Courier Editorial - July 10, 2008

A newspaper looks for many sides to issues

The Clamdigger
By JIM PURCELL

    For years, the allegation from Town Hall has been that this newspaper prints only "one side of the story" where it involves the Middletown Committee.
    Yet, for years, reporters at this newspaper have been 'stonewalled' by the Middletown Committee wherever there was an issue that they did not feel was flattering to them. Public scrutiny is not invited in Middletown.
    Nevertheless, the calls are always put in, the questions always asked, regardless of the issue. Consequently, the committee has placed special rules on The Courier, which do not bind any other newspaper in this area.
    All communications have to be in writing. There are no interviews granted with any member of the Republican Party on the committee. All communications have to be placed through Public Information Officer Cindy Herrschaft. The bottom line: Information is grudging, at best.
    Why? I am left to surmise that the town's Republican leaders do not like thorough reporting on issues, where different sides of any story are covered.
    An example, which I was involved with, was the Middletown Cultural Arts Center. In the planning stages, I asked about financing for the center: It was supposed to be put up through a combination of public and private funds. I asked what the mission of the arts center was, and it didn't have a clear one. I asked how it was going to earn back the money put into it? And, there wasn't a plan. I inquired about the suitability of the structure, which when purchased by Middletown was deemed "structurally sound" by then-Mayor Rosemarie Peters. Where it involved parking, I asked about that plan, and there was none. Gauging from cars parked around the actual structure, near the grass, I guess there still isn't one.
    Subsequently, the former Banfield Moving and Storage Building, located adjacent to the Train Station, was basically torn down and a brand new one constructed instead. I guess it wasn't so "structurally sound." Then there were cost overruns, botched jobs and absolute silence from Town Hall. To all of this, there was silence where it involved any issue of substance.
    Now, there stands an $8.5 million structure, which earns $1 per year for the public investment that went into it (with a 20-year bond that was entirely subsidized by the town). The end result of all the public money poured into this project is adult belly dancing classes, kids' scrap-booking camp during" the summer and miscellaneous, superfluous functions.
    Government makes decisions with residents' money. Why anyone would think this is somehow a right by any small group, and not a privilege, is beyond me.
    This newspaper is going to present new columnist Joe Caliendo, who is chairman of the Middletown Democrats. He is going to alternate with Art Gallagher's "More Monmouth Musings" column. If Mr. Peter Carton, or any of his folks in the GOP, would like a column then I would be more than happy to put it in.
    But I think it's high time that substance takes precedence over form, and real problems in this town start getting answered by some of the people at the heart of the issues. Stories, particularly those involving tax money, do not go away because the government doesn't want to talk about them. If I didn't want to pay a tax bill, would that work? Not at all. But there is accountability - no matter who doesn't like it where public funds are involved.
    I look forward to Mr. Caliendo's columns, as I would for Mayor Scharfenberger's or anyone representing that point of view. Often public communications from Mayor Scharfenberger are lined with sarcasm and attempts to mitigate critics' credibility. I suggest that answering questions about what is getting done at Town Hall with money would work a lot better.
    Case in point: A budget got adopted in July that should have been passed in March, and by the time it was adopted it wouldn't have been possible to cut departments because, during the "interim budget," the ideal amounts of money for use by all departments was spent. So, how did that happen? I'll put in the call, but won't hold my breath for a response.
    (Jim Purcell also operates the blog ''The Inside Clamdigger" at: www.TheInsideClamdigger.blogspot.com .)