Critic of town officials is not a Red Banker

I recently read the ridiculous froth that was sent to your paper by William Meyer.

First of all, let's start out with the truth. Mr. Meyer is a fraud. He signed his letter as indicating he is from Red Bank, and he has appeared at numerous public hearings and constantly holds himself out as being from Red Bank.

The truth is Mr. Meyer lives in Tinton Falls. He is the partial owner of a piece of property in Red Bank; however, he is constantly representing himself as being from our town.

As to his allegations of the questions raised by Councilman Robert Bifani and myself to Councilwoman Kaye Ernst, the fact is Ms. Ernst never comes prepared for a council meeting.

She constantly asks questions at council meetings when - if they were simply asked during the normal course of business - she would have the answers before coming to the meeting and would not have to take up time at council meetings on trivial issues.

Further, Ms. Ernst attempted to discuss in open session something that was clearly inappropriate and was to be discussed only in executive session.

The borough is attempting to acquire property for the creation of affordable housing to help satisfy its affordable housing obligation. Ms. Ernst attempted to publicly discuss our strategy, which would have undermined the negotiations.

In the end, what transpired was Ms. Ernst and Councilman John Curley voted against acquiring property which would have been funded 100 percent by the state to help satisfy Red Bank's affordable housing obligation.

This type of foolishness would only result in a lost opportunity for the borough and cost the borough hundreds of thousands of dollars.

As to Ms. Lauren Nicosia's appointment to the Red Bank Zoning Board, Mr. Meyer (not being a real Red Banker) should be aware of the fact that Ms. Nicosia was actually appointed to the Zoning Board the first time in 1978. This was 13 years before I became mayor.

As to Mr. Michael DuPont, he is a highly skilled individuals with extensive experience in land use, planning and zoning, and he has served this town diligently for the past 10 years.

In summary, it amazes me how people who do nothing for a town - and in this instance someone who doesn't even live in the town - try to steer its politics.

The fact of the matter is Mr. Meyer is a hack for the Republican machine and when he filed a recent lawsuit against the town (one of several), he actually mailed the documents from the office of Dowd and Reilly, the borough attorney when Republicans were in power.

Mr. Meyer, let's be hones with everyone. You're simply another lawyer looking for a job. It's highly hypocritical for you to criticize Councilman Pasquale Menna for being an attorney when you are one yourself.

I would also note the other people you recommend for the council have never yet offered one moment of their time to serve this borough in any capacity.

Mr. Murphy, Mr. DuPont and Mr. Menna all have served this borough with dignity and distinction. They are the ones the people of this borough should support and elect.

Edward J. McKenna Jr.

Red Bank mayor