Open Letter to South Orange Residents

On Saturday, a campaign worker for the Village First slate (Mehu, Kika, Sullivan) rang my doorbell in Montrose and asked me to read a letter, despite his having seen a sign on my lawn for the South Orange 2013 team (Collum, Schnall, Clarke). “Are you trying to change my mind?” I asked. “Just read the letter,” he replied. “It’s really important. It’s about Marylawn.”

The letter was thoroughly disappointing, not because the Village First team was trying to win my vote, but because they were trying to do it by misrepresenting the other team with what appeared to be fear mongering tactics. The letter went on to say that Marylawn High School on Scotland Road is closing, the property will be up for sale, and the Village First slate is “very concerned” that if their opponents are elected, they will “strongly support” applications for dense, affordable rental housing on that site.

I commend any honest effort to reach voters, even those intending to support a different candidate, but not this way because it’s just wrong. The South Orange 2013 team has made it clear in their economic development platform that mixed-use and moderate density in our business districts can help shift the property tax burden from homeowners onto commercial properties, and they have also spoken about the need for foot traffic to support our small businesses. I’ve spoken to these candidates and they’ve had events in Montrose and West Montrose to address the topic of Marylawn, and they not once did they say they would support this site for “dense affordable housing.” It appears the term “dense affordable housing” was used in the letter to suggest that hundreds of units will be built for low-income people and this would hurt property values and destroy the character of our neighborhood. I’m not sure exactly what the intent was or what result they were hoping for, but for this voter, the inferences made in the letter are distasteful.

Forgive my naïveté, but I like to think of our town leaders as residents, neighbors and friendly acquaintances first, and politicians second; and so it is my hope that Village First will refrain from using such controversial tactics and speak only of what they know for certain during the closing hours of the campaign. The Village First team consists of good, talented people. It’s a shame that their letter ever saw the light of day, and I for one am delighted that they saw fit to stop using it when confronted about its inaccuracies. I don’t know how many people read it, but I wanted to do my part as a resident of this neighborhood to share my thoughts.

Best wishes for a great turnout on Election Day,

Steven Barboza