Common Sense For New Hampshire

Janet Grosshandler, a member of the committee to stick Belmar with $7 million more debt, wrote a letter to the Star which was published today.  Ms. Grosshandler was the treasurer for the Magovern-Blackburn campaign last year and lived in Wall at the time.  She has since moved to an apartment in Belmar.  To my knowledge she has never seen a Belmar property tax bill with her name on it and if she registered to vote in Belmar she did so only very recently.

Here is her letter with my comments in red italics.

I’m clarifying what happened at our meeting last week to promote passing Belmar’s public question to rebuild the pavilions. Here is information I believe as truth instead of innuendos that a handful of people promote. I am a member of the Rebuild Belmar Pavilions [RBP] committee and we are tired of what I feel is misinformation that a small group pushes around Belmar.  (The mayor, the Democrats on the Council, the administrator and borough attorney are a small group.  She must be talking about them.)

Mostly spread by word-of-mouth, (and an email “inviting all”) our RBP committee meeting was held to get information out to dispel the insinuations that this Belmar recovery opposition is trying to feed people. There were Democrats, Republicans and Independents present, in other words, (hand selected) Belmar townspeople and business owners who care about our town and want to move forward.  (BTW, every time these people say “recovery” think “debtor’s prison”)

Of course RBP asked the mayor and supporting council members to come to tell us the process that created the Pavilions plan- like the 11-member (Democrat campaign-contributor) committee that met for months, including members of police, first aid, lifeguards, water rescue team, to clarify the needs. We are people who care about Belmar and its pavilions. There was no “violation of the law” as printed in a recent Coast Star article about this meeting. It was a private meeting.  (“All are invited”)

As to the claim that a Jim Bean was “not allowed” into the meeting [also a quote from last week’s article], I believe that this was just another planned grandstanding ploy from Jim Bean. I believe he stood there yelling to get attention and then stormed out, perhaps having The Coast Star’s reporter on speed dial to get his name in the paper.  (Jim Bean was not allowed into the meeting.)

As to DeSanctis’ (Her name is Joy, Grosshandler!) comment in the same Coast Star article that the mayor “using his position to pick sides,” duh. The public question is to say “yes” to the mayor and council’s hard work to complete Belmar’s recovery (debtor’s prison). The mayor and council (following orders) already said “yes” to this vote. The Aug. 19 vote is to pass the council approved bond ordinance. Hundreds of us are on “this side” and over 55 residents attended our meeting about voting “yes” on Aug. 19.  (I don’t know where she gets her “hundreds” from.  Did they do a vote already?  One thing we do know is that over 300 people signed the petitions calling for the referendum.  And this time, Gene Murray didn’t “accidentally” sign.)

Belmar residents, we need these pavilions. (Please drop the “we”.  You haven’t even been living here a year.  And while pavilions will be nice, the beach does seem to be thriving without them.)  They have been scaled down to being functional to meet Belmar’s needs. (And why were they “scaled down?  Because the ones originally presented to us were completely ridiculous.)  There are no frills here. We are replacing and rebuilding what was there. (If only that were so.)  In order to make it ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliant, FEMA approved so we can get reimbursement and built to comply with V zone construction requirements, it is going to cost money.  (The issue is, for the umpteenth time, how much money?)

When I hear someone say, “vote this down so we can build it cheaper,” I cringe. I believe that starting over again can only mean more money down the line. Delaying this for months will not serve Belmar. Build one pavilion at a time? I think that would cost more. Send it out for other bids? I believe that there’s a very strong chance a new lowest bid will be more than what we have now.  (That’s what you believe.  I believe that a different mayor will get these pavilions built for a lot less money.)

The Rebuild Belmar Pavilions committee wants you to vote “yes” on Aug. 19. We are on the side of moving Belmar forward, of rebuilding what we have lost and completing our recovery (debtor’s prison.). Do you want this tiny group to keep holding us back? (Tiny? Over 300 people signed the petition.) The “nay-sayers” will not stop us who want Belmar to thrive. Vote

yes!  (Vote no.)