Resident considers councilman’s integrity of high order

I was a bit taken back when I read the letter by Anthony Russomanno questioning Councilman Charles Tomaro’s integrity. Tomaro is one of the hardest-working elected officials I have known.

Charlie has been in the forefront for years, working on behalf of Edison Township in acquiring open space and being very successful. These hundreds of acres that have been made available for the residents of Edison, along with the support of our council, has made it possible to have less residential housing being built and, in turn, has helped to have [fewer] children in our school system, which helps keep taxes down.

The parcel of open space property, which involved 17 acres of land that the township purchased, has cost us very little because most of the cost will be paid by a nonprofit organization called the New Jersey Conservation Federation, and Middlesex County. The Township Council did what the people of Edison wanted: namely, keeping open space. The people of Edison were also fortunate to have the support of the entire Township Council; in fact, Councilwoman Antonia Ricigliano was a strong voice in favor of the town purchasing the land. It is known that she continually watches the money spent by our town. All this strong support proves that the purchase of these 17 acres was at a fair price.

In the letter, it stated that 100 units of senior housing could have been built on that 17 acres of land. If you check the roster of senior citizen housing in our town, a great number of the occupants came from out of town. The housing should really have been for Edison Township seniors. As a comparison, if you look at the Metuchen senior citizen housing units, three-quarters of the building on Lincoln Avenue is not occupied. The truth is, our Edison seniors would rather stay in their present homes.

I truly feel we are fortunate to have Charles Tomaro serving us as a councilman. Not only does he do a good job in that position, he also does good work by volunteering at the St. James soup kitchen on Woodbridge Avenue. He gathers donations of food and helps serve food on the first and third Saturday of the month. He has also been instrumental in recruiting volunteers to clean up the cemetery there, which in past years has been neglected. He is an ecumenical minister at St. Matthew’s Roman Catholic Church, a steering committee member for the annual carnival, and he serves on the pre-baptism committee there. He has been a driving force in raising money for the restoration of the Edison Light Tower on Christie Street. He and the committee, with the help of many people, have raised almost $3 million. Charlie’s dedicated involvement with Boy Scout Troop 17 is commendable. He has helped many young Scouts attain the honor of Eagle Scout, which is the highest achievement in scouting.

He has gained the respect of many hundreds of people, so I feel we are very lucky to have him serving our community.

Patrick Donovan

Edison