I do not attend Brooklawn Council meetings as often as I should – I guess I am just as jaded as some of my neighbors who figure Mayor and Council will do what they want regardless of who attends the meetings. However, when I got a post card announcing that the Camden County Freeholders would be holding their meeting in Brooklawn and the first one-half hour would be dedicated to Brooklawn people and their issues, I decided to go even if stating my opinion sometimes upsets people.
Four people were allowed to speak, but when the Freeholders did not like what we were saying, they stopped the meeting after 13 minutes! When the regular meeting started at 7 p.m., the next 34 minutes was filled with one politician patting the back of another and lots to pictures taken of lots of smiling politicians. So much for these people understanding what problems we taxpayers face.
I was allowed time to explain that one day I was driving down Town Center with $12,500 of medical bills in my hand and saw a sign being erected \”Your Tax Dollars at Work.\” Those tax dollars paved the street and put new curbs in front of the mayor’s house. Could these politicians understand why I am upset that my tax dollars are being spent to make the mayor’s house more valuable when I have no way of paying $12,500 in uninsured medical bills? The Freeholder’s answer: \”I don’t know where the mayor lives.\” That convinced me that yet another politician is oblivious to the problems they have created.
Another woman expressed her anger because her daughter was very seriously ill, could not afford her medical bills and could not get help from anyone. She was frustrated to say the least. Again, the Freeholder didn’t seem to understand what the problem was, or why the audience applauded me when I suggested the woman have her daughter claim to be illegal so she can have all the medical care she needs – free and with no questions asked.
A man vented frustration about a boathouse being built on the river. No one asked if the residents wanted a boat- house. We at the meeting wanted lower water bills instead. The Freeholder’s answer was that much of the money is coming from grants. Do the politicians think we are so stupid that we do not know where grant money comes from? The Federal Government taxes us $1,000, takes $250, and gives the state the rest. The State takes $250 and gives the County the rest. The County takes $250 and gives Brooklawn the rest. Local politicians double our water bills and then build an unwanted boat- house, and we are supposed to think that grants are free money and rain down from the clouds.
All we heard was: \”That’s not a county issue,\” and \”We don’t have anything to do with that.\” So, I suggested that the Freeholders call their party boss, George Norcross, who seems to know all about everything. That is when the meeting was stopped. In my opinion, the Freeholders are so afraid of George Norcross that they will stop a public meeting when his name is mentioned in vain.
What upset me most was not the ignorance of the Freeholders. Rather, it was that not one member of Brooklawn Council spoke up to defend the citizens they are supposed to represent. They did not request or even demand that the meeting continue. They were busy getting pretty for their upcoming photo-ops.
I have a solution, but I do not think local or county politicians want to hear it. How about allowing the voters more than 13 minutes to voice their concerns, even if those concerns are not what the politicians want to hear.
Dorothy Heade, Brooklawn
source Gloucester City News
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