Anonymous, demeaning letter writer is a coward

Dear neighbors and friends in Upper Freehold, I received in the United States mail an anonymous, onepage, "dirty tricks" message that was obviously aimed to derail Bryan Scheff's June 3 primary bid for Upper Freehold Township Committee.

This past Saturday (May 24), I hosted a coffee and dessert at my home for Bryan and the residents of the southwestern corner of Upper Freehold Township. It was well attended and at one point Bryan offered that there might be a negative campaign strategy directed against him on the very thing that this one-page message speaks of. So, obviously, all in attendance were put on notice that we could see, read, or hear something intending to damage and tarnish his reputation.

While I'm not about to get into the detail of the story (you can do that on your own by carefully reviewing the links provided in the message or you may already have heard it from Bryan himself), I do want to voice my great displeasure and indignance that anyone in this township or outside would stoop so low as to attempt to smear and demean a well-meaning, bright, articulate, caring and upright person who wishes only to have the best for all in the community in which he lives.

I don't know who the lout is who propagated this one-page message. Rest assured, however, that if I do find out who it is, the name will be made public so that all may know. If it is from someone outside of Upper Freehold, who may have had a disagreement with Bryan in the past on something, let that person state his case without the cloak of secrecy. After all, our leaders are supposed to be for transparency in all that goes on in the public venue.

This sort of last-minute, anonymous, cowardly display of utter lack of civility toward a member of this community ought never be tolerated. There is no time to allow for public rebuttal or retraction of the misinformation that has been put out. That is outright defamation of character if ever there was a more perfect example of such.

It is my strong belief that the good citizens of Upper Freehold Township will see this "dirty trick" for what it is, look past it, get over it and know that a vote for Bryan would not bring this township to its knees.

Walter F. Helfrecht

Upper Freehold