Response to Council President Nanton
When you write a letter to the editor you must be prepared for inquiry, opinion and adverse views, these are expected and certainly important for good dialogue and communication. It is what makes our Country great! However the responder always has a responsibility to be accurate. Ms. Nanton, you conveniently left out an entire sentence with regard to my letter titled “Resign to Run.”
Mary Steenburgen, an actress who won an academy award in 1980, was quoted as saying “There’s a certain arrogance to an actor who will look at a script and feel like, because the words are simple, maybe they can paraphrase it and make it better.”
Well, Council President Lisa Nanton read my “script” a few weeks ago. (My letter to the Editor), and in her response she changed it to make it “better.” Better for her. This was very arrogant of you Ms. Nanton.
“Once the decision is made by a paid elected official to run for higher office I believe that official has an ethical obligation to resign from their current position.”
Ms. Nanton left that out because without adding my sentence in its entirety she is able to ramble about how it is illogical, ridiculous and an example of selective criticism.
Ms. Nanton, my letter and logic are an opinion I have formed. That opinion was derived from numerous State laws throughout the United States that have enacted “Resign to Run”.
Arizona -Section 38-296 of the Arizona Revised Statutes
Florida -Section 99.012 of the Florida Statutes
Georgia -Article II, Section 2, Paragraph V of the 1983 Constitution of Georgia
Hawaii -Article II, Section 7 was added to the Constitution of Hawaii
Texas -Article 16, Section 65(b) of the Constitution of Texas
These States and their legislators didn’t think it was illogical or ridiculous to pass these laws that I support.
A bit of advice to Ms. Nanton, before you take a position or offer opinions on issues, please do your homework or you risk looking foolish. I would hope your carelessness is not reflective of how you will continue to preside over our Council meetings. Your absence of leadership and lack of knowledge about municipal government created a circus like atmosphere in August. Ms. Nanton, you represent the legislative branch of our municipal government, kindly stick to legislating and please do not embarrass Perth Amboy again.
Thomas Hudanish
Preserving History Has Economic Benefits
Most people in Perth Amboy know that ours is an old city with a distinguished history. Yet Perth Amboy has lost much of the evidence of that history, through our failure over the years to preserve it. That is a sad situation, because once it is lost, it can’t be recovered.
Our history is a major asset, and we must make the most of it. We invest in infrastructure, in education, in parks, as well as in keeping the city clean and safe because these things are good for those who live here and do business here. We must invest in historic preservation for the same reason.
Preservation for preservation’s sake is certainly worthwhile. It’s important to safeguard our heritage—to know about our past and to preserve evidence of our past in the landscape. But historic preservation can also be an engine of economic development in Perth Amboy, just as it has been in many other places.
Recent studies have shown that heritage tourists, people who travel to visit historic sites, are willing to travel farther and spend more money per person than any other type of tourist. We are lucky in Perth Amboy. Unlike many other places, we have the history. We just need to treat it as the asset that it is. That means, for example, investing in the preservation of buildings of historical and architectural importance. It means investing in educating our students in the history of their city. It means archaeological investigation of areas of the city where major events have happened or important people have lived, and recovering artifacts they might have left behind.
I see the potential every week as a volunteer at Proprietary House, one of the most important historic sites in New Jersey. I ask every visitor two questions: Where are you from, and have you been to Perth Amboy before? What I’ve found is that many of the people who visit Proprietary House are from out of town, ranging from way up in Sussex County to down along the shore. Many of the out-of-town visitors had never been to Perth Amboy before coming to Proprietary House, and would not be here at all if not for that historic site, or others like Kearny Cottage that they read about in brochures or online.
Historic sites, historic districts, re-enactment events, walking tours and lectures, along with art galleries and crafts fairs—all are historical and cultural magnets that draw people into Perth Amboy who would not come here otherwise. Visitors get hungry. That’s an opportunity for local restaurants. Tourists who travel across the state often want to stroll around on a nice day—see the sights, window shop. That’s an opportunity for shop owners, if they have products or services that are attractive to tourists. We have a beautiful waterfront just a couple of blocks away from most of our historic sites. A stroll along the Harbor Walk leaves a terrific impression of Perth Amboy that visitors take away with them, creating positive word of mouth for the city.
Seeing our history as an important part of our economic development not only advances historic preservation in Perth Amboy, it also helps in city revitalization. We’re just at the beginning now, but the sky is the limit as to what we can do.
Renee Skelton
Beforemath
I’ve recently listened to a few conversations and talked to some people about the recent events of this past week. I found that there is a potpourri of opinions out there. Mostly I’ve found that there is a surplus of judges, juries, and executioners out there in this “video oriented” society.
My main question is, “is there such a word as “beforemath”. There isn’t, I looked it up. There are antonyms like beginning, prior to, cause, commencement, and the like, but no “beforemath”. Well there should be because that’s the video I’d want to see before I made a rush to judgment. All these videos that the media likes to shove down our throats are described as the aftermath. Indeed the news media will show over and over what they describe as the aftermath. I want to see the “beforemath”. I want to see what led up to the incident. Words that were exchanged. Actions prior to the trigger being pulled.
Then I think we would be better able to understand the circumstances and make judgments, as if that was our job.
Now I hear some are questioning the method used in Dallas to neutralize the nut job that was murdering police officers. Would he be any less dead if he was shot by a sniper. So they used a robot, so what? They saved lives and that is the bottom line.
Joe Bayona
Amboy Guardian Page 14 Article – June 21, 2016
Last week, The Amboy Guardian published an article on page 14 that concerned the Board of Education. The Board feels obliged to provide a response to that article. This is our response:
“Throughout negotiations with the American Federation of Teachers, the Perth Amboy Board of Education has provided to the AFT proposals that are fair to both the AFT and to the taxpayers and residents of Perth Amboy. With the sun setting of chapter 78, the law instituted by Governor Christie to help alleviate the tax burden on municipalities by having school employees pay a fair share of the costs of medical benefits, the district has asked the employees to contribute amounts consistent with what other districts are contributing.
Proposals provided by the AFT would cost the District over $1,000,000 more than what was previously budgeted for, and would shift this burden to local tax payers.
While the district hopes to continue their collaborative relationship for the betterment of our staff and students, we cannot cede to the AFT’s demands to the detriment of student programming, and or community and residents.
Contrary to the propaganda being spread, the Board of Education is required by law to approve employment contracts for the business administrator, the assistant business administrator, and assistant superintendents. These administrators work countless hours and are compensated at a rate similar to other employees in New Jersey; it is important to note that they pay the same in health insurance contributions as all employees who report to them.
I cannot comment on Dr. Roman’s pending contract, as it has not been approved yet. I can say that Dr. Roman negotiated in his last contract to pay a lower contribution to health insurance, in exchange for no raises for the life of his contract. The AFT has not been willing to forego raises for the life of their contract.
It is unfortunate that Mayor Diaz continues to take advantage of these negotiations, inflaming the public with misleading statements, for what appears to be solely political reasons. Mayor Diaz does not create or assist with creating any educational programming provided by the Perth Amboy Board of Education. Mayor Diaz has no authority or responsibility over how the Perth Amboy School District is run.”
As has been stated many times publicly, the Perth Amboy Board of Education wishes to move the school board elections back to April because it provides the community with an opportunity to focus on the school board members. When the elections occur in November, the community is focused on presidential, congressional, or municipal candidates, and oftentimes do not have time or the energy to research and become informed regarding the school board candidates. As a result, they may vote for those candidates who are part of a particular party, and not necessarily because of their individual attributes or what they have committed to provide to the Board of Education. In years past, the board of education members section has been at the very end or at the very back of the ballot, sometimes even over looked completely. Moving the elections back to April will ensure school board members are elected for what they can provide to the students of the Perth Amboy School District – and not elected for what party or group they are affiliated with.”
Samuel Lebreault
President Perth Amboy Board of Education
