Community center would not burden taxpayers

Ihave been reading with great interest the editorials and letters to the editor about Brick's proposed community center. One letter that caught my attention was from Lucy Hull of Brick, who stated that the last thing we need in town is a focal point and that we should provide food for the hungry, assistance for our troubled youth, and relief from our everincreasing tax burden.

I would say that is just what a community center would do. First and foremost, it would be a gathering place for our community. It would be a place where people of all ages could receive help with a range of things from computer classes to exercise classes to information sessions. It would be a place where our troubled youth can gather and do something other than hanging out at the movie theater.

Next she mentions the hungry. The people that need help in our township the most are the ones who live at our housing authority. They are 100 yards away and would be able to walk to get a meal every day without [relying on] the Meals on Wheels program that is now housed miles away. They are the ones that would use it and they would be the closest to it.

Then there is the comment about the ever-increasing tax burden. According to the numbers that I have seen when I watch the meetings, the center will pay for itself when it is operational. Right now, the town spends $40,000 a year to rent space to house just our senior programs. That is a lot of money in rent that we taxpayers get no advantage from. At least we will own the community center and it will be paid off.

Then comes the real issue with Mrs. Hull's letter, and that is the personal attack on the mayor and Township Council. The mayor has said many times that he is committed to not hiring any of his family members to work in Brick Township. That is the end of the story. Unfortunately, that can't be said for the prior administrations that stuffed town hall with family members. The facts don't lie and neither does that roster of people working in town hall.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Hull fails to state the facts correctly in her letter and that is the real disservice to the people of Brick, not a community center.
James P. Donnelly
Brick