Letter to the Editor: Sontz Explains Third Ward Candidacy
Democratic nominee for Council discusses issues.
To the Editor,
I am Matt Sontz, the Democratic candidate for the Westfield Town Council for the Third Ward. Although I have already begun meeting many of my fellow third ward residents, I would like to introduce myself to you and let you know about my candidacy.
I live on Vernon Terrace (corner of Central Avenue) with my wife and children. My two sons attend Jefferson School and the Westfield YMCA Pre-School, respectively. I have coached kindergarten and first grade baseball. I have also circulated and presented petitions to the Westfield Town Council to restore the crossing guard at Sycamore and Central and to move the Central Avenue Pedestrian Crossing to a location that makes sense. The crossing guard at Sycamore and Central was restored. I previously ran for Town Council in 2007, which was an extremely rewarding experience.
My candidacy is about changing the way our Town Council does business, restoring fiscal responsibility, restoring basic services, and making our Town Council more responsive.
Our town now faces extraordinary challenges that are the result of years of questionable decision-making and a failure to recognize our most important needs. Our town's fire rating has been lowered, our police force and fire department are at their lowest levels of staffing, our fire department's ladder truck sits dormant in its garage, crossing guards on Central Avenue have been removed, pot holes go unrepaired, roads go unpaved while deteriorating, roads go unplowed, the Central Avenue pedestrian crossing light is confusing and improperly located, full time pensions are being unnecessarily given to part-time employees, our 9-1-1 system is on the brink of obsolescence with a race against time to replace it, our town's bond rating has been lowered, speeders are rampant in our neighborhoods, and it goes on and on.
I believe our Town Council can do better. I look forward to meeting you and discussing the important issues that we face and how we can solve them. For more information, I invite you to visit my website: www.mattsontz.com.
I wish you and your family a safe and happy summer.
Sincerely,
Matt Sontz
Democratic Candidate for Westfield Town Council-Third Ward
Thompson Crimmins
8:22 am on Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Mr Sontz, you talk a lot about problems in Westfield, but you fail to elaborate on any of them, nor do you provide any solutions. If you're going to criticize an opponent, the very least you can do is elaborate upon your critiques. Otherwise, you look foolish and appear to be playing partisan politics.