Hoboken Reporter, August 29, 2004

Dear Editor,

Your August 22 edition contained yet another letter praising developer Joe Barry, who recently confessed to giving cash to a politician. The writer, a native Hobokenite, glossed over the federal Model Cities program which provided the funding and gave the payoff artist full credit for the existence of subsidized housing low-income housing in our town.

On the same date, a New York Times commentary on recent scandals noted that "the very premise of New Jersey's political system is that virtually any government service can and should be traded for campaign cash, sometimes legally and sometimes illegally."

Apparently, those born and raised in Hoboken are taught that it's OK for local builders and politicians to break the law at will, as long as fellow citizens (like the writer's sister) can enjoy the benefits. To a native of another state, this attitude seems immoral.

Your latest contributor concludes by saying to Barry's detractors: "What you are speaks so loudly, I can't hear what you are saying." Is this an acceptable standard of debate? Should those who disagree leave town?

John Glasel
Hoboken