Letters
U.F. resident wants constitutional convention

Governor hopefuls Doug Forrester and Jon Corzine relentlessly push their programs as the answer to New Jersey’s property tax problem. Forrester’s “30-in-3” plan will not fix the problem and he has yet to answer to anyone’s satisfaction how he intends to pay for it.Corzine’s “40 percent increase in rebates” also won’t fix the problem. A rebate is a gimmick. No one pays a fair share to support the schools or the local services, and until everyone wakes up to that, the gimmicks will be dangled at the end of the election stick.

The continual threat of the need to adjust all taxes, especially the income tax, to pay for schools and local services is a problem for the politicians, from the governor on down. Taxes are how revenues are raised in this and every other state. It is time for the Legislature to deal with reality. The cash cow of property tax via the assessment of land and buildings is sacred. Article VIII of the state Constitution has made it so. And we need to be rid of it.

That’s why a citizens convention must occur, so we can replace that sick notion of taxation that has infected us for more than 300 years. We must not accept anything less than a constitutional convention, regardless of who is elected.

Walter Helfrecht

Upper Freehold Township

Roosevelt family grateful for the help of friends

I would like to thank all my co-workers at Liberty Insurance Associates, Millstone, for all their love, support and giving me the time off to spend with my mom while she was hospitalized from Sept. 14 until she passed away on Oct. 1.

During this time, my friends and neighbors of Roosevelt — the Joyce family, the Gerling family, the Skillman family, the Septak family, the Curry family and all of our other neighbors in Roosevelt — helped with making sure my children Joseph and Rebecca got to all their activities, did their homework, had dinner, and whatever needed to be done on that day.

Our family has been blessed by wonderful friends, family, relatives and co-workers, and we will never forget how everyone just jumped in without being asked to help our family.

Sometimes, it’s just nice to step back and enjoy what life is really about: love and friends. Thank you, everyone, for making our lives easier through a very difficult time for our family.

The Zahora family

Roosevelt

Drug alliance coordinator thanked for her service

As Millstone welcomes a new township alliance coordinator, it is important that recognition is given to Helen Varvi for her 15 years of dedicated service to our community.

As a former member of the alliance, I was inspired by her tireless efforts to bring creative prevention programs into the Millstone schools and to be an active part of our community events, such as Millstone Day.

Often, Helen Varvi and Joann Schue would combine efforts in Allentown to make sure that our high school students were offered fun, drug-free activities and provided with necessary addiction-prevention education.

For 15 years, Helen served in the coordinator’s position as a volunteer. Her efforts probably averaged a minimum of five hours a week. She gave this time to our community while raising a family and working full time.

Because the alliance coordinator was an unpaid position in the past, we might not still have a Millstone Alliance to Prevent Alcohol and Drug Abuse if it weren’t for the generosity of Helen Varvi. We owe her a debt of gratitude.

Jan Krolack

Millstone

Resident says statements about candidate are vicious

It seems to be that in Millstone Township politics you need both a flak jacket and a steel helmet. The latest example of this is with the announcement of Frank Cotter to run for Millstone Township Committee as a Democrat this year.

Cotter, a lifelong Republican, has had his problems with the way the township has been run. He has been courageous enough to speak up about his concerns.

Cotter bought a dilapidated and run-down farm in our community, which had been abandoned for more then 10 years, and spent years and countless hundreds of thousands of dollars in improving it and returning it to both beauty and prosperity.

There was a tax lien on the farm when he bought it. Apparently, after the lien was paid, the township is once again trying to have it paid a second time. Hence, the need for a flak jacket.

It seems to me that those who run the town are so secure in their positions that they’re not afraid to be vicious, malicious and out in the open as they do their best to tear apart the character and reputation of those who dare to oppose them.

I, for one, find this unacceptable and plan to vote for [William] Nurko and Cotter.

Alan Pfeffer

Millstone

Alzheimer’s Association grateful for event’s success

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the record number of people who joined the Alzheimer’s Association in Point Pleasant Beach on Saturday, Oct. 1, for the 10th Annual Southern Regional Memory Walk. Individuals and families came together on Saturday morning to show their support for family members, friends, and neighbors who are struggling to cope with the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease.

The hospitality of Point Pleasant Beach, combined with the generosity of our corporate sponsors, volunteers and walkers, made this year’s event a huge success! Every person who participated in Memory Walk has truly made a difference in the lives of those who are affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

Their generosity allows us to continue providing services such as our 24-hour, toll-free telephone HelpLine; education and training programs; support groups; and respite care assistance to the 350,000 individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and their family caregivers who live in the local communities we serve.

Together, we will continue to work toward our vision to someday have “a world with out Alzheimer’s disease.”

Patricia Lombreglia

president and CEO

Alzheimer’s Association

Denville

Humane approach needed for feral cat problem

Oct. 16 was Feral Cat Day. A feral cat is a homeless domestic animal with a strong fear of humans. Ferals exist due to the public’s failure to adopt, spay/neuter, and its reluctance to make a lifetime commitment to cats in their care.

Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is an effective, internationally recognized program to reduce and eventually eliminate feral cat colonies. Cats are trapped, vaccinated, spayed or neutered, and returned to their original location. A volunteer feeds the cats on a regular basis and brings them to a veterinarian if they require medical assistance. Kittens and friendly adult cats are adopted into good homes.

Traditional, agency-run attempts to trap and kill cats have historically resulted in greater numbers — and greater suffering for that reason alone — of stray animals, than have well-planned systems to trap, sterilize, and return cats.

The public can choose to rely on unethical, ineffective trap-and-kill plans, or we can work toward our goal by implementing an organized, proven-effective, cost-efficient method of population control.

For more information, please visit www.teamhart.org.

Shell Sullivan

vice president

Homeless Animal Lifeline

Plainfield

www.teamhart.org

Reader opposes efforts to drill in Arctic Refuge

Tom Delay, Republican House Majority Leader, now plans to use the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina as yet another excuse to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling.

What is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? It’s a natural habitat for not only more than 250 species of wildlife, but also the indigenous people of the Gwich’in Nation. The Arctic Refuge spans 19 million acres of wilderness across Northeastern Alaska and represents an astonishing variety of ecological zones, from coastal tundra to forest to mountains. It’s the largest wildlife refuge in the United States and has been protected for over 50 years.

Republicans claim that opening the Arctic Refuge for drilling would help America achieve energy independence. Not so: geologists estimate that it would only provide about 6 months of oil, which would not reach the market for at least 10 years. The real way for America to achieve energy independence is to vigorously pursue fuel efficiency in new cars — especially SUVs, which are exempt from fuel efficiency standards due to a legislative loophole. But congressional Republicans don’t want Americans to conserve oil; that would hurt the profits of the oil companies that help finance their campaigns.

Americans must reject the Republicans’ continued effort to usurp our natural resources. I urge everyone who believes in protecting our environment to contact their representatives in Congress and ask them to oppose any efforts to open the Arctic Refuge for oil drilling.

Eddie Konczal

Monroe Township