To the Editor:

Like most elections, this one is very important. Municipal finance is quite unique and requires very special long-term training and experience. Townspeople want, good schools, nice parks, safe roads, well staffed police, and town hall personnel, volunteer firefighters and all the other features of good government that make a community a wonderful and most desirable place to live. That all requires money and unlike business, which just passes any added costs of production on to the consumer, in this case the consumer is the taxpayer! A very unique and special kind of long-term planning and most important understanding of municipal finance, bonds, short-term financing and rating authorities like Moody’s are critical, in preserving a high credit rating and thus a low interest rate when borrowing, is essential.

For all the above reasons and many more like integrity, industry, extensive knowledge in the field, and proven outstanding leadership, I would recommend to the electorate a person with whom I worked for many years on the Legislative Council and for the subsequent years he has served as chairman of the finance committee, a truly outstanding candidate for reelection, John Kortze

Sincerely,

Melissa Pilchard

372 Golf View Drive, Little Egg Harbor, NJ          October 20, 2009