Being Nice Isn’t Good Enough

To The Editor:
What is it that makes a good leader? Can they make decisions for the good of all, and make them in the open? Do they have the ability to fight for what they believe, even if they have to go it alone? For Councilman Thomas Conrad of Lower Township, the answer is no to all the questions.
I attend the meetings. I am tired of the obvious games that are played, in particular the politics that is out and out blatant between certain council members as they count to “3” for the benefit of the Republican establishment. You can watch as the two non-Republicans try to fight these shenanigans but with little success. Let me give just two examples:
The first is the contracts signed in the 11th hour of the last administration. Four Republicans voted for them, one Democrat voted against. There was not even a spreadsheet given to council members at the time to determine the exact cost of these contracts.
At budget time this year, we will find out just how much damage has been done. And Conrad signed those contracts that have generated almost 4 percent increases in each of the last two years. How do we fit that into a budget with a 2 percent cap on it? We don’t, so get ready for bad news. And while we’re paying our tax bill, ask ourselves how much our Social Security has gone up in the last two years.
The second example is the appointment to the MUA board this past January of someone who has a relative working at the MUA. It was, and remains, an obvious conflict.
And again, Conrad was among the three Republican “yes” votes, while the independent and the Democrat refused to support it. There were other qualified applicants but our township officials felt it necessary to put the MUA in this compromising position where a board member has a relative inside the authority. Frankly, it didn’t make any sense no matter how we looked at it.
Lower Township has tough challenges ahead. Let me say for the record, I believe Conrad is a nice person, but that is surely not enough. If being nice were the only criteria, we could elect 20,000 people to council in Lower Township. We need leadership on council and after four years watching Conrad, I’m looking in another direction.