Jackson resident did not like attitude from municipal officials

I read a recent letter to the editor from Jackson Council-woman Ann Updegrave ("Councilwoman Says Former Official Had Reasons for Stirring Crowd," Tri-Town News, June 28) and I was so incensed by it that it prompted me to write a letter myself.

In Ms. Updegrave's letter, she had the nerve to attack former mayor Mike Kafton, incorrectly by the way, saying that he had used the wrong line item for gypsy moth spraying in the last budget he presented. Wow, Ann Updegrave is really out of touch.

Ms. Updegrave, I don't know exactly where you've been, but at least Mr. Kafton made sure that Jackson was sprayed for gypsy moths last year. You completely ignored all the professionals and obviously didn't care about the impact on the residents.

To make matters worse, you had over $5 million of our money just sitting and not being used for anything. (I must add that this followed the greatest tax increase in Jackson history).

And speaking of nerve, how can you seriously claim that Mike Kafton was responsible for the police being called to your meeting? Mr. Kafton didn't incite these people, nor were they unruly. Those officers were called merely as an intimidation tactic by a mayor who was trying to scare Jackson's residents. Heavy-handed actions like these are unconscionable. Those police officers probably needed to be there to control the attitudes of the mayor and fellow council people.

And speaking of attitude, I need to point out how disrespectful you were to us residents that night. We had dozens of residents in attendance who wanted to express their deep concerns about the gypsy moth problem and we had to wait over two hours before we got the chance to address the council. When we finally got the chance to speak, what did you do but go ahead and leave? You got up and left the meeting. That's right. Walked right out on dozens of residents who waited patiently for their chance to speak and you got up and left. Even more insulting to us residents was that you and the entire council knew you were going to leave because you told them before the meeting.

If you really cared about what we had to say, you and your entire council should have granted the request to have the public portion of the meeting first before all the township business. You should have cared enough to hear what the residents had to say, especially since you knew that you wouldn't be there when they finally came to the microphone.

You, Ms. Updegrave, are just as arrogant and disrespectful as the mayor and Councilman Angelo Stallone. People like you should not be allowed to represent us taxpayers.

Jo Ann Lanzetta

Jackson