Dear Editor:
I am responding to my friend Jake Stuiver’s letter of the other day. He wrote in response to my wife Councilwoman Beth Mason’s complaint that Zoning Board Chairman Tony Soares has brought our children into political debate, and that it had to stop.
The issue is quite simple: our children are the most important people in our lives. Beth and I became civically involved to protect our neighborhood from over-development when our kids were little. They love being a part of the democratic process and participating in Beth’s and others’ campaigns. The fact that they are involved in this way does not give anyone, including Chairman Soares, the right to make them negative political fodder (as he did in a blog response two weeks ago).
Hoboken is full of parents who wish to teach their young children that they should stand up for what they believe in and participate in democracy. Children should never be used as a means of attack by Chairman Soares or anyone else. I am sure every single parent in our town would agree with us that children are off limits no matter how intense a political issue may become. Of all people, Tony Soares, who has said on-line that he is a teacher in our public schools, should understand this lesson.
Sincerely,
Ricky Mason