Letters to the editor

Replacing important positions

It was just reported that Hamilton Townships business administrator John Ricci , is retiring at the end of the year, and Mayor Yeade , has already named outgoing Councilman Dave Kenny, to replace him.

John Ricci, is a professional business administrator with forty years of experience. Hamilton is the 9th largest municipality in New Jersey with a budget that now exceeds one hundred million dollars. You would think he would be hard to replace.

You would think the mayor would search beyond the municipal building to fill this important position.

This mayor has limited business administration experience and needs all the help she can get to meet the challenges that come with running a large municipality like Hamilton.

She was fortunate to have a person like John Ricci to handle administrative functions while she kept busy having her picture taken and inviting residents to attend Township events.

Simply put this is too important of a position to be given to a person simply on the basis of politics.

She would be wise to publically announce this pending vacancy, and search far and wide to find a qualified replacement before Mr. Ricci leaves at the end of the year. — Joe Tighue, Hamilton Democrat

Chris Smith and HR 38

HR 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, would allow individuals with concealed carry permits from any state to carry firearms in New Jersey. It puts New Jersey residents in danger by allowing states with weaker provisions to dictate the rules nationally. Since states like Arizona and Utah accept concealed carry applications from anywhere in the country, a resident of New Jersey could apply for a permit in Arizona and New Jersey would be forced to honor that permit. This nullifies the background checks, live-fire training, and other stringent safeguards that New Jersey requires. The passage of HR 38 could flood NJ with concealed weapons that would never have been allowed under current law.

In 2011, Chris Smith voted in favor of a nearly identical bill, HR 822. He chose to support the gun lobby and other states over his own constituents, by undermining the safety precautions they have duly enacted through the legislative process. Applying for a concealed weapon permit in New Jersey should require abiding by New Jersey’s rules. Smith must put the interests of New Jersey residents first,and vote no on HR 38.

— Greg DeLuca, Robbinsville

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Simply put this is too important of a position to be given to a person simply on the basis of politics.