Spring Lake's Downtown is a good example of what effective leadership, successful Chamber of Commerce programs, and community involvement can accomplish. Barnegat could not only learn from Spring Lake's success, but also could have possibly duplicated it. The consultant that Spring Lake hired could have been hired at any time for Barnegat over the past 7 years. Committman Thomas Hartman was against hiring this expert in downtown revitalization when Hartman was then a member of the EDC. Other towns have abandoned their "hands-off approach to stave off demise" as the Asbury Park Press recently stated. Hopefully our Twp. will finally realize the importance of being pro-active in downtown revitalization.

Success in Spring Lake and other towns like Toms River show that improvements can be made and the results reflect the town's leadership. One of the few improvements in our downtown over the past 7 years was the town clock program. This is the same program that Hartman and the Twp. Committee now say -- and show -- they don't support. As our town clock falls into disrepair and we see other towns succeed with people that our town rejected, we have to ask ourselves why. Why isn't Barnegat on the same up-swing? It's simple. It all starts at the top. It's time for our leaders to make up for the in-action of the past and put together a plan for success for Barnegat. Bad politics makes for bad decisions. It's time for all of us to work together to make Barnegat better. And we can start by learning from other towns' successes. Click here to read the Asbury Park Press' article on Spring Lake.