Resident's Letter to Mayor: Don't Sell Land

February 1, 2012                       

Mayor Impreveduto,

   Do not sell land to pay off debt!

    History is replete with tales of woe of those who did. Even countries such as France lost a great deal when it sold off the “Louisiana Purchase” to meet obligations; Russia took a big beating when it sold off Alaska to the U.S., which we called “Seward’s Folly”, for $7,200,000 to pay off debt. There are many similar stories of lesser events with equivalent outcomes.

   Let’s not follow such mistakes with irremediable, irretrievable, irredeemable sales of Holmdel land. It may seem like a quick fix for this year’s overexpenditure but afterward, then what ….?

   An important understanding we must all come to grips with is “we can’t afford ourselves”. Or at least we, as Holmdel residents, can’t afford to persist in trying to live as we had in the past with Holmdel’s great services. And township leaders should not pretend otherwise.

   Holmdel, as well as many other New Jersey townships, has been tossed an economic bombshell due to many factors including the recession we’re living through. But history tells us that this condition will change if we can weather the challenge. We’ll have to suck in and tighten our belts for the time being—hopefully only a few years. Even if property taxes must be raised a few percentage points to get by, that option is at least reversible as conditions improve, as they will. But any intended increase must be accompanied by a full line item disclosure so the taxpayers can have a clear understanding of Holmdel’s debts and credits and current shortfalls and thereby make their intelligent decisions known to the Holmdel Township Committee.

   But never sell land or Holmdel will forever regret it.

   And don’t blame other causes for our pecuniary predicament, our enemy is us for not foreseeing any problems and having reserves to deal with them. That’s why we store food and water, build roofs over our houses, fill gas tanks, and anticipate rising costs far enough ahead of time to avoid the catastrophe we now have.

Respectfully yours,

Leo Slobodin