Letter to the Editor: Campbell's Honesty, Integrity Make Him Top Choice For Brick School Board

EDITOR'S NOTE: Letters to the editor regarding the 2016 election will be accepted until 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, for publication no later than Saturday, Nov. 5. No election-related letters will be published after Nov. 5. Letters can be emailed to karen.wall@patch.com. Include your name, address, and a telephone number for verification. Letters will be carefully verified, are subject to editing for spelling and grammar, and we reserve the right to reject any letter.

TO THE EDITOR:

It is my pleasure to highly recommend Walter Campbell for the Brick Board of Education. This is a man of honesty, dedication, and a man of the highest integrity. It has been said by members of the present board and certain candidates that Mr. Campbell has cost the taxpayers about 1.3 million dollars on “wrong size windows” in the district. This statement is absolutely untrue! I served on the facilities committee with Mr. Campbell when he graciously remained involved with the committee as a citizen volunteer after his term. His knowledge of the many projects underway was tremendous and he was still willing to give his time to help see them through to completion. When the committee was given the choice of two different types of windows to be used in the project, he shared with us the pros and cons of both types. The committee investigated and made a recommendation to the rest of the board. To characterize what happened as anything else is completely dishonest to the public! All you have to do is read the meeting minutes of these facilities committee meetings to see the truth. Also, board members (who are volunteers) do not oversee the employees of the district. That is not legal or the responsibility of a board member. That is why we have paid administrators and employees. There is a facilities director who reports to the business administrator in the case of our facilities.

This present board blames the previous board or boards for everything that they can't get right and then gave the taxpayers of Brick a 3.51 percent increase on their property taxes. As a point of reference, in the three years before this present BOE was elected, the property taxes were raised 0 percent, .18 percent and 0 percent, by the previous boards. I believe this shows efficiency, productivity, and concern for the taxpayers and students.

Mr. Campbell has tirelessly overseen the multiple facilities repairs and upgrades that have taken place. His unmatched diligence and effort have helped bring to fruition long-needed projects such as 11 state-of-the-art science labs, energy-efficient windows throughout our schools, new stadium seating after the old stadium was condemned, new seating at Brick Memorial High School auditorium, and the new outdoor track and improvements to the indoor gymnasium, just to name a few. He made sure that fiscally responsible energy-saving projects were being accomplished at every school. All of these projects were being done without additional cost to the taxpayers of Brick and working within the limits of our budget. Almost all of the projects were also offset by state aid that was available at the time. Walter Campbell had great input in our BOE receiving this state aid.

In closing, I highly recommend Walter Campbell, No. 1 on the ballot, for our Brick Board of Education.

Sincerely,
John Talty,
Brick