John Dunwoody Special Promotions Director Darrell Kopp Publisher s+q-'o— Corp 19t6 Alt fipfcn raatntd All property nghn lor urn iomooi of tin »f^ b^ilio pjoporty of ih» iww Corp No pan karoof nor bo raprodvud DEADLINES News & Photos Thursday Advertising Friday — 3 P.M. Classified Advertising Friday — 3 P.M. ^ 465-5055 For News or Advertising Information Mail Subscription: Yearly, $40; Six Month, $20 Call 465-5055 For News, Advertising or Subscription Information ■WOWT H> IW polill.fc.w •! *• NMAUI VP 1. A trait J f CAPE MAY ft* Hrralfi-IJtspatrti Cape May CRy Edittoa of the Cape May County Herald inwi«e—T w.fc.m, »h»i.M.wc«inr»tn« >.o. H*—. m •»«»» jg

sistence paid off. For two and a half years she has worked > tirelessly for us. Why, suddenly, is she being attacked and > a recall been initiated against her? THEIR CHARGES ARE distorted and magnified to give f her credibility where there is none. Do you honestly believe these lies? ' Sloan has had three important phases in her life: wife and mother, teacher and politician. She is to be commend- • ed, because in all of these she showed dedication, pai tience. concern and ability. Aren't these qualities we need most here in Avalon? • Let there be peace in Avalon and let it begin with us. the ' voters. Give Mayor Sloan a vote of confidence on Jan. 28. Vote "No" for recall and "Yes" for Rachel Sloan. Stand up and be counted and take the high road to good government. What has Redditt done in the past seven years on the planning board that has not been in favor of the realtors, instead of representing the people of Avalon? No one person can be held responsible in our Avalon form of government. Let us be positive in our approach. CHARLES SANCES Avalon

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What Has Redditt Offered?

To The Editor: Two and a half years ago, Mayor Rachel Sloan was elected by an overwhelming majority. Since then, she has more than justified the voters' judgement. Now, with only a year and a half left on her term, she is being attacked with outrageous charges of mismanagement and fiscal irresponsibility which alledgedly occurred in the beginning of her term. If that is the case, why did (former Councilman) James Busha wait almost two years to make these charges? Another good question is: Did Busha and his crowd time their move against Sloan so the recall election would be held when large numbers of voters are on winter vacation? Busha, by the way, is moving to Florida permanently. So what was his motive for promoting a recall? NOW JAMES REDDITT wants to be the leader of our community; he thinks he has sufficient experience. Thus far, the only things I have read about Redditt are destructive criticisms of Sloan. What has he suggested or done ; that is positive? Redditt, as chairman of the planning board since July, has had more than ample opportunity to exhibit positive ; leadership by pressing for the approval of approximately 22 proposed changes in our antiquated zoning laws. One proposal would have relieved future over-parking I and reduced traffic congestion during peak vacation periods. Another would have made it possible to maintain ) the integrity of our residential neighborhoods through the ) gradual elimination of non-conforming buildings and uses. Taken altogether, these proposals would have restricted the construction of row houses, multifamily and other i condominium-dwellings. They were designed to ensure

that Avalon continues as a family-oriented resort community. REDDITT HAS NOT lifted a finger to encourage the board to recommend that council adopts any of these proposals. Why? Does he favor the continuation of Avalon as a familyoriented resort community or does he lean toward that sector of the business community solely concerned with making a profit? What specifically has Redditt promised the voters he would do to improve the operations of the borough government? What new ideas does he have to improve the quality of life for all of Avalon's citizens? What are his ideas for a new or updated Master Plan for the borough? What is his program ; does he have a program? SLOAN WAS A councilwoman for six years before becoming mayor. She knows the borough's government and its departments. Her performance has been excellent She has been fiscally responsible and highly successful in obtaining more than $8 million in government aid for J our storm-damaged coastlines and beaches. She has used / her office to upgrade the effectiveness of the borough's ( departments. She has run her administration for the benefit of all our citizens — retailers, developers, real estate companies, retired and summer people The voters overwhelmingly elected Sloan and she would be allowed to finish her term. We know what kind of government we have with Mayor Sloan. What will we get under James Redditt? H.G. GOODWIN. JR. Avalon

; j-And Get Love, LuckHere's How You Can Help

Bv JOE ZELNIK fl a . I'm moved by reader response to last week's "lean and mean" column. Most of you were sympathetic to our need (- 1 to at least break even and approved our new "hunker c i down" attitude, even to the point of offering to help. c k Hundreds wrote, for example, to ask why we don't e charge for this newspaper. My answer remains. "I don't r know." But for those of you burdened with guilt because you're getting for free what you sense is worth at least a c nickel, consider easing your conscience by sending me c your annual subscription donation. Cash please; no c checks or stamps. Incidentally. I'm a little weary of being asked questions J which neither I nor anyone else could possibly answer. JWhat do you think I am, a guru? Just in the last week, for 1 example, I was asked: • HOW COULD "Try Avalon as a First Resort" win a 8 slogan contest for a sign LEAVING town? • What does Sheriff Jim Plousis do when he's not posing % for pictures with dogs, horses or prickly plants? • Where would you rather spend two hours, in a den- € tist's chair or at a meeting of the Middle Township Sewage * Commission? * I But I am delighted that readers, who already do so * much for us by writing up their own news, are offering to r do still more. Your attitude is something we've counted on ( for several upcoming changes that depend on your cooperation. OUR FIRST cost-saving measure is patterned on the success of many manufacturers who save money by hav- v ing you, the consumer, do the final assembly. Whether it's doll houses, gas grills or porch furniture, you're all used to 1 putting 'em together yourself. I This year, on those frequent occasions when the size of c our paper requires two or more sections, we'll have c separate piles of the sections at your favorite pickup spot and you can collate them into one. The same will hold true s with inserts or stuffers, those brightly colored advertising \ W sections that normally fall out when you pick up the paper. r " This will save us from having to pay inserters, or stuf- J

which, when you think about it. are loysv job titles THE SECOND WAY you can help us is with distribution. present system features a fleet of Corvettes that shoot down the parkway and screech off exits to our hundreds of dropoff points to get the news to you crispy fresh. This is extremely expensive. Those Vettes only get about 15 miles to the gallon, less over 80 miles per hour. So, this year we'll reduce the number of circulation drops and ask you, our friendly supporters, to help distribute the paper in a variation of the ever-popular chain letter scheme. All we ask is that each person take 20 copies of the paper to someone he loves, thereby guaranteeing good luck for himself and the person who gets the 20. That person will take 19 to someone he loves. And so on. This will ensure a lot of lovin' in this county, and we can practically guarantee good luck and financial success to those who participate, especially to us since we can halve our Corvette fleet. AS ONE SIGN of our appreciation, we will make a new effort at increased responsibility for errors. You know you often find in a new pair of pants a little slip of paper — about the size of a Chinese fortune cookie note — that says something like "Assembled in Uruguay from material manufactured in Yugoslavia and inspected by We'll have a similar slip in each copy of our paper with the names of those responsible. For example: "Type set by Vladimir and proofread by Conchita. I'm not sure what good that will do, but it's a start. As a more concrete indication of our gratitude, we intend to honor all readers with a Herald-Lantern-Dispatch Readers' Memorial Log. The name, address and shoe size of every reader will be entered, at no cost to you, into our computer system, and remain there perpetually. Then let's say you or a member of your family wants to your name on our computer screen. We'll have a tiny viewing room in the basement, sort of like a safe deposit at a bank, and you can come in anytime and call up name on the screen. Cost: a mere $5.