Vote in November

This coming November, Mercer County voters will vote for four new Freeholders to serve our beautiful, yet stagnant county. Whether many realize it or not, this Freeholder election will determine the future growth of Mercer County for generations. Our Freeholders wield more clout then most residents realize – and they’re handsomely paid as well.

The current Freeholder Board spends much of our tax dollars on friendly pet projects, too. Take, for example, the recent Freeholder Board resolution authorizing an ‘Extraordinary Unspecifiable Service Agreement with Tim Gaydos for the Mercer County Criminal Courthouse Public Art Project - Amount Not to Exceed $74,000.00’. ’ We are paying a professional artist, born and raised in New York City (not Mercer County), educated at USC Berkley – while our local artists struggle for recognition.

Only a Freeholder Board without even one dissenting voice and vote could authorize such a folly. The one-party domination of Mercer County government must change and it has to change now. The cost of Mercer County government is so high that the Mercer County Italian American Festival has moved to Burlington County. The current overseers of our county budget, our 100% Democrat Party-controlled Freeholder Board ensured this sad loss of heritage and prestige through their inaction, unwillingness to question authority and lack of leadership.

Everyone, especially our seniors and young people, needs a county in which they can afford to live – and the time for choosing is now. This is no time for party politics and Mercer County voters must lead us in a new direction before it is too late. — Mary R. Walker, Mercer County Freeholder Candidate – Republican Party, Hamilton