Dear Springfield,
As you may know, I am a retired Army Major with over 21 active duty years of service to our country. Part of my responsibilities as an officer and commander was to evaluate the leadership potential and qualities of fellow officers and soldiers. Having observed and worked with Ziad Shehady for the past several years, I have witnessed firsthand his knowledge, abilities, strength of character, enthusiasm, energy and his devotion to Springfield.
Election season is upon us and soon you will have to select a new member for the Township Committee. When you look for a candidate to vote for, keep in mind the qualities you want in a candidate:
- someone who is proactive and not reactive or inactive
- someone who has a leadership presence and managerial capabilities
- someone who is energetic and in touch with the residents and communicates directly with them.
Springfield needs Ziad back on the Township Committee. Last year, under his leadership, we had great momentum in moving Springfield forward.
Public Access Channels – For the first time, Springfield began broadcasting on its own public access channel on Comcast and Verizon. An informative bulletin board system was initiated by Ziad only to lay virtually dormant for the majority of 2011 under Mayor Keffer who missed an opportunity to use this medium to
communicate to residents during Tropical Storm Irene.
Turf Field – The realization of a turf field for Springfield was set in motion by Ziad with a comprehensive agreement between the Springfield Board of Education and the Township. We could have had a turf field under construction by now, but it was stalled and virtually ignored by Mayor Keffer until weeks before the election and what he has done is commissioned yet another “study” at your expense.
New Police Chief – The appointment of our new Police Chief was a result of Ziad’s push to update the Police Department organizational structure and bring in a temporary Public Safety Director to provide the professional development, supervision and oversight, and fiscal management that was lacking under the
previous chief of police.
Special Improvement District (SID) – Every campaign season, candidates talk about downtown redevelopment except last year, under Ziad Shehady and Committeeman/Small Business Owner Jerry Fernandez, Springfield took its first steps to making the dream come true. The SID was instituted and
initiated only to be stonewalled by Mr. Keffer, Mr. Amlen and Mr. Huber.
These are just a few of Ziad’s accomplishments in just one year.
I will be the first person to tell you that party affiliation at the local level is irrelevant. You need to look at the qualifications and ability of the person you want on the Township Committee. If you are happy with status quo, then your choice is simple. However, if you want Springfield to compete with our neighbors then Jerry Fernandez and I need your support and ask you to vote for Ziad Shehady on Tuesday, November 8th so we can regain the momentum we lost in 2011.
Sincerely,
Marc A. Krauss
Committeeman, Township of Springfield
Major (Retired) U.S. Army
marc.krauss@springfield-nj.us
Doug W
11:02 am on Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Hey Bart, did you receive the nice glossy campaign flyer from Hugh Keffer? Any comments about his accomplishments?
Sal G
2:40 pm on Tuesday, October 18, 2011
I look forward to the response to this....
BART FRAENKEL
1:41 pm on Thursday, October 27, 2011
I didn't like the flyer.
resident
3:40 pm on Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Can someone put the hoops back up at Cohn and Henshaw Park?
Shane Ronan
6:21 pm on Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Mr. Fraenkel,
How do you suppose Mr. Shehady has the power to remove negative posts about him from the Patch? If this were true, ALL of your posts would have been removed and none of us would be subjected to your BS.
Lori Eckhardt
9:40 pm on Wednesday, October 19, 2011
I don't know who is removing posts, but mine has also disappeared.
Shane Ronan
9:50 pm on Wednesday, October 19, 2011
I have sent an email to off to Adam who runs the Springfield PATCH and asked him to explain the mystery of the disappearing posts. Perhaps this is a job for Scooby-Doo and Mystery Incorporated?
Adam Bulger
10:59 pm on Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Hey Shane. As much as I would love to say it was old man Jenkins pretending to be the ghost of the light house keeper the whole time (and opine that he might have gotten away with it if not for you meddling commenters!), the real culprit is very likely the "flag as inappropriate" button on top of each comment. Once those buttons are hit a certain number of times, the comments disappear. Often, this is a very useful tool for weeding out posts that are truly inappropriate, ie, comments that are slanderous, racist or obscene. Unfortunately, some readers take advantage of this feature to delete ostensibly acceptable comments that they personally don't agree with. Also unfortunately, there is very little I can do about this, since it is an automated feature.
As I have said before, I have zero interest in policing these comments (except for slander, racism, obscenity and the like). I believe that informed and spirited dialogue can strengthen a community. I trust my readers and enjoy their passion. That said, I really wish the people who might be hitting the "inappropriate" button would cool it.
Incredulous
10:26 am on Thursday, October 20, 2011
Let's try to elevate the level of this discourse...The assertion that Shehady worked to assist flood victims to advance his political agenda is silly and immature. The guy has a track record over a sustained period of time for community and civic involvement. Is the inference here intending to suggest that if he returns to public office he will then sit by idly while people suffer? To then say he did it for media coverage is equally short sighted and lacking in insight. Many in the community are already aware that he probably aspires to a career in politics. That's his choice. Accepting that, he would be downright foolish to make proactive contributions to the community in an anonymous manner. Would any consultant advise a cadidate for public office to keep his contributions a secret? I have no idea where Shehady lives or who he lives with. But, why should I care? He's well educated, informed, and smart. The assertion that he may not personally feel the burden of rising property taxes and therefore is insensitive to this is easily overcome by the public outcry every time taxes are raised. His youth is arguably a positive -- it means he's not jaded, it means he's open to see issues from multiple perspectives, it means he's apt to seek advice from people with the right kind of experience when needed. I applaud someone who truly wants a job, is well suited for it, and will fully commit to it rather than squeeze it in when their spare time permits.
Leila
9:35 pm on Thursday, October 20, 2011
Bravo!
Shane Ronan
11:07 am on Thursday, October 20, 2011
Mr. Fraenkel,
Is it possible that between the time that the sewer bill was introduced and the time it was rescinded Mr. Shehady had an opportunity to talk with the public and to rethink his position on the subject? Why does it have to be because he lost the election?
Further, while Mr. Shehady's service in the Army National Guard may not be a reason to elect him to public office, it would seem to me it indicates a willingness to sacrifice for the greater good, that I myself appreciate in my representatives. And if his service is not a reason to elect him, then neither is the list of positions held by his opponent Mr. Keffer, yet he recently sent out a flyer to all Springfield residents listing just these things.
Lastly, I have asked Mr. Shehady about his current position on the separate sewer bill and while he still thinks a separate bill is in the best interest of the residents of Springfield, he feels that the methodology used to calculate that bill and the notification to residents must be improved.
What I find most interesting regarding the separate sewer bill is that our current Mayor voted to keep the separate bill in place, but since it was rescinded has not made any effort to put the separate bill back onto the TC agenda. If he supported the separate bill, why would he not use his position as Mayor and his parties majority to push this through?
Committeeman Marc Krauss
2:07 pm on Thursday, October 20, 2011
@ rfriedman - The quote wasn't from Warren Buffet, it came from a rumor email regarding the creatation of a 28th Amendment which stated, "Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career." The reference was toward congresional leaders and not those serving or wanting to serve on the Township Committee of Springfield.
BART FRAENKEL
2:10 pm on Thursday, October 27, 2011
The RVSA sewer bill was created by the TC in order to move the RVSA expense out of the towns budget and create room to pay for other expenses without increasing the municipal tax bill for the residents. The bill still needed to be paid but by individual property owners instead of the town with taxpayer dollars. The idea in and of itself wasn't bad, it just wasn't implemented properly. The township attorney, who also worked as the attorney for Scotch Plains, just copied what they did since they established the bill the previous year. The problem was twofold. First the public wasn't properly made aware of the new bill and Shehady only held a public meeting about it after the bill's due date. And second, it didn't address water usage that wasn't going back into the RVSA system; things like watering a lawn. The reason I suggest it was rescinded for political purposes after the election is that funding for this expense had been removed from the budget for fiscal year 2010. By rescinding the bill in December 2010, the 2011 TC would be left with the burden of paying for the expense; a financial problem for the 2011 governing body and one which Shehady wouldn't have been part of. That's political games at it finest.
peter reyes
5:22 pm on Thursday, October 20, 2011
What is wrong with someone who wants to succeed to higher aspirations in the political world? In order for them to climb the political ladder, they must succeed where they are first. For example if Cory Booker wants to be Senator, he must succeed in Newark first. If he fails in Newark then he will not become a Senator. If and that is an if Shehady wants to go up the political ladder then he MUST succeed here first, and that is a good thing for Springfield. I will vote for him. He will continue to make Springfield better for all.