Courier Editorial  - August 28, 2008

Schwebel is being bullied by Middletown for no reason

The Clamdigger
By JIM PURCELL

    Carolyn Schwebel would be an incredibly unsuccessful politician. If Carolyn were an elected official, she wouldn't give a darn about high-powered developers, or care about lobbying big-time party people for that next endorsement or a shot at whatever comes next.
    Carolyn would spend all of her time just helping out and paying attention to what people need.
    Carolyn doesn't put much stock in political people that think they own the world from what I've seen. Maybe that's why she's spent so many years trying to make sure the world was a little bit friendlier to folks from every background and physical condition.
    Aside from sitting as the vice chair on the county Human Rights Council, Carolyn and her husband, John, also advocate for people with disabilities through their group, The Equalizers.
    But Carolyn has been involved in a little bit of a controversy in Middletown as of late. Perhaps because she is so poor of a politician, but such a dedicated advocate, she was not reappointed to the Middletown Human Rights Commission.
    I believe it's basically Carolyn's fault she was not reappointed. She just couldn't understand that, in Middletown, everything has to be about politics  most notably Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger's politics.
    She tries to make public buildings accessible to those with physical disabilities. She advocates for people so this town and this county can be a little more equal to minorities, the elderly and people with disabled people. Actually, I've never seen anyone work harder at that in my life.
    Carolyn is opinionated and determined, compassionate but tough as nails. She possesses a doctorate in education and has a lifetime of experience in advocating for human rights and equal justice. Of course, Carolyn has her own physical challenges, but despite her own pain she goes on and keeps fighting the fight for people.
    I think Mayor Scharfenberger should know that bullying people for its own sake is pretty much the worst way known to mankind to govern. It doesn't make people look strong when they pick on people with a different outlook; it makes them look unintelligent and unkind.
    There are more than enough people to push around and intimidate in Middletown and the Bayshore for the mayor and his administration, why pick on Carolyn?
    But Mayor Scharfenberger is also trying to wipe out the Human Rights Commission itself. The commission has been around for 40 years serving the township. Yet it only takes one person with a truckload of arrogance to wipe it out.
    I don't like bullies. I never have. I find them weak, small and preposterous. Mostly, their thinly veiled sense of inadequacy rules them. Consequently, their frequent bouts of overcompensation in public make for a poor example, especially where it involves government.
    I do wish that government could find something better to do with its time and taxpayers' dollars than picking on Carolyn. She really doesn't deserve it.

(For more information, go to: www. theinsideclamdigger.blogspot.com.)