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ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS HERALD |
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HARBOR REFERENDUM ANOTHER UNFULFILLED DEMOCRAT CAMPAIGN PROMISE It has been over two years and the residents of Atlantic Highlands are still waiting. They are waiting for Mayor Peter Donoghue and his Democrat council members to make good on their promised referendum about the expansion of the Atlantic Highlands harbor. In 2003, the Republicans put forward a plan for the re-development of our waterfront. As candidates, the Mayor, Councilwoman Stephanie Ladiana and Councilman Carl Nolan used the issue as a campaign wedge and promised that our town would vote on any harbor expansion. For the second year in a row, the filing deadline for a November referendum has passed and the people of our town are wondering. They are wondering why the Mayor would appoint a ferry committee and a Harbor Development Advisory Committee instead of holding a referendum. The people are also asking if the Mayor’s Harbor Advisory Committee will issue a final report, after 2 years of existence. In an October 2004 interim report, the blue ribbon committee even endorsed the Republican 2003 waterfront plan. Meanwhile, with each passing day, the land targeted for expansion only increases in value and costs the taxpayers more. How much will it cost after a referendum is properly advertised and held? For two years, prime waterfront property has languished while the Mayor and his Democrat council members try to avoid their promised referendum to the people. Their supporters will tell you that the borough just engaged two appraisers to evaluate the property, but that sidesteps the promise to ask the people of Atlantic Highlands their opinion on the expansion. Or could it be that the Mayor and his candidates never intended to honor their pledge? Without holding a referendum on the harbor, how can anyone in town take future Democrat pledges about the waterfront seriously? Could it be that after two years, that Mayor Donoghue and his mates don’t even know what question they want to ask? Further complicating the matter is that the Mayor and his Council mates refuse to give a date for a referendum when asked by the public at borough council meetings. It is long past time that the Democrats put forth a waterfront plan of their own, or endorse the 2003 waterfront plan developed by Republicans and let the voters decide. By not fulfilling their promise to hold a referendum, the Democrats either underestimate our resident’s intelligence or never really believed in honoring their own campaign rhetoric.
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