Before last month’s primary election, I read with curiosity week after week Tom Milhous’ ads in both Brigantine papers. Now that he is the Republican candidate who will face 4th Ward Councilman Ken Schaffer, Mr. Milhous has come up with his seven-point plan. Let’s review.

1.    Consider Fair Property Re-assessments – Wasn’t it Ken Schaffer and the councilmen-at-large who paved the way for this, much to the consternation of the mayor?

2.    Reduce Taxes by Making Employee Benefit Packages Affordable – In addition to this, Ken Schaffer and the councilmen-at-large proposed eliminating positions that allowed for abuse of the pension system.

3.     Reduce Taxes by Eliminating the Public Safety Director Position – The three minority councilmen have already proposed this, as well as eliminating the Emergency Management Coordinator and Housing Liaison positions, during the last budget process.

4.   Make City Manager Accountable to Council and Residents – Isn’t this one of the reasons why the three minority councilmen requested Mr. Barber’s resignation and have pushed for an unbiased process to choose the next city manager?

5.    Eliminate Positions for Professional Services Contractors – See points 2 and 3.

6.    Establish Term Limits on Councilmen and Mayor – also proposed by the minority council members.

7.   Maximize Residents Attendance at Council Meetings – The Saturday, June 15 council meeting, for which the minority councilmen had to practically beg to hold, was a great success with a huge turnout. There will also be a Saturday meeting in August.

Mr. Milhous seems to be a few steps behind his opponent, Mr. Schaffer. While Tom Milhous has been building his plan, Ken Schaffer and council-at-large peers have been putting it into action. The most telling thing about Tom Milhous’ selection to run against Ken Schaffer over the “Old” Republican’s candidate John Johnson in the fall, is that it shows that our neighbors in the 4th Ward like the changes they’ve seen since Mr. Schaffer and the councilmen-at-large have been seated.

Lorraine Donohoe