No Time to Hide

The SandPaper printed Bob Golon's "Letter to the Editor" on October 18th 2023

Here is the article:

To the Editor:

Now is not the time to hide.

On Oct. 12, the Jewish Federation of Ocean County, in partnership with the Toms River NAACP and the League of Women Voters, sponsored a Candidates Night. It was an opportunity for state and county-level candidates to address issues of concern in order to combat hate and prejudices of all kinds. Democratic state candidates from Legislative Districts 9, 10, 12 and 30 were in attendance, but not one Republican candidate from any of those districts chose to attend this forum.

The 9th District Democratic ticket in Southern Ocean County, Gabriel Franco (state Senate) and Joe Atura (state Assembly), talked about being upstanders and eradicators of bigotry and hatred beginning with education, lowering property taxes through adjusting school funding formulas, reinstating the millionaires’ tax, giving builders incentives to build affordable housing, helping to provide a new homeless shelter in Ocean County while providing services to help them rejoin the workforce. In other words, working for all people in all communities in Southern Ocean County.

In these times of instability of government at home and terrorist-fueled hatred overseas, the Republican candidates did not have the courage to show up and present their record, or lack of it, for all people in District 9. “Make America Great Again” should mean working for the people, instead of working for a red hat and a pardon.

Now is not the time to cowardly hide. Show your faces, join the dialogue and be part of the solution.

Robert B. Golon

Little Egg Harbor

You can see the article in the SandPaper by clicking HERE