Letters

I am an avid deer hunter as well as a farm owner here in Millstone and have to disagree with the mayor’s notion that increasing the hunting season would help the current deer problem within Millstone. We already have the longest deer hunting season ever held in New Jersey. Last year’s deer season (2004-05) ran from Sept. 11 through Feb. 19. This is a full six months of deer hunting. Since the state of New Jersey has increased the seasons, I am seeing fewer deer, not more as some town leaders are claiming.

Furthermore, Monmouth County has implemented hunting on many of our parks during off-peak use times. This includes the Charleston Spring Golf Course as well as nearby Clayton Park in Upper Freehold. Since the project is barely one year old, the results are not apparent yet. I believe this project will go a long way to reducing the deer herd, especially in areas that were off-limits a few years ago.

I agree that bow hunting is a very efficient and safe form of deer hunting. With today’s technologies the proficient bow hunter can harvest a deer with ease. It’s also quiet and very safe. The main problem is hunters only need to harvest a deer or two before their freezer is full.

New hunter recruitment is down year after year, even with great entry-level programs offered by the state. Adding contributions to the existing state program ”Hunters Helping the Hungry” will help hunters with deer processing costs.Let’s get the facts before we go adding and changing laws and contracting with costly outside companies.

I agree that the town should listen to a representative from the state Division of Fish and Game. Review the deer harvest numbers and future plans before proposing their own Band-Aid fix to this statewide problem. Anyone who needs more information on New Jersey’s deer herd can go to the Division of Fish and Game Web site at www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/.

Lou Green

Millstone

New school board members thank residents

We would like to extend our gratitude to members of the community for passing the school budget and for demonstrating their faith in us to serve on the Upper Freehold Regional School Board. The unprecedented level of support we received from parents and grandparents across all districts is testament to our willingness as a community to work through challenging issues as teammates on a level playing field.

We would also like to extend our good wishes to our fellow candidates. How blessed we are as a community to have five people who care so much about our children and our schools that all were willing to endure public scrutiny and take time away from our families to serve.

Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of this campaign for us was realizing how so many residents, regardless of which candidate they backed, truly value our township’s sense of community, something in which our schools play a prominent role. Our contributions to the Board of Education over the next three years will bear this in mind as we feel that strong schools are the result of broad-based community support.

We should take heart in the fact that we, as a community, share the same core values and agree on much more than headlines sometimes lead us to believe. It is for this reason that we feel so incredibly fortunate and optimistic about the opportunity to serve on our school board.

We all have a vested interest in supporting our children and school district; effective communication and follow-through will lead us down the right path. The legacy we will leave our children is being shaped now — let’s succeed for their sake.

Thank you again for your support.

Joe Stampe

Chris Shaw

Upper Freehold

Anti-pollution group urges passage of smoke-free act

The years of brainwashing and rhetoric from the tobacco companies still have some people thinking that second-hand smoke is no more than a nuisance — it’s not. It’s a deadly poison.

As soon as it’s inhaled, secondhand smoke causes immediate body chemistry changes. It causes change in the blood flow to your heart in just 30 minutes. It’s responsible for cancers throughout the body. It causes lung disease. Since smoke is a gas, it spreads completely through the air. Unless completely isolated, “separate sections” and smoking “only at the bar” offer essentially no protection. To protect health, secondhand smoke needs to be avoided.

Workplaces and public places like restaurants that are not 100 percent smoke-free are not safe. If the proprietors won’t protect your health, why give them your business? A smoke-free dining directory — available from New Jersey Group Against

Smoking Pollution (GASP), www.njgasp.org — will help readers find restaurants with clean air.

It’s time New Jersey had a smoke-free air law. Other states are protecting their residents now. New Jersey shouldn’t be one of the last states to do the same. I urge everyone to contact their legislators in Trenton and ask them to pass the Smoke-Free Air Act — S1926 and A3424.

Douglas Chester, D.D.S.

president, New Jersey GASP

Summit

Upper Freehold resident questions wording on school election ballot question

After receiving my sample ballot for the April 19 school board and budget election I read the public question: “Resolved, That there should be raised for the General Fund $13,445,389 for the ensuing school year (2005-06).” Red flags went up. The school election is to elect school board members, and to approve the school budget. The way the question is worded, it would appear that the voters are being asked to approve the tax levy.

I sent an e-mail on April 17 to the Monmouth County Election Board bringing this fact to their attention. I also faxed that same message to the Upper Freehold Regional School Board office, and to the mayor’s offices in Allentown and Upper Freehold

It is my belief that the ballot is defective Further, it is my belief that if the ballot is defective, then the entire election is (or should be) void.

Walter F. Helfrecht

Upper Freehold Township