Since Thomas Hartman lied about our volunteers and tried to kill Barnegat's Heritage Day, the writing was sadly on the wall. We all knew we lived in the best place. We didn't need a magazine to tell us we were number 1, or number 270. Our schools and kids are great. Our neighbors are caring, and our town had pride...symbolized in the beautiful new clock that the town rallied around and paid for. Then, Hartman and a morally corrupt and political Chamber of Commerce worked together to stop Barnegat's citizens from celebrating their town pride and heritage. Why did they do this? To ensure the Chamber continue to collect money from its Merchants Mart. You see, Heritage Day was about town pride, and its organizers did not want to have a Merchants Mart. The story is simple...Hartman tried to shut down Heritage Day and replace it with Community Day. Hartman lied to the press -- who in turn covered up his lies with no follow-up stories. The Chamber of Commerce then brought in an un-knowing Police Department to hide behind and then magically...problem solved...the Chamber will have an event in June to hold their money-making Merchants Mart.

Now by this point you're probably sick and tired about hearing about Heritage Day. What do you care? It has nothing to do with you. Who cares, right? WRONG. It has everything to do with you, and the decline in our quality of life. When I saw with my own two eyes the Mayor of our town lie and not a single person in our town stand up and do something about it, I knew Barnegat was in big trouble. If the Twp. could lie about a little community event and no one does anything, what else could they lie about? How about the safety of your streets. How about our trash pick up. How about the qualifications of the Twp. Administrator. How about some pay raises. How about a new park. How about your taxes. How about...well I could go on and on, couldn't I?

When leaders know they are not accountable to a few of the people they serve, it's not long before they realize they don't have to be accountable to ANY of the people they serve. This has been the story of little Barnegat, NJ and of Committeeman Hartman.

Committeeman Hartman should now be required to tell the people of Barnegat why this magazine he was so proud of NOW tells us that Lavalette, Manchester Twp., Beachwood Borough, Pt. Pleasant Beach, Lacey Twp., Berkeley Twp., Brick Twp., Pt. Pleasant Borough, Jackson Twp., Eagleswood Twp., Toms River, Pine Beach, and Tuckerton are now better places to live than Barnegat. Do you think Committeeman Hartman will take that responsibility?

So who is responsible for Barnegat's fall as now seen for all in NJ Monthly Magazine? I dont' need a magazine to tell me about my town. I live it...I see it...I have exerienced it first-hand. I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT POOR LEADERSHIP HAS LED TO A DECLINE IN MY QUALITY OF LIFE. POOR LEADERSHIP HAS LED TO A DECLINE IN MY CHILDREN'S QUALITY OF LIFE. POOR LEADERSHIP HAS LED TO A DECLINE IN MY NEIGHBORS' QUALITY OF LIFE.

It's time for better leadership. Better leadership on the Twp. Committee, and better leadership on the Chamber of Commerce. GOOD LEADERS JUST DON'T TAKE CREDIT WHEN THEY ARE NUMBER ONE...THEY ALSO TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY WHEN THEY ARE NUMBER 270. Let's see if Committeeman Hartman is a good leader. I hope he becomes one. I hope he -- and all the candidates for Twp. Committee -- participate in DowntownBarnegat.com's Candidates Forum 2008. The questions will be fair and simple and non-partisan. I hope they will prove one thing...if we have people in leadership roles with the courage to address simple issues I feel we then have the ability to accomplish great things. Then, and only then, it won't matter that NJ Monthly Magazine says we're number 270...we will know in our hearts we are number one.