Truth be told, Vitkansas is a strong and active member of the same, elite Middletown Republicans that he tries to protect by spreading misleading and sometimes inflammatory information about others. As a Republican County Committeeman representing his district in Middletown, Vitkansas has often allowed himself to be used as a tool for the local Republican machine and as a reward for his loyalty, he now sits on a number of local boards and commissions in Middletown, which makes his invocation of the “patriots of the TEA Party” in his letter, laughable in and of itself.
In his most recent lapdog attack letter, Vitkansas goes after a fellow letter writer, Jeff Blumengold, for criticizing the poor job that mayor Gerard Scharfenberger and his GOP majority has done in their planning efforts while trying to run Middletown Township over the past 5 years, by attacking Democrat Sean Byrnes.
In his letter, Vitkansas tries to label Byrnes as a socialist liberal who favors COAH, supports teachers, unions and high property taxes in his attempt to persuade readers into believing something that just is not so.
Those that know Committeeman Byrnes would describe him as a fiscal conservative and a social moderate. Over the 3 years that he has been a Middletown committeeman, Byrnes has made many suggestions on how to reign in the local spending that has resulted in tax hikes that total over 39% to the municipal tax rate over the past 5 years (since mayor Scharfenberger has sat on the committee), only to be rebuked by his fellow committee members. He has never voted in support of a Township budget that has included a tax increase, including the most recently adopted 2010 budget which raises the municipal tax rate by nearly12%
Committeeman Byrnes has repeatedly stated over his 3 years on the Township Committee that programs like COAH need to be revamped and revised so that the burden of such programs do not fall onto local taxpayers. Mr. Vitkansas and others that oppose Mr. Byrnes however, point out his vote to rezone the Avaya property in Lincroft, that rezoned the property from industrial to residential in order to meet Middletown’s state mandated COAH obligation, as proof that he is not sincere or straightforward. Allow me to point out though, that the ones that are not being straightforward and sincere with Middletown residents are Vitkansas and his fellow GOP supporters that attack Byrnes on this issue. After all, it was his friends on the republican dominated Middletown Planning & Zoning Boards that came up with the plan to rezone the Avaya property so that the Township would be in compliance with COAH, not Byrnes. At the time, mayor Scharfenberger, Pam Brightbill and Tony Fiore, all current Republican members of the Township Committee, approved and voted for this rezoning as well.
Sean Byrnes knows that having a strong middle-class is the backbone and foundation of our State as well as our Country. He realizes that education plays a leading role in establishing that foundation and supports teachers and unions in general, knowing that without them there would be no middle-class as we know it today. That being said however, Mr. Byrnes has repeatedly been on the record as saying that he supports Gov. Christie’s “Tool Kit”, that reforms need to be made in order to level the playing field during contract negotiations and that state union members should be expected to contribute more to their healthcare costs.
If supporting Committeeman Sean Byrnes and his record as a member of the Middletown Township Committee in his re-election bid this November labels me as being a “socialist liberal” so be it. I love being a socialist liberal who opposes high taxes, government mismanagement and the entrenchment of the long-standing Republican ruling class.
I also happen to think that those “remarkable patriots in the Tea Party movement” that are “growing in numbers more and more with each passing day” are intelligent enough to know the difference and will also support Sean Byrnes and his running mate Mary Mahoney against Republicans that have borrowed, spent and raised local taxes to the point that it will soon become unaffordable to raise a family and live in Middletown.
4 comments:
Brings to mind the slander the Middletown Republican Party has become famous for in recent years.
They always seem to reach into the bottom of the barrel !
This crap and gutter politics is exactly why Gerard Scharfenberger SHOULD NOT BE RE-ElECTED !!
Middletown does not need three more years of the deceit,lies,malignant personalities and ever escalating taxes !!
This letter is another desperate attempt by the Republicans to paint the only fiscal conservative sitting on TC as a tax & spend liberal. That distinction goes to Scharfenberger and Co. who have voted to raise our taxes over 37% in 6 years.
The irony is Mr. Byrnes is the only Committee member to vote no on the budget twice. He and Patrick Short have never voted to raise our taxes.
Facts or fact no matter what others say, and that is to continually lie.
Thank you Jeff Blumengold for your letter in today's Independent. Thankfully there are still a few honest intelligent residents left in Middletown.
Mike Vitkansas is a wonderful man. My wife was suffering with Cancer and an insurance company had denied a treatment for her. I was in tears. I called Mike for help and he went to bat for me. He made dozens of phone calls and got the treatment approved. My wife is still alive. He was great then, and I love him to death now. I know his views too. He's a moderate. He wants Americans to find jobs and he wants our government to be restrained and moderate and not spend money on questionable projects it does not have. He doesn't like Obama because he knows Obama is going to take Medicare benefits away from Seniors. (rationing care...taking away the patients rights). Please stop attacking Mike. And wake up to what he's saying. You could learn something!
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