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.