Courier Opinion - August 7, 2008

Scharfenberger should stop with the tall tales already

Democrats Calling
By JOE CALIENDO

    I was at a meeting of the Middletown Township Human Rights Commission on Thursday, July 31 at Town Hall. At that meeting, the secretary of the commission, Mrs. Cindy Hoffman, said several times that Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger wanted to have a special meeting of the commission to address articles in The Courier.
    Mrs. Hoffman said the mayor was concerned about racial remarks that he alleged could have been made in The Courier and so he sent commission members links to The Courier's Web site and the site at More Monmouth Musings, a blog operated by Mr. Art Gallagher.
    When the meeting started the members of the commission said they didn't know why they were there. After the commission members said they didn't know why the com-
mission was meeting, one commission member asked how anyone knew the meeting was even going on. She said this because no one had seen a public notice about the special session, which was supposed to be sent out by the township's more than adequately compensated clerk, Heidi Abs.
    Meanwhile, more than 20 people and three area leaders in the NAACP managed to find out about the meeting because of some anonymous E-mails sent out, myself included.
    When it was alleged The Courier printed racial remarks, the newspaper's publisher, Jim Purcell, explained that no racial slurs were ever made in The Courier, the columnist was terminated and Mr. Purcell made it clear that the newspaper would not print vulgarities.
    The chairperson of that meeting said it was one of the best meetings they have had in a long time because many of those in attendance participated in the session. The commission criticized Mr. Gallagher's use of the offensive language on his personal blog, which was good for the commission to do. There was also an excellent conversation about race with the three NAACP presidents and the public that showed up. I have to say it was one of the best meetings I've been to in recent years.
But for Mr. Scharfenberger to say he didn't call that meeting means that someone is lying. It's either his Human Rights Commission or it's him. But, I was there and I don't think the Human Rights Commission was lying.
    Mr. Scharfenberger needs to understand that "transparent government" is not the kind that lies like a rug. "Transparent government" means you can see through it. But you can't see through Mr. Scharfenberger's government, it's as dense as a stone. In fact, I know that Mr. Scharfenberger was busy after he called this meeting of the Human Rights Council, because he was at a Republican fundraiser at the Navesink Country Club.
    So after he threw up the red flag about this race business, he didn't explain himself all that well apparently. If Mr. Scharfenberger was so concerned about this issue that he called a meeting, he should have been at the commission meeting. But, lying about things just doesn't change facts. Nobody elects anyone to office to lie about business like this. This seems to be a recurring problem, though, with this administration.
    This Human Rights Commission meeting was not noticed properly, in my opinion. This meeting was set with an agenda to criticize The Courier because it has printed things that Mr. Scharfenberger doesn't like, on false grounds. Mr. Scharfenberger called this meeting, and after things didn't turn out the way he wanted, he ran away from it faster than a jackrabbit from a frying pan. So all I have to say about Mr. Scharfenberger is that he should be taking a stand about anyone who is a leader in this area making racial slurs or inappropriate language, not just those people who disagree with him editorially.
    I think Mr. Scharfenberger doesn't like it when people disagree with him. I think he's managed to bend a lot of the truth about things he's been doing in office, and this isn't the first time. Since I pay taxes in Middletown, I would really like the mayor of the town to stop with the tall tales and start with the good government. But if I held my breath, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get a column out next week.
    Mr. Scharfenberger, I think you shouldn't try to throw a bunch of nonsense at your Human Rights Commission. It did a good job after getting a lousy, political mission. They deserve praise and support.

(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.)