The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
By Bill Connell.
I have been thinking about the retirement of Township Councilman Ted Chase for a while, but wanted to wait till election season was over to write this. I did not want my genuine appreciation of this man to be viewed as some marketing scheme.
At the November 9 Council meeting, Township Councilman Carl Wright touched on what I wanted to say, by complimenting Councilman Chase for teaching him and educating him over the years. This makes perfect sense since Mr. Chase is a retired Rutgers professor. It’s what he does. What I find remarkable is Mr. Chase, even as a politician, is always trying to raise the understanding of everyone regardless of the topic. Always.
My observation about Mr. Chase is he weighs both sides. He no doubt has opinions, but he has the intellectual confidence to view the idea from other side. Only after reviewing the good and the bad does he state his opinion. He lets the room draw its own conclusion.
Seeing as the current business model for a politician is to force feed people an idea and ignore negative consequences, this makes Mr. Chase’s approach more of a gift. I just want Ted to know I, and others, notice and appreciate the difference.
Councilman Chase’s effort to improve the water infrastructure in southern Franklin is probably his largest accomplishment but there is also Kingston School. In the Open Space committee, he constantly advocated finding a new use for it. I have never seen Ted more upset then when I suggested blowing the building up. This did not go over well. Sorry Ted, you were right, I was wrong.
Thank you, sir.
