Why Brigantine Needs Change in Government

Letter to the editor, from Vince Sera; Vice-President; ‘Respectable Government for Brigantine’…

As a spokesperson for Respectable Government for Brigantine, I would like to take this opportunity to answer a few questions.

First, by signing the petition you are not locking yourself into any change of government. By signing the petition, you are simply giving the people of our community the opportunity to decide for themselves if they would like to return to the three-commissioner form of government. As with any governing body, the most important voice should be the citizens. Our goal is to provide the people of Brigantine the opportunity to be heard.

Second, the option for the three-commissioner system was chosen because it best meets the needs of our community and it is still working well for many other shore communities. At the time when we adopted the seven member council/ manager system, Brigantine’s population was growing. We needed a larger government to meet the growing needs of the island.

But times have changed, and the population of our island has shrunk. We no longer need such a large governing body. The issues that we face as citizens of Brigantine are not ones that only affect one area or one small group – they are issues that impact all of us. Brigantine is too small of an island to be divided into competing factions. Under the three-commissioner system, the island would be forced to unify. Elected officials would no longer have the ability to focus their ideas or decisions on one small group. They would have to broaden their views and their policies to meet the demands of the community at large.

Third, Respectable Government for Brigantine is not trying to promote any political party or elected official over the other. In fact, the three-commissioner system would be a nonpartisan form of government. One of the major problems hurting our current form of government is the partisan divisions. There are too many people fighting for political control instead of fighting to make our community better. When people become too focused on which party has control over the government, it puts all of our elected officials in a bad position.

At some point in time, all of the political groups in our community need to put the grievances and vendettas of the past behind them. We need to recognize that, first and foremost, we are all members of this community and we need to start working together if we want Brigantine to continue to be the great city that we all know and love.

Vincent Sera, Vice-President.
Respectable Government for Brigantine

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3 thoughts on “Why Brigantine Needs Change in Government”

  1. Anti-phony Brigantiner

    Vince’s letter is laughable.
    Work together?
    His 4 man “board” are all Republican.
    Who’s paying for his website?
    Who’s paying for his newspaper ads?

    Best government for a community like ours? REALLY?
    VENTNOR WITH A COMMISION FORM OF GOVERNMENT VINCE IS ADVOCATING,
    has a peition circulating now to recall one of their commissioners. Guess this form of government isn’t working out too well for them is it?
    VENTNOR’s republican commissioners call it POLITICAL.

    Finally, WHERE WAS VINCE WHEN THE REPUBLICAN CONTROLLED CITY COUNCIL cut the Beach patrol Staff, of which he represent’s, by 10 ????
    Was he worried about PUBLIC SAFETY then?
    I don’t remember him having a petition signed to get our Beach Patrol staff up to the levels it needs to insure safety of our most precious resource.

    Some women knocked on my door yesterday calling for “smaller government”.
    What a joke. They admit a “manager-type” will have to be hired.
    Will we also need more $100,000 -a-year cops and firemen?
    I BET THAT”S WHO”S SIGNING VINNY’S PETITION.
    Do they remember when their friend Don Williams the radio Host
    wailed against the salaries our police and firefighters are paid?

  2. This is not about making Brigantine better, It is about favors, The person running Respectable Government was just rewarded with the job of President of the Board of Education. If the petition succeeds will he expect to get a high paying City job? Paid for by higher taxes. For everyone who gets special favors the rest of us will have to pay and do with no services. And the Commission form of government is all about giving special favors because it eliminates all professionalism in running City government.

    When they say they want to work together and have shorter meetings, they mean everyone should just agree with them and stop talking about anything other than what they want. Who needs that?

  3. I’m a little confused about this whole thing. Mr. Sera states that the goal of the group is “to provide the people of Brigantine an opportunity to be heard.” I don’t know Mr. Sera personally but is it possible that he lived elsewhere since 2010 or perhaps, he recently woke up from a 3 year sleep? The people of Brigantine did have a voice in 2010 when they elected 2 Democrats to replace 2 long time ‘at large’ Republican council people. Their voice was heard again in 2012 when they elected Democrats over Republicans by decisive margins in Wards 2, 3 and 4.

    If Mr. Sera and his group are really interested in making sure that the residents of Brigantine are heard, then I’m sure he won’t mind it one bit if the next time either a member of his group or one of their ‘volunteers’ from off the island knocks on your door, you tell them:

    Let the people we elected do their jobs and we’ll decide what works for Brigantine in 2014!

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