Readers say: Independents know what's going on

In a Letter to the Editor, ex-Vernon mayor Ira Weiner claims that the Independent candidates for Vernon Town Council are “totally uninformed” and “mired in the politics of the past.” Hey, who’s been guarding the henhouse these past many years? Since 1988, all the mayors of Vernon have been Republican and the town council has been dominated by the Republican party for at least 12 years. Republicans purport to be conservative entrepreneurs, yet who is uninformed and ultimately responsible for Vernon’s $31.5 million debt to bond issues, slashes in municipal services and tax increases for Vernon residents? Our previous and present township managers, chosen without referendum by our blue-ribbon panel of Republican council members under the Faulkner Act, don’t seem to understand debt, as a multitude of frivolous and unnecessary development projects are already in progress, with no money to pay for them. Meanwhile, our budget surplus is approximately $20,000, a sum that should be about 10 percent of our $22 million town budget. What about business services procured by the Township Manager without contracts or resolutions and the Ameripay payroll debacle casually explained away by our mayor at the last township council meeting as a “mistake”? At this point, we’d say the only “informed” choices for the Vernon Council are the Independents, you know, those persons who attend every council meeting and seem to be the only ones who understand where Vernon stands fiscally, the real conservatives. By the way, they’ve got our vote! Michael and Bonnie Rubin Highland Lakes