Asbury Park Press Write Ups

[admin]

www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080221/LIFE/80219059/1006


TWO FREEHOLDS
Municipalities share pride, friendly rivalry

There's a lot to love about Freehold — but which one?

For the uninitiated out there, there are actually two Freeholds. There is the borough, a roughly circular area of about two square miles in western Monmouth County. And then there is Freehold Township, a more sprawling area of nearly 39 square miles that completely surrounds the borough.

Originally just one town, the borough split away from the township when it incorporated in 1919.

Residents from both towns still travel in and out of each other's towns every day, said Township Committeeman David Salkin.

"It is, in many ways, one big area," Salkin said.

Beyond sharing name, the two towns have little in common. Where the borough is compact and densely populated, the township is large and more spread out. The township has the popular Freehold Raceway Mall; the borough has a bustling downtown.

The township, for the most part, is white and middle class. The borough, on the other hand, has a more varied economic and racial mix.

People in both towns share a fierce pride in their home and a friendly rivalry with each other.

"I always make clear I'm from the borough," said Kevin Coyne, Freehold borough's town historian. "I think you see that among kids. It's a real source of pride."

In the borough, residents say they love the homey feel of their downtown, with its many shops, cafes and restaurants, and the town's diversity of races mingling together.

"I've lived in the borough all my life," said Fred Smith, 69, as he grabbed a cup of
coffee at Tony's Freehold Grill on East Main Street. "The people are a little more friendly. I know my neighbors."

In the township, residents say its the open space, the town's rich history and the good people and schools that make them stay.

"I was here for three weeks, and I felt like I'd been here all my life," Committeewoman Dorothy Avallone recalled thinking when her family moved to the township from Brooklyn 38 years ago.

"I just loved it (Freehold Township)," Avallone said. "I loved the people, and I loved
the town."

"It's a great place to live and I'm glad I can be a part of protecting it," agreed
Salkin, who grew up in Freehold Township and is now raising his own family there.

Hometown pride like Salkin's naturally lends itself toward a bit of good-natured
competition between the two Freeholds.

Even though the schools have students from both towns, Freehold Borough High School computer technician John Reckeweg says he sees that competition emerge when the towns' high schools square off against each other in sports.

"You can see the excitement in the halls," said Reckeweg of Berkeley.

When the towns play against each other, Reckeweg said, "It means more."

[admin]

www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080221/LIFE/802210569/1006

Downtown Freehold bustles with businesses, eateries

Despite changes to the landscape surrounding Freehold's downtown area, it remains the epicenter of commerce for many in the area.

"It was the center of commerce, it was the center of everything," said Susan Sweetman, 65, of Howell, who was born and raised in the borough. Sweetman said that during her youth, the Freehold downtown was surrounded by farmland.

"Everyone worked on farms or at the rug mill," Sweetman said. "Today, it's a service town."

During her childhood, Sweetman, who moved out of the borough five years ago, said the downtown offered an array of choices geared toward family, including two movie theaters, a bowling alley, grocery stores, butchers' markets, five and dime-type stores as well as a number of drug stores and soda fountains.

Today, that same downtown, with its clustered storefronts and red-brick sidewalks, remains one of her favorite destinations.

"I still look forward going to the downtown area," Sweetman said. "We are still a town that people need, but they need us in a different way."

The downtown area today is composed of a few blocks surrounding East and West Main, Throckmorton and South streets and has an abundance of restaurants and cafes, offering everything from takeout to fine dining, a yoga center, banks, churches, lawyers and other professional offices to help support the county seat, jewelers, beauty salons, auto body shops, doctors offices and a software company.

As it did in the 1990s when construction of Freehold Raceway Mall inspired a revitalization and the creation of the Freehold Partnership Center, more changes are expected downtown.

"We're in the process of completing a vision study to redo the whole downtown," said borough councilman Kevin A. Kane, a lifelong resident.

Kane said the goal is to attract more boutique and specialty stores. The vision study, being conducted by CMX Engineering, will help address parking, traffic and waste concerns.

"What we want to do is to be able to have people walk around and really enjoy the downtown area and be able to go to different places," he said.

Long established businesses, such as Federici's restaurant, known for its thin-crust pizza, and Ballew Jewelers, a family store, continue to line Main Street. This year will mark the resurgence of perhaps its oldest business — The American Hotel, built in 1824.

"(The Freehold) downtown really is "Main Street' in that it has the familiarity that Main Streets used to have," said hotel owner Steve Goldberg, 54, of Manalapan.

"You get to see what is really going on in the community and the history that is there. Because the county seat is there, everyone in Monmouth County has an attachment in some respect. The Hall of Records is there, the county clerk is there," said Goldberg, an area resident for 25 years.

Although the 1990s saw the addition of the mall showcasing hundreds of new businesses, the downtown remained a vital part of the community, which has become more racially diverse, said lifelong resident Jean Ann Leopardi.

"Years ago, Federici's was the only pizza parlor in town," Leopardi said. "The town has changed because of the different ethnic groups."

Stores such as LaPalma Mexican Grocery on Broad Street, Oyako Tso's Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar on West Main Street, Puebla Travel & Latin Music on South Street and several Chinese restaurants cater to that diversity.

"I don't know that it's changed for the better," Leopardi said. "Now, there is more foot traffic, bicycles and vehicles. Getting through the town can be horrendous."

At this time of year, many say, the hustle and bustle centers on hundreds of employees who work in county offices. Summers ignite a new level of activity. The monthly Kruise Nite, showcasing classic and vintage vehicles, draws an average crowd of 50,000. Other popular events include a summer concert series, the Wednesday night Freehold Idol competition, a local take on American Idol and the weekly farmer's market.

This spring will mark the first time the annual San Gennaro Festival will be coupled with a Freehold Day celebration, said Jayne Carr, executive director of the Freehold Partnership Center, the borough's economic development organization. This year also will mark the first time the annual Latino festival will be held closer to the heart of the downtown area.

Carr said the Partnership, created 16 years ago, addresses such issues as the recent implementation of new sandwich board signs, providing additional sidewalk cleaning and maintenance of park areas.

Funding for improvement projects are raised through a commercial business tax of 30 cents per assessed value. Some 300 property owners volunteer their time to the Partnership, along with more than 500 business owners.

"It's a lot of bosses, but that's good because everyone gets to have a say and then we come up with a consensus," Carr said.

Michelle Gladden: [phone]; [e-mail]

[admin]

www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080221/NEWS/802210543/1006

The rich history of the Freeholds


Enter either of the Freeholds, and you will tread land steeped in history.

They may have little else in common, but the borough and township both can lay claim to a rich history dating back to the nation's birth and beyond.

In June 1778, Gen. Henry Clinton and his troops made their headquarters at the Covenhoven House before the Battle of Monmouth, which was fought at Freehold Township's doorstep. And in the borough, patriots gathered at the county courthouse (now the Hall of Records) to hear the Declaration of Independence read aloud.

Originally one large town, the borough split off from the township in 1919 when it was incorporated. Since then, the towns have emerged as very distinct entities with their own unique personalities.

As a boy growing up in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Deputy Mayor David Salkin remembers the township as a quiet farming community just starting to see the encroachment of residential development. If he headed east on the road where he grew up, Three Brooks Road, he could watch cows being milked. And to the west, he said, Route 9 was still a sleepy two-lane highway

"If your ball rolled out into Route 9, you could walk out and get it," he remembers.

"It (Freehold Township) was really a nice place to grow up," Salkin said. But, he added, "Having a great place is a double-edged sword."


From rural to suburban


In the late 1960s, people began pouring into the approximately 39-square-mile township, Committeewoman Dorothy Avallone recalls. In 1960, the township had 4,779 residents. By 1970, that number had nearly tripled to 13,185, according to U.S. Census figures. The population has steadily risen since, clocking in at 19,202 in 1980; 24,710 in 1990; and 31,537 in 2000. A 2006 estimate put the population at 33,953.

"There's not much more room (in town)," said Avallone, who moved to the township with her family in 1970.

In response, township officials have responded by aggressively acquiring open space.

In 1997, Salkin and Eugene Golub, now the mayor, led a committee that devised what Salkin said was the first Open Space and Recreation Master Plan in the state. It outlined the town's land-preservation goals.

The plan evaluated more than 100 pieces of open space in the township that were not already protected, ranking their priority for acquisition. Officials then submitted the document to the state Department of Environmental Protection for help with grants and low-interest loans to purchase property.

Today, the township boasts 7,400 acres of open space, a little less than one-third of the town's total acreage, according to Township Administrator Tom Antus.

And township officials aren't done yet.

At the moment, Salkin says officials have their eyes on the Clayton farm property, located on Route 537 about one mile west of CentraState Medical Center.

"It would be the jewel of the town," Salkin said.

Officials are currently working to buy the development rights for the parcel, which would require it to remain as a farm, Golub said.

Officials have also responded by ensuring development occurs on their terms — for example, by requiring new construction to have colonial-type facades.

"We don't want people coming in and finding a contemporary building next to a colonial building," Avallone said.


Downtown, diversity issues in borough


In the borough of Freehold, an area of roughly two square miles surrounded by the township, officials have not shared in their neighbors' angst over building development.

With the borough almost totally built out, officials face a different set of issues, like the ever-evolving downtown and how to respond to the arrival of new populations.

The borough's downtown remains a hub for western Monmouth County, said Councilman Marc Le Vine, but the reasons people visit are not the same as when he was a boy growing up in Manalapan.

As a child in the 1950s and 1960s, Le Vine recalls the borough as a retail magnet.

"I got my first shoes in town," he said.

Since then, the borough — which had an estimated population of 11,394 in 2006 — has reinvented itself as a service center, a place where people go to eat dinner or to hire a lawyer, or for dealings with Monmouth County government offices or the county courthouse. Freehold is the Monmouth County seat.

Today, Le Vine says the borough is reinventing itself yet again, this time as a niche retail market distinct from the Freehold Raceway Mall and nearby strip malls.

That niche could include boutiques and antique stores, as well as stores catering to the town's Latino and black residents, he said. Le Vine also sees the town capitalizing on the number of restaurants in town to make the downtown a nightlife attraction, with venues like comedy clubs, he said.

"I think the town is becoming more and more of a draw," Le Vine said.

Always a diverse town, the borough has in recent years seen an increase in the number of Latinos. For many years they have been a source of tension due to issues such as overcrowding and absentee landlords. Town historian Kevin Coyne believes the turmoil in town has subsided as the nation has begun echoing residents' concerns.

"Our arguments over immigration have been economic," Coyne said. "I think they (residents) finally realized that the rest of the nation understands where we're coming from."

As residents' frustrations die down, Le Vine says now is the time to open a dialogue with the town's newest additions.

"I think we have a new population that we need to work closely with," Le Vine said. "I do believe that we're turning a corner. It's time for a back-and-forth that's productive."


Hometowns are where the heart is


Despite the issues both the township and the borough are grappling with, and the changes that have occurred in each over the years, residents in both towns agree that their hometown — whichever that may be — is still the only place they would want to live.

"It's a great town in which to live and work," Avallone, the township committeewoman, said.

Coyne, a lifelong resident whose family goes back several generations in the borough, agreed.

"I think (Freehold Borough) is a tight-knit, close town that's trying to remain that way," he said.

He added, "I expect to die here."

Kim Predham: [phone]

or [e-mail]

[admin]

holly said:

"We're in the process of completing a vision study to redo the whole downtown," said borough councilman Kevin A. Kane, a lifelong resident.

"What we want to do is to be able to have people walk around and really enjoy the downtown area and be able to go to different places," he said.

Like OMG, Kevie is such a genious...he wants a place for PEOPLE to walk around and really enjoy AND TO GO TO different PLACES TOO?

Anyone enjoy walking around day laborers or having their young daughters gawked at by illegal aliens?

I always enjoy these articles that the APP does on the different towns. There are many on Freehold, all of which are good to read. When I saw this new one on the front page I thought it was great, and I still do. However, as Holly pointed out, there are some funny little quotes . The one from Kane is a good example. I am trying to figure out why we needed to spend thirty five thousand dollars on a vision study just to have people...... walk around! most of us do that any way. Our town is a pretty place to walk in. There is no question about that. But a vision study for walking?

A couple of other things jump out at me. Sue Sweetman for example. She was one of the Mayor's friends who wrote and scolded Rich Kelsey for his letter. She basically said that he shouldn't have an opinion because he does not live here.

According to the article, she moved out ran away from the borough five years ago. What connection does she really have here that gives her more right than Rich to opine?

If the article was looking for people to speak well of the town, why not more of our own residents? There are plenty of us who do have very good things to say about this town. So why is Sue Sweetman special? Does anybody have an answer?

And last but not least, we saw some more classic quotes from Marc LeVine:


As residents' frustrations die down, Le Vine says now is the time to open a dialog with the town's newest additions.

"I think we have a new population that we need to work closely with," Le Vine said. "I do believe that we're turning a corner. It's time for a back-and-forth that's productive."

That certainly is a nice warm and fuzzy line from the good councilman. But, those of us who have been paying attention know that it is nothing more than one more indication that the governing body is flying the Democrat flag really high, the white flag of surrender. The people who sued this town do own the governing body.

Either way, strange quotes aside, the APP article is a very nice bit of positive public relations for this town. Something we really do need.

[croque monsieur]

Marc Levine said that?

Say it ain't so, Joe!

[richardkelsey]

croquemonsiuer said:

Marc Levine said that?

Say it ain't so, Joe!

I think Marc's position is consistent with the position he had been moving to for quite some time. He believes, as does the Mayor, that cooperation, outreach, and open support of those here illegally is the only real option -- or practical option.

Many people feel that way. They are wrong --- which is why America has 20 million illegal aliens. Having said that, it is a legitimate position, born of political expediency, and the need to balance practical reality with bold leadership. It is a position that is accepted by and advanced by the people who return them to office. (Mostly). In fact, my main beef with the Mayor has been his efforts to hide his cooperation with illegals by talking tough and acting soft. Simply capitulating, as has Marc, at least is consistent.

As it stands right now, amnesty is a very likely reality in the next 12-14 months -- and if Freehold is not prepared to displace illegal aliens now, it should be preparing to work with those future citizens.

BTW -- I don't think frustrations with illegal aliens has died down one bit -- I think think it is moving out. Remember -- the lack of dissent on this issue is and will be proof of final defeat.

[novillero]

richardkelsey said:

BTW -- I don't think frustrations with illegal aliens has died down one bit -- I think think it is moving out. Remember -- the lack of dissent on this issue is and will be proof of final defeat.

the operative part of Rich's post... even some posters on this board have moved.

As to what one counsel member says in the paper, I am not sure that anyone, at least here, can differentiate from one counsel member to the next. Mix up the names in the article if you prefer, it makes no difference. They wagons have been circled for a long time now.

[admin]

wlisa54 said:

Just like we can't differentiate one malcontent from the next.

You folks sometimes sound like a broken record.

If you don't like the way the issues are dealt with at the local level, then run against them instead of typing into a computer screen.

I can't argue with you, Lisa. One of us did run, though. He lost

Beyond that, most of us would be very happy with a governing body that was more open, responsive, and transparent. We keep up here in the high hopes that it will help and sink in to those who are supposed to represent us.

Either way, Lisa, keep posting. we malcontents can take it. You are a new and good voice to this site, keep it up.

[misterpr1981]

Feb 22, 2008 15:46:48 GMT -5 croque monsieur said:

Marc Levine said that?

Say it ain't so, Joe!

[concerned]

Was the councilman kidding when he described the downtown as becoming more and more of a draw? Does he not see the empty stores,trash and intoxicated visitors passed out on the park benches? Blinders...

[fiberisgoodforyou]

Jul 18, 2008 15:41:49 GMT -5 @concerned said:

Author
concerned
"Guest"...

What concerns me about this poster is...HOW DO YOU POST AS A "GUEST"

BRIAN...,can you look into this please?

[lisas84]

Bingo, Fiber! I too noticed that! odd...

[fiberisgoodforyou]

Jul 18, 2008 16:22:50 GMT -5 lisas84 said:

Bingo, Fiber! I too noticed that! odd...

Well Mz. Administrator, what are yha do'n about it? ;D

[misterpr1981]

Some things, some people just never see............

[richardkelsey]

Jul 18, 2008 16:25:02 GMT -5 fiberisgoodforyou said:

Jul 18, 2008 16:22:50 GMT -5 lisas84 said:

Bingo, Fiber! I too noticed that! odd...

Well Mz. Administrator, what are yha do'n about it? ;D

Yes -- concerned was a registered user whose account is now gone. I thought we were set up only to accept registered users at this point. Brian will have to resolve that issue. If Concerned is able to post as a guest -- that is an error on our part. At this point, concerned has not earned a ban, or even a warning under the rules.

However, once Brian determines the problem, he or she will not be able to post until he or she rejoins.

[misterpr1981]

The real question is why was Concerned's account deleted, Richard?

And to add to that, why did Concerned feel the need to continue posting as a guest, instead of re-registering? Something doesn't sound right here.

[richardkelsey]

Jul 18, 2008 16:48:20 GMT -5 misterpr1981 said:

The real question is why was Concerned's account deleted, Richard?

I have no idea. It was not done by me. Nor does the account show that the poster has been banned.

I know a poster can delete all of his or her posts -- but I think accounts can only be deleted by an admin.

BTW -- I have admin rights -- but not full admin rights -- so some things that happen here are quite literally beyond my control.