The Hammonton Gazette 01/01/2014 | Page 6

Page 6 • Wednesday, January 1, 2014 • The Hammonton Gazette The Hammonton Gazette “The Paper of Record” Gabriel J. donio, Publisher Gina rullo, Editor-in-Chief dan russoman, Sports Editor Benny Mendez, Staff Artist Marysusan hoffman, Paul J. Macrie iV Michael hozik, donna Brown, Joseph Bruno, Lauren Bucci, Lauren Crescenzo, Brian Morris, anthony Marella, Staff The Hammonton Gazette is located at 233 Bellevue ave. to reach a staff member, call 704-1940 or fax at 704-1938. the mailing address is P.o. Box 1228, hammonton, NJ 08037. editoriaLs The Hammonton Gazette is published Wednesdays, by The Hammonton Gazette, Inc. Copyright © 2014. All rights reserved. ISSN 1093-6181 auld Lang syne As the clock was winding down on 2013, The Gazette’s “big thinkers” were contemplating the question: Why doesn’t Hammonton have a big, public New Year’s Eve gathering? Now that it looks like the Hammonton vs. St. Joe game will be eliminated from our town’s social calendar, and in fact it’s possible there won’t be any football game played on Thanksgiving Weekend in Hammonton next year, we need an additional social event to go with the MainStreet Hammonton Downtown Christmas Tree Lighting and Firemen’s Christmas Parade. We’ve always had three big, public social events to end the year in Hammonton. They go with the other social events during the year: the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the Greater Hammonton Chamber of Commerce’s Red, White and Blueberry Festival, the two Cruisin’ MainStreet events, the Kiwanis Halloween Parade, MainStreet Hammonton’s Downtown Trick-orTreat and many more. So, our thinkers thought, where and how will we usher in the New Year in town? Just as quickly, we came up with the answer. Since there is a push to restore the town clock, let’s set a deadline to do that job by New Year’s Eve 2014 at midnight. Then we can have a double celebration: One for the restoration of the town clock; and another for the naming of the location of the town clock as the place we will celebrate the coming of the New Year in Hammonton annually. It’s a central location with plenty of room for a couple of thousand people. The streets can be blocked off, and the clock is close to restaurants and shops, which could stay open late that night. Problem solved. Our new tradition to replace the Hammonton vs. St. Joe game begins on New Year’s Eve 2014, if someone wa nts to organize it. For Auld Lang Syne. . . . evaluation needed It was announced with some fanfare in December that the Atlantic County Government had signed a preliminary agreement with The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey to build a new multimillion dollar facility for a centralized countywide dispatch service for emergency services in municipalities throughout the county. As longtime readers of The Gazette are aware, we are staunchly against consolidation. During difficult economic times, the argument is often raised that “home rule” is “too costly” for each municipality to retain its own services, such as dispatchers. While we agree that frugality is important on every level of government, we believe that consolidation of services on the county level may be more about consolidation of power than saving taxpayers money. After all, taxpayers in each municipality will still have to fund the construction of a new facility and the employees who will work there. It remains to be seen if local taxpayers will see a lower tax bill, or if the money will just be shifted from their municipal taxes to their county taxes. With the money seemingly a push, we come back to the issue of power. Right now, according to Mayor Stephen DiDonato, Hammonton employs four full-time dispatchers and two part-time dispatchers. Soon, those jobs could move to the county (Although there is no guarantee which dispatchers will be hired, or if the total number of dispatchers in municipalities across the county will equal the total number of dispatchers at the new county facility.) Either way, the county will gain jobs on its payroll, and the town will lose jobs on its payroll. The county will gain control of a service, and the town will lose control of a service. The residents will have dispatchers that see them as one of 250,000 people, instead of one of 15,000 people. Home rule will be lessened, and in our opinion, so will service and public safety. And what will we do with the dispatch area we built into the new town hall just a half a decade ago? The town should make sure we are gaining something in the bargain to eliminate our own dispatchers to become part of a county system. These days it feels like our town is being dismantled, piece by piece – and the decision-making power is being moved to a level out of reach of the common Hammontonian. to the editor: Letters to the editor Over the last year I have waited patiently to express myself. It wasn’t until just this week that I saw and read what I had been waiting for. How can any of us who live in Hammonton feel comfortable and content with the fact that the Hammonton High School is leaving the Cape Atlantic League? When this information first came out I hoped the board of education and administration would reconsider. But, instead, we were given all the reasons why this was a good move. Two areas of concern were the distances to travel to games and the class time lost by students. Were any of us surprised to learn that the WJFL placed Hammonton in their National Conference and now they will travel to Clearview, Pennsauken and Kingsway? Are those distances any shorter, or the ride any better for the student-athletes? I just don’t get it and perhaps I’m missing something. Then again, my background and my thoughts tell me I understand the motive clearly. As a former athletic director, coach, site manager, and teacher in both the Hammonton School District and St. Joseph High School, I recall and understand the workings of the Cape Atlantic League. I spent many years working with other athletic directors and coaches of the CAL. I wonder if all the coaches at Hammonton High School were in favor of this move to another league? Or, was this departure from the CAL to placate and satisfy the football program? Many years ago it was I who recommended Coach Pete Lancetta to a board member and to Superintendent Dr. Benedetto. Through the years it has proven to be a good recommendation because of the success of Hammonton Football. However, now I am getting a different feeling and my thought process causes me concern. For years all I heard was St. Joe has the advantage because they draw from other communities. May I share with everyone a fact? As far back as the 1950s and 1960s St. Joe was accepting students from Atco and Egg Harbor. But, in those days no one seemed to care where their students came from because Hammonton dominated little St. Joe for years. The playing field is even now because Hammonton accepts students from Folsom, Waterford and they are a choice school. Should we compare the male enrollment of HHS to the male enrollment of St. Joe? So why leave the CAL? When this is analyzed it comes down to not wanting to play the parochial schools, especially St. Joe. There is nothing wrong with tradition. We need to hold onto what is wholesome and healthy, but after 52 years this tradition will disappear, possibly forever. I can’t help but think of three gentlemen who would be shocked, disappointed and dumbfounded just like I am. Coach and Athletic Director Bill Capella, Coach and Athletic Director Lou Sulmonetti and Alumnus and HHS Athletic Hall of Fame member Jack Rehmann would not be pleased with this decision by the board of education and the administration. Those three men believed, trusted and understood that Hammonton High School belonged in the Cape Atlantic League now and into the future. They gave tirelessly of themselves to achieve that end. For now, the rest of us will wait, watch and wonder, why the change? I fear that we will all regret this move and wonder what it will do to our community. The schools who we’ve competed against since 1949 will disappear from our schedules. In their place will be the names of schools we have heard of, but in essence are still foreign to us. Are we being fair to, and are we doing what is best for the student-athletes? Sometimes the best change is no change at all. Pete santilli hammonton The Hammonton Gazette welcomes letters to the editor that are no more than 800 words long. All letters must include the name of the author and an addr ess and telephone number for verification. Letters should be mailed to The Hammonton Gazette, Editorial Page, P.O. Box 1228, Hammonton, NJ 08037. Letters also will be accepted via fax. The fax number is 704-1938.  Or by e-mail to [email protected]. Deadline for all submissions is 2 p.m. Monday. The Hammonton Gazette reserves the right to edit any submissions. The opinions expressed in letters, perspectives or in guest columns do not necessarily reflect those of The Hammonton Gazette.  The Gazette is not responsible for factual errors in letters, perspectives or in guest columns. The Gazette retains the right to refuse any submission or advertisement.