Letter: Candidates' Ethics And Lack Of Respect Towards Others On Display

To the Editor:

At the Lincroft Village Candidates' Night last night (Oct.21st) I was able to hear candidates for Monmouth County Freeholders board and Middletown Township Committee. It was a great opportunity to get a flavor of their views and personalities.

One important issue discussed was that of having a code of ethics and an ethics board. The need for these became apparent when several ethical lapses by incumbents were mentioned.

I was further disconcerted by an obvious lack of respect toward their fellow candidates and the audience displayed by the Middletown Committee candidates.

They constantly whispered to each other while a speaker was talking. As at Middletown meetings, Mr. Fiore showed his displeasure by eye-rolling and making faces. It was distracting and reminded me of their frequent meeting behavior, including yelling at public speakers, and of grade school, when the teacher would say, "Do you have something to share with the class?"

Their challengers, Patrick Short and George Mardinly are ethical gentlemen who have not displayed such behaviors, but instead listen with empathy and respect to our citizens. I will feel much safer and respected when the challengers replace the incumbents.

Carolyn Schwebel
Leonardo

Democrats seek bipartisanship in Middletown

Out this week in the Independent is an overview of the candidates running for Middletown Township Committee. Below is an excerpt featuring the comments of Middletown Democrats Patrick Short and George Mardinly.

"... Democratic challenger Short agrees that the issues vary across neighborhoods in Middletown. He said he is running to help bring another voice to the committee to help raise new questions about those issues. 

Patrick Short

“Middletown has been ruled by one party for a very, very long time,” Short said. “ … I’m more concerned that there’s only one party affiliation than which party it is.”

In 2006, Short was elected to the committee as the sole Democrat, where he sought to raise questions that he said often went unasked.

He said the “larger picture” is bringing different perspectives to the committee through party diversity.

According to Short, some pressing issues facing Middletown that demand immediate attention include the Bayshore recovery, reducing traffic in Lincroft and finishing the incomplete bridge on Bay Avenue.

Mardinly echoed his running mate’s point of view, emphasizing what he said was the need to break the single-party dominance of the Township Committee.

George Mardinly

“Any good government is based on the diversity of opinion,” he said.

One of the universal concerns across all of Middletown’s neighborhoods remains the balance between investment in infrastructure and controlling taxes, according to Mardinly.

“If any of these things are going to be attended to in addition to all of the ongoing expenditures, it all comes from tax money,” he said.

In order to ensure the township’s taxes remain stable, Mardinly said it is important to prioritize spending and make decisions based on facts and data.

“You have to look at the numbers and the priorities, and then go from there,” he said. “The goal here is to work together, see what the economics are, and then see what can be addressed and what needs to be addressed in a sensible way.”

Read the full article from the Independent.