Acropolis: I'll Roll Back Tax Hike in 2012

The following is a letter to the editor submitted by Brick Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis:

The by Transport Workers Union (TWU) chair person John Menshon was an interesting piece.  

Before I get to the piece itself, here is a little history. The TWU contributed to and pushed for the approval of the so-called 24 percent tax increase referendum in April. I will refer to the tax increase as "so-called" in my letter because that was a number that Mr. Menshon and others would like you to believe. Mr. Menshon was part of the push for the increase - to his credit - because it was his job as the TWU leader.  

If he didn't, 100 or more of his members might have been laid off. That is fact. What you might not know is that while Mr. Menshon was representing the Transport Workers Union in Brick pushing for the tax increase in April, he was also a Trustee in the Brick Democratic Organization that campaigned against the increase in November.  

That's right, the same man who supported and campaigned for the four candidates during the election, is the same man who is opining about it in his piece, yet he was fully supportive of the referendum in April.  

Unfortunately, Mr. Menshon, you can't have it both ways. Which is it? Did you support the referendum and your men in April and the so-called 24 percent tax increase, or did you support your four candidates that campaigned against the 24 percent increase in November? The fact is, Mr. Menshon is doing a dis-service to his membership by his actions, which is what unfortunately a lot of union leaders do -- represent a party, not their membership. That is in my humble opinion what's wrong with some in today's labor movement. For them it's about the leadership, not the membership.  We see it at the State level and we see it at the local level with some unions.  You don't see that, however, with the PBA leadership here in our township.  They have leadership that actually represents their membership. Unions are not a bad thing when they are well run and look out for everyone's interests involved, including their township. You see, they live here too!

Now, as far as the election in November is concerned and Mr. Menshon's take on it in his opinion piece, if Mr. Menshon and the TWU don't realize that the people of Brick township are fed up with high taxes and that's how they voted in this last election, there is nothing I can do to help him except to say go out and knock on some doors and ask.  Or look at all the for sale signs in Brick Township. That should speak volumes about why people voted the way they did.

This election was about one thing and one thing only - a so-called 24 percent tax increase that his candidates campaigned against during the year and won on in November.  It was a good strategy and it worked.  But moving forward, what he, as the leader of the largest union in our township should realize, is that as Mayor, I did hear the people of Brick Township speak loud and clear in November, even if he didn't. The people of Brick Township are fed up with higher taxes and big government and anyone that doesn't see that, is not looking.

So here is what I said I would propose at the first council meeting after the election and will repeat now: I will introduce a budget that rolls back the "24 percent tax increase" that Mr. Menshon and the TWU-endorsed Democrat candidates campaigned against in November, so as to not exceed the 2 percent cap the Governor has restricted us to. And in our township form of Government, the Mayor introduces a budget and then the Council gets to make changes to it and then they vote to approve the final tax increase or decrease.  So, the new Democratic majority will get to decide whether to fulfill their campaign promises about high taxes and big government and rolling back the "24 percent" tax increase or not. 
 
Sometimes the easiest part is getting elected, the hardest part is actually having to govern.

That's why they say you can't have your cake and eat it too.  But if Mr. Menshon can get his candidates who now are elected to roll back the "24 percent" tax increase that they campaigned against, without cutting services, which is what the referendum was all about, maybe he can have his cake and eat it too after all. But I would buy it at Mattina's Bakery because I, along with the Chamber of Commerce, always say "shop locally," and boy do they have great cakes.


Stephen C. Acropolis
Mayor, Brick Township