Election 2005
The Middle Road
By Rich Kohler
November 3, 2005
“You don’t even belong here. You’re a dirt-bag.”
Those were the words with which Hazlet’s interim committeeman, Scott Broschart, chose to greet me as I entered the newly remodeled Lakeside Manor for the October meeting of the Hazlet Republican Club.
After the regular business portion of the meeting, Mr. Broschart asked for the floor. In the spirit of the brown shirted, armband wearing fascists who dominated Europe sixty-some years ago by eliminating all those who opposed their point of view, he angrily accused me of not supporting the Republican Party. Disregarding proper procedure, Mr. Broschart then demanded that I be dropped from the membership rolls of the club and requested an immediate vote on his resolution.
Led by the club’s president, Tracey Maffiore, the executive committee did not to allow Mr. Broschart’s antics to continue and tabled his motion pending further debate. This civil reaction to Mr. Broschart’s shocking demand for a no-dissention policy reinforced my belief in the integrity of Hazlet’s Republican Party.
When I joined the Hazlet Republican Club, I was an unaffiliated voter. Many of my early letters to the editors of local newspapers and my early columns in this newspaper criticized the Hazlet Democrats for conducting themselves in a manner that seemed to be more concerned with staying in office, than with serving the residents of Hazlet. When I disagreed with the direction of the then Democrat-led Township Committee, perennial candidate Kevin Lavan publicly and angrily claimed that I was suffering from dementia. I don’t doubt that anyone even mildly involved with politics could recall an incident when either political party encouraged members who had acted in a similar manner, as this is, after all, politics in New Jersey.
That was then, but this is now. Today’s political climate demands more accountability from our elected officials. Recently enacted sunshine laws and campaign finance reforms are a beginning, but without any real punitive action, loopholes are aplenty. It is the responsibility of the individual political parties or governing bodies to police themselves by encouraging open and legitimate debate from their members or constituents.
That’s exactly what is happening with the Hazlet Republicans. While the township Democrats are running recycled candidates from the same old Democratic group of cronies, the Republicans sought out and fought for the opportunity to bring new faces to the township dais. After two fair and open conventions of the district leaders, the Hazlet Republican Party chose Ric Medrow and Will Kolibas as its 2005 candidates.
Democratic candidates Kevin Lavan and Jim DiNardo have centered their deceitful campaign on the fact that Hazlet’s badly-needed municipal complex could cost up to 9 million dollars, interest included. Anyone who takes the time to either check the information on record with the township or to discuss their concerns with those involved with this large-scale and important project, will learn that Committeeman Scott Aagre, an architect by trade, and Mayor Michael Sachs have supervised it with professional and cost-effective pragmatism.
Hazlet Democrats recently concocted a plan that includes abandoning the construction already in progress, buying a building that is not currently for sale, and reconfiguring an old medical building into a functional town hall for an unlikely and unconfirmed 1.8 million dollars, interest not included.
Much like the leading members of the Township Committee, the 2005 Republican candidates, Ric Medrow and Will Kolibas, believe that honest management of our tax dollars is crucial to sustaining and improving the quality of life in our community. By vowing to respect the value of opposing opinions and reasonable debate, both candidates characterize the positive direction of Hazlet’s Republican Party. Mr. Kolibas’s candidacy alone is a testament to how a clean and open political process combined with strong party leadership can offset a sometimes volatile political climate.
Professional and transparent leadership often exposes power hungry political hacks that advance dishonest schemes, push personal agendas, and aspire to exert and maintain their own sense of power. Because when an informed public objects to such behavior, these self-serving perpetrators often resort to condescension and name-calling.
By Rich Kohler
November 3, 2005
“You don’t even belong here. You’re a dirt-bag.”
Those were the words with which Hazlet’s interim committeeman, Scott Broschart, chose to greet me as I entered the newly remodeled Lakeside Manor for the October meeting of the Hazlet Republican Club.
After the regular business portion of the meeting, Mr. Broschart asked for the floor. In the spirit of the brown shirted, armband wearing fascists who dominated Europe sixty-some years ago by eliminating all those who opposed their point of view, he angrily accused me of not supporting the Republican Party. Disregarding proper procedure, Mr. Broschart then demanded that I be dropped from the membership rolls of the club and requested an immediate vote on his resolution.
Led by the club’s president, Tracey Maffiore, the executive committee did not to allow Mr. Broschart’s antics to continue and tabled his motion pending further debate. This civil reaction to Mr. Broschart’s shocking demand for a no-dissention policy reinforced my belief in the integrity of Hazlet’s Republican Party.
When I joined the Hazlet Republican Club, I was an unaffiliated voter. Many of my early letters to the editors of local newspapers and my early columns in this newspaper criticized the Hazlet Democrats for conducting themselves in a manner that seemed to be more concerned with staying in office, than with serving the residents of Hazlet. When I disagreed with the direction of the then Democrat-led Township Committee, perennial candidate Kevin Lavan publicly and angrily claimed that I was suffering from dementia. I don’t doubt that anyone even mildly involved with politics could recall an incident when either political party encouraged members who had acted in a similar manner, as this is, after all, politics in New Jersey.
That was then, but this is now. Today’s political climate demands more accountability from our elected officials. Recently enacted sunshine laws and campaign finance reforms are a beginning, but without any real punitive action, loopholes are aplenty. It is the responsibility of the individual political parties or governing bodies to police themselves by encouraging open and legitimate debate from their members or constituents.
That’s exactly what is happening with the Hazlet Republicans. While the township Democrats are running recycled candidates from the same old Democratic group of cronies, the Republicans sought out and fought for the opportunity to bring new faces to the township dais. After two fair and open conventions of the district leaders, the Hazlet Republican Party chose Ric Medrow and Will Kolibas as its 2005 candidates.
Democratic candidates Kevin Lavan and Jim DiNardo have centered their deceitful campaign on the fact that Hazlet’s badly-needed municipal complex could cost up to 9 million dollars, interest included. Anyone who takes the time to either check the information on record with the township or to discuss their concerns with those involved with this large-scale and important project, will learn that Committeeman Scott Aagre, an architect by trade, and Mayor Michael Sachs have supervised it with professional and cost-effective pragmatism.
Hazlet Democrats recently concocted a plan that includes abandoning the construction already in progress, buying a building that is not currently for sale, and reconfiguring an old medical building into a functional town hall for an unlikely and unconfirmed 1.8 million dollars, interest not included.
Much like the leading members of the Township Committee, the 2005 Republican candidates, Ric Medrow and Will Kolibas, believe that honest management of our tax dollars is crucial to sustaining and improving the quality of life in our community. By vowing to respect the value of opposing opinions and reasonable debate, both candidates characterize the positive direction of Hazlet’s Republican Party. Mr. Kolibas’s candidacy alone is a testament to how a clean and open political process combined with strong party leadership can offset a sometimes volatile political climate.
Professional and transparent leadership often exposes power hungry political hacks that advance dishonest schemes, push personal agendas, and aspire to exert and maintain their own sense of power. Because when an informed public objects to such behavior, these self-serving perpetrators often resort to condescension and name-calling.
posted by Rich Kohler at 10:06 PM
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