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In Your Opinion: Find The Truth In The Middle

By Bill Connell, Somerset.

At the last town council meeting I asked a question: How much of the traffic on South Middlebush road was local and how much of it was pass-through? Based on previous data, about 60 percent was pass-through. For the town planners, should you deny services to local people just because people that don’t live here are causing traffic jams? That’s like not drinking the right amount of water each day because it makes you tinkle too much. Maybe it’s not the traffic; it’s how any road is built? How many people fighting Catalpa have any knowledge of the Middlebush Bypass that was killed years ago? You have to look at the reality of the situation and deal with it.

Also at the last town council meeting I addressed the human relations matter regarding Catalpa Park. I support the park, and I am not unhappy with the way the town went about it. Contrary to what some say, I think the process was pretty transparent. That said, I think the Tranquility group is great. Nothing brings a community together like being irritated. They have every right to express disapproval. That is why I am disappointed in Councilman Prasad’s attempt to put them on their heels.
The Human Relations Commission is actually an important committee and he diminished its value in one fell swoop. We do a great job in this town with intercultural relations. Of course it’s not perfect but compared to other places, we are amazing. We don’t give ourselves enough credit. The Human Relations Commission should have only commented on the issue if they got a mountain of email from outside sources and they needed to provide a service to the community by bringing it up. That’s not what happened and it’s unfortunate.

Any decent real estate agent or real estate lawyer doing business in Franklin should have a cursory knowledge of the master plan and the history of the open plots of land. A demonstrative statement and a wave of the hand does not make it a fact. I know my real estate agent never suggested I read the master plan. When you buy a house you can be myopic and don’t bet a real estate agent addressing an issue you don’t ask.

Councilman Prasad should be more upset about the payoff comments on the blog than any notion of racism. The problem with claiming racism or wondering who is getting a kick back is it allows people to stop thinking. People say, “oh yah, that’s it!!” when in fact the issue is far more complex. The Catalpa park idea has been on the books for a long time. If they rename the park after Mr. Prasad , or they put up a statue, I might be suspicious, but I really don’t think thats the case. I really think we should rename the park Eberly. I think Shirley Eberly once said, “over my dead body.” The least we can do is name the park after her. This discussion goes back that far.

Fight the good fight, but keep it real. If you are looking for the truth, I always seem to find it in the middle.

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