Courier Opinion - July 24, 2008

Judith Stanley-Coleman: A log in the eye of the committee

Democrats Calling
By JOE CALIENDO

    I cannot help but be concerned about the attitude of government in Middletown where it involves its general stand toward certain wealthy contributors to the ruling party, specifically Planning Board Chairperson Judith Stanley-Coleman.
    She has several acres of land on Navesink River Road and, thanks to a few beehives; she pays a farmland assessment on her property. This is what is wrong with government today.
    Mrs. Stanley-Coleman has said her paying farmland assessment amounts to open space preservation, and that she would have a more difficult time affording to stay in Middletown if it were not for such an assessment. I have to respond to that by saying no one who owns private property on an estate can reasonably expect their property to be 'preserved' thanks to their ownership. One property owner is no more or less special than another, or should be in the eyes of the state. Also, whether or not Mrs. Stanley-Coleman could afford to live in Middletown without such an assessment should never have become part of the public argument, because that is a private matter between her and her accountant.
    COAH is a major issue in Middletown today. The township does not want to be in a position to accept people who could not otherwise live in the township. Whether or not that can be accomplished now, with the passage of this new law to ban RCAs, is a big question. However, the idea of Judy Stanley Coleman getting to pay less in taxes than she otherwise should because of one or two beehives just lacks any sense.
    I have lived in Middletown for the past 73 years, and have been a farmer here before. Mrs. Stanley-Coleman is not a farmer, has never been a farmer, will never be a farmer, except where paying her taxes is concerned. She gets away with it because she has friends in high places, and helped to put them there by contributing to their political campaigns in town.
    Mrs. Judy Stanley-Coleman is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, contributor to the Middletown Republican Party. I am sorry to say that such things happen in this world, all the time.
    It should not matter whether someone is an alleged socialite or the guy next door. Municipalities run on tax money. If someone isn't paying what should be their fair share then that means that someone else has to do a little more to make up for it - that's just basic math.
    I do not want to pay any more in taxes because Mrs. Stanley-Coleman gets the royal treatment from the Middletown Committee majority, whom she helped put into office.
    The point to municipal government is supposed to be that it makes sense and keeps the tax rate as low as possible, using as little as possible: But right in there for a fundamental precept is that it is ultimately fair to the residents of the community. I am left with the conclusion that, among equals, Mrs. Judith Stanley-Coleman is more equal than others.
    When I have written about this in the past, Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger has come out against what I've said. I can think of no more telling proof of this prejudice in Mrs. Stanley-Coleman's favor than the mayor of the town practically applauding Mrs. Stanley-Coleman as a saint. I wonder how loud that applause would have been if Mrs. Stanley-Coleman did not fund every Republican campaign in town, including his.
    There is a log in the eye of the Middletown Committee right now and its name is Judith Stanley-Coleman. It's hard to have a conversation with someone when they have something like that sticking out.

(Joe Caliendo is the chairman of the Middletown Township Democratic Party. He has been active in municipal government and politics since the 1961 campaign of former President John F. Kennedy.)