Dear Editor:
The other day, in Parsippany Focus, I read a “Letter to the Editor” by a Mr. William Felegi which argued that Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce was not a conservative because Americans for Prosperity (AFP) had given her a “D” grade.  The writer seems to miss the fact that AFP is not a conservative organization, but rather a libertarian one.  Ideologically, there is a great difference.

When I was a Reagan delegate, back in 1980, the founder of AFP was the Vice Presidential candidate on a ticket opposed to Ronald Reagan, running on a platform of unrelieved social liberalism and international defeatism.  Thank God they were not successful and Reagan was.  President Reagan broke the Soviet Union and consigned Marxist Leninism to the dustbin of history.

The American Conservative Union is a conservative organization.  For the same period as that rated by AFP, it gave Mrs. DeCroce an 84% — hardly a “D”.  To show you just how ideologically different AFP is, here are a few comparisons:

Assemblywoman DeCroce received an Award for Conservative Achievement from the American Conservative Union (ACU).  Obviously, the libertarian AFP is pursuing a very different agenda from that of the conservative ACU.

Under the leadership of Steve Lonegan, New Jersey’s AFP affiliate did take a more traditional conservative path. That was all due to Lonegan. I know, I worked for Lonegan.  Much to the chagrin of national AFP, Steve pursued a vigorous conservative agenda on social issues, the Second Amendment, and illegal immigration. But Lonegan is long gone from AFP, and as its latest scorecard makes clear, AFP is back to being libertarian and not conservative.

Even so, AFP took credit for the work done by Assemblywoman DeCroce. AFP State Director Erica Jedynak wrote that the tax reform legislation Mrs. DeCroce supported “saved state taxpayers $1.4 billion in tax cuts-once completely phased in-in the final omnibus bill, including a repeal of the estate tax which saved taxpayers $320 million alone and will protect families from the government raiding inheritances when a loved one dies.”

The conservative taxpayer advocacy group, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), wrote that the tax reforms Assemblywoman DeCroce supported “abolished the state death tax, cut the state sales tax and reduces income taxes on retired New Jersey voters.”  ATR called it “a victory for taxpayers.”  Forbes magazine called her tax cuts one of the “5 best state and local tax policy changes of 2016” nationwide.  Further praise came from the Tax Foundation, the oldest such conservative organization in the nation.

Mr. Felegi goes so far as to call Mrs. DeCroce a “liar” for stating, quite truthfully, that she “ensured money for roads and bridges will be dedicated for their intended purpose rather than pet projects.”  The Assemblywoman supported the ballot question that accomplished that in the face of stiff opposition led by radio talk show host Bill Spadea.

The Assemblywoman’s voting record, her ratings by ideologically conservative groups, plus her 100% Pro-Life rating and her endorsement by the NRA, make her, on balance, a conservative in the humble opinion of this old winger.

William Winkler

Dear Editor:

Malls are closing down. Retail employment has been decreasing by 1/3 in last 10 years at least. No public need for another shopping mall exits. The fear of public housing was used to make this terrible deal.

This land because of its environmental sensitivity would never have fallen to affordable housing. Appears when developers act in bad faith toward a municipality they are rewarded. RD hardship became Parsippany’s to overcome, at the expense of the immediate neighborhood. Along with the new Intervale Estates near the reservoir, the impacts with traffic alone will be change the character of Intervale forever.

The Intervale neighborhood will never be the same. $3.5 million for a buffer zone at taxpayers expense not a good outcome. This is also a misuse of the open space funds. It smells of a kickback to RD developer for all the trouble they went through. Never forget the Council voted No Rezone, and the promise was 26+ acres of open space, not the 10 acre buffer zone, that will benefit the waterview mall more than the immediate neighborhood.

 The grade A unconsolidated soils the best for ground water recharge, along Troy Brook, on the site will be lost, and the original geographic Doremus Ridge line be negatively impacted and may actually collapse the injured intact sloop. Despite our Master Plan’s steep slope ordinance, and goal of keeping neighborhood character, and an aesthetically pleasing nature to communities. Planning Towards have no obligation to overcome developers hardships in zone variances; especially when corporate developers like RD show bad faith toward our community time after, time. Because of the rezone the property was actually made suitable for affordable housing, thus Fair Share Housing against Parsippany initiated another lawsuit.

We must remember during this time Parsippany was enlisted in the regional master plan conformance July 2010. The mayor took no action to have waterview landscape on a conformance consistency checklist, giving it higher scrutiny in assessments; including legal arguments. We must also remember affordable housing does not consider steep slope landscapes protected by a master plan, which Parsippany’s does. Affordable housing policies also do not consider land designated for open space acquisitions. The mayor did not as he promised put into action the open space committee, nor the environmental committee, and present the argument, as promised the night of the Council No Vote to have the landscape open space.

The land was never owned by RD but by Bell-Mead and was even at a time designed a tree farm for lower tax purposes, which would of reduced the market value, if argued correctly after the No Vote. Instead of putting together efforts to acquire the Doremus Ridge/Troy Brook landscape intact, a scheme was devised to assist the developer, rather than in support of the successful grassroots outcome; no rezone!

This Mall will follow the other malls into the economy of nowhere. Voluntary Regional Conformance would of accomplished the real open Space deal, not this. Parsippany ignores this right of participation in the Regional Plans legal protections to its citizens.

Citizens need to question what really happened. When school auditoriums filled from all of Parsippany for them to now say, most people were for it? No; our Town Attorney and Mayor were for it, not the grassroots democracy that showed itself and was treated in bad faith. 

The costs to tax payers for all these worthless lawsuits in a fake show of support for the community and a ploy to help a developer, paid well for both attorneys. This costs is being hidden from us, as no information or transparency was made public of the court dates and issues involving this corruption. The upcoming Council meeting concerning this $3.5 Million payoff is a done deal and another fabrication, under the guidance of the Town Attorney. This same Attorney has warned the Council Members to be silent concerning his present dealings with Mack-Cali and other developers concerning the coming affordable housing issue pending against the town. Showing bad faith toward developers remedy lawsuits may cost the town more retribution lawsuits. This has shown to be a one-way street, as developers show Parsippany bad faith and are rewarded. In a lawyer-client relationship privacy is guaranteed; however are not the citizens of this town the clients? Clients whom pay the bills, but are only told, not consulted or given a voice, after the deal goes down. Parsippany has demonstrated no covenant of trust toward it citizens.   

Acquisition of the 26 acres should not have been that difficult to accomplish with the right mindset, everything was going for that outcome to become reality. Instead we get another so called economic improvement at a terrible cost to the quality of life and environment in our already over-developed town, of empty already developed properties.

Stay-tuned more to come. Parsippany’s continued refusal to live by its master plan or improving it with conformance consistency remains not in the best interest of its people, now or the future. Although no change in the immediate neighborhood warrants such a rezone, the neighborhood will be forever changed.

RD developer will walk away and eventually use some loophole leaving Parsippany with more developed useless land perhaps suitable for more housing in the future. Although this is a rezone no higher standards will be forthcoming. The Stars in the skies of Morris will become dimmer as we continue to lose our sense of place here on this Planet.

Nick Homyak
Lake Hiawatha

Dear Editor:

The other day, I received a campaign flier from Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce in which she argued she’s a conservative.

Her mailer attacks Morris County Freeholder and Assembly Candidate Hank Lyon as being a fraud and a person who isn’t capable of fighting the Democrats in Trenton. I find this flier humorous because Assemblywoman DeCroce is anything but a conservative, which is evidenced by her “D” grade from the taxpayer watchdog group Americans For Prosperity-New Jersey. Given her few accomplishments during her tenure in Trenton, it’s also funny she’d say she “gets things done.”

The Assemblywoman claims that she is fighting to control property taxes. However, according to the Star-Ledger, New Jersey had a 2.35 percent property tax increase in 2016! What has the Assemblywoman actually done or proposed to reduce property taxes for the residents of our state?

The Assemblywoman’s mailer also says that she eliminated the estate tax. While I agree the estate tax should be eliminated, the reality is that most residents aren’t impacted by this particular tax since it only applies to estates above $675,000. While the Assemblywoman’s special interest donors might benefit from the estate tax repeal, most of us won’t.

With regards to the sales tax reduction the Assemblywoman is so fond of touting, most people won’t see any meaningful savings, unless they buy a new car every year! However, residents will pay the 158% increase in the gas tax the Assemblywoman fought so hard for.

Finally, the Assemblywoman DeCroce is arguing that she ensured money for roads and bridges will go to its intended purpose, rather than pet projects. This is a lie because we, as the citizens, went to the polls last year and voted for a constitutional amendment dedicating gas tax revenues to fix our roads and bridges. It’s unfortunate that the Assemblywoman would take credit for something she had nothing to do with.

Here in the 26th District, we have a Republican Assembly primary that offers us what President Ronald Reagan called a time for choosing. Do we let the Trenton politicians continue to waste our hard-earned tax dollars? The flier Assemblywoman DeCroce sent to GOP primary voters is an insult to the hard-working taxpayers of New Jersey.

On Tuesday, June 6, I’ll be voting for Morris County Freeholder Hank Lyon for Assembly, and not Assemblywoman DeCroce. While Chair of the Freeholder Budget Committee, Lyon froze taxes for three years and controlled spending, showing his commitment to taxpayers. I hope you’ll consider joining me in supporting Lyon for Assembly in the Republican primary.

William Felegi