Kathleen, What do you really think?

In Response to Walsh Press Release

Written by Kathleen Cody Bjelka

Reprinted from the Atlantic Highlands Herald

Wednesday, 22 October 2008

Mrs. Walsh, It is apparent you put the interests of your political party, above the concerns & needs of the taxpayers, students and parents. In the last two years alone, you have run for three political Offices-freeholder, state assembly and now township committee. With all this campaigning, it is amazing you have any time left for the school board.

Just because everything you do is politically motivated, does not mean that others are. Don't flatter yourself, Mrs. Walsh-nobody is directing this recall committee to hatch "a political smear campaign on you" as your Democratic Party Headquarters stated in the Email Press Release they sent to the local papers & web sites for you. Your accusations are amusing, yet disturbing. Both of your statements, claiming the Board of Education Recall petition is "because you are a Democrat" reinforce my first impression of you. It confirms your self- interest political motivation and selfish intentions to serve on the Board of Education. It makes this recall all the more necessary.

The recall by Mr. James Cody, Mr. Anthony Testa, and me, is not politically motivated as you would love to make it. None of us hold a political position, nor are we running for a political position. We,along with other avid attendees of School Board meetings, are there as concerned residents, taxpayers and parents of students in the school district, who get involved for the sake of the children of Middletown. We deeply care about Middletown as a whole and shun when we see, servants as you, Mrs. Walsh, take advantage of the taxpayers and children.

Mrs. Walsh, as a servant of Middletown School District Taxpayers, your duty is to represent all without prejudice, so whether taxpayers, students or citizens are Republican, Democrat or Undeclared should never matter to you, or have bearing on any decisions & comments made by you or any other Board of Education Members, let alone the Democratic Party.

You are a detriment to Middletown, and the BOE, and surely should not even be allowed to run for the Township Committee based on your past. Middletown Taxpayers have a right to know of your horrendous record.

We, the petitioners, have been to many, many meetings and have petitioned a Recall due to your actions Mrs. Walsh. Jim Cody has attended every board meeting for the past 6 years, as you well know. He has been instrumental in calling for your accountability time after time. You, Mrs. Walsh, are the lone Board member that still to this date, refuses to provide transparency and accountability of your actions and ethics as a Board of Education member.

You are also the longest sitting member currently on the board. You just don't like the fact that at BOE meetings we ask for accountability of the taxpayer's money & insist on stopping waste; we ask for accountability for the poor decisions you've made; such as the recent Cell Tower installation request & approval vote for the installation at High School South.

Your continued failure to become accountable makes me wonder. Was the Cell Tower Vote, politically motivated? Was the hiring of an unqualified, inexperienced Project manager being paid over 180,000.00 to watch over the botched field, another friend? Why did you cut students special need classes, yet a month later you vote to hire 2 additional superintendents that were unbudgeted for? Superintendents hired on a whim that are not needed!

Also, in 1999, after asking for taxpayers to pick up your tab, Ms. Walsh, you accepted a $30,000 gift as a defendant in a lawsuit, which you failed to disclose on your personal financial disclosure, as required by law. You have never presented proof of disclosure, you merely wave a piece of paper stating it's proof, but you never present and show the proof after being asking many times to do so.

Transparency, Mrs. Walsh, where is the transparency? Your actions on this board have been merely self-serving. Throughout your years on the Board of Education, you have tried numerous times to use your position on the Board of Education as a stepping stone to a political position, and have failed each time. The only transparency you show is putting the interests of your Political Party, above the Educational concerns & needs of the students, taxpayers and parents.

The voters have a right to know your record of abusive spending, incompetent, detrimental decision making costing the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. You have raised spending and taxes more than any official in Middletown history. This wasteful spending on sweetheart packages for school superintendents and botched turf field projects, have caused property taxes for the average homeowner to increase more than $1,400 per year now--for a total of more than $4,000 for every Middletown homeowner. You still wonder why the Recall?

Needless to say, we will continue obtaining signatures to recall your board of education position and we will NOT be voting for you for township committee, Mrs. Walsh. We will ask voters to send you a message, and put your 11 years of careless spending of our tax dollars to an END, you can call it political, but we call it making the right decision for Middletown's children and taxpayers.

Pam Brightbill & Tony Fiore care about the taxpayers and put us first! We will be voting for Pam Brightbill and Anthony Fiore and hope & encourage others do the same.

Kathleen Cody Bjelka

Middletown, NJ

Editors note: Pat Walsh's press release referred to in this letter was not published on MoreMonmouthMusings because Pat Walsh does not send us her press releases or even return our phone calls and emails.