Kenneth Ellman

Sussex County Freeholder Board Ignores Homestead Outcry

From Kenneth Ellman, email:ke@kennethellman.com, Newton, New Jersey 07860
I post this video because it highlights an example of the political process where local elected officials, in this case  the Sussex County New Jersey  Freeholders would not accept a strong  public sentiment to keep the County Elderly/Disabled Care Facility.  They just simply ignored these fellow citizens. Many, I would say  far  far more  than I expected,  of the local citizens turned out to show their elected Officials that they want to keep their elderly care home, known as “The Homestead”.  Certainly issues were raised about financial needs and whether Sussex County should be providing these services to their citizens.  But in my mind, on such a personal and very local issue, that being the care of those in Sussex County who cannot care for themselves; I simply could not understand such disregard by these local officials of the outcry of the community.  And disregard they did.  I wonder why? Why would such an expression of desire by so many of their fellow  community members be ignored? It saddens many of us when the local political process fails in such a way.  We can only wonder if somehow we as voters have created an environment of contempt for the expressions of concern by the citizens, that these local elected officials could just ignore the people as if they simply did not matter.     It is an example of a failure on a local level of Democracy.

We know such political issue and controversy  happen many times each day across our nation and perhaps the lack of a price to pay by such elected officials is the answer. They always get reelected and even move on to higher office.  Sadly so many citizens do not even vote.
Perhaps we should know those we vote for much better than we do.  I know we wish there was a way we could.

Lest you think this occurred without wide public awareness the local newspaper, “The New Jersey Herald”,  gave excellent first class coverage of the entire activity of the County Board of Freeholders.  The New Jersey Herald Newspaper did its job in an exemplary manner, the citizens did their job and  appeared so they would  be heard and showed that people do care about what goes on in their community  but the political process miserably failed.  The entire video is much longer than what I post here which only contains some excerpts.  On our future new server the entire video will be posted along with many others. “The Advertiser News” a Straus Newspaper,  also gave quality coverage which can be found at:  http://advertisernewsnorth.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120417/NEWS01/120419944/0/comment03/Homestead-future-worries-residents-and-workers
Kenneth Ellman , email:ke@kennethellman.com