8/6/2019 2011 07 16 - Pay Attention Mike

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Why Wait? Resign Now!

In last week¶s edition of the Tri-Town News, Sheldon Hofstein wrote about the hypocrisy

of Jackson Councilman Michael Kafton. He claimed that Councilman Kafton supports areferendum when it suits his personal agenda and he is against a referendum when itdoes not coincide with his personal agenda. It really is hard to disagree with the logicthat he presented, but I think there was a larger issue that he couldhave raised.

For months, the Township Council has been debating how to fix the 2011 Townshipbudget. There were numerous opportunities for each Councilperson to discuss variousalternatives in the budget with the Mayor, the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee,Business Administrator or Chief Financial Officer. The best Councilman Kafton couldoffer was to cut benefits although he knew from the get-go that this action could only bedone through labor negotiations, would not be agreed to, and not within any time cycle

available to the Administration.

Ultimately, after much discussion and debate an amended budget was to be voted on atthe June 26, 2011 Jackson Township Council meeting. After weeks of speaking againstthe budget and holding the line, Councilman Kafton voted for passage of the budget.This, of course, was a surprise to many of us in the audience, but we also knew thatKafton flip-flops were a regular occurrence. He did not disappoint us and within twominutes of voting a 5-0 approval of the budget, he announced that he wanted to changehis vote. He wanted to change his vote because he said he did not realize that theCouncil was voting on the amended budget. What did he think they were voting on ±the open space referendum. Of course, a motion to reconsider the budget was never 

made and the record reflects that Councilman Kafton voted yes for the budget. Of course, his future rhetoric will state that he did not support the budget and thatrepublican politics prevented an accurate vote. Even Mike Kafton¶s running mateBobbieRivere was flabbergasted at this request.

My real issue is where was the Councilman¶s head during the most importantdiscussions that the Township Council has had this year? Since losing the last electionCouncilman Kafton has been a constant critic of the Administration but has not offeredany specific actions to deal with the issues facing Jackson Township. Being aCouncilperson requires more than a boyish smile. It requires character, integrity andhonesty; three traits that many in Jackson have long questioned whether Mike has

these traits. Mike devotes so much time and energy to tearing down the Administrationthat he has forgotten that he is here to work with the Administration and represent theinterests of Jackson Township. It is really time that Mike realizes that this tactic will nolonger work. There are big problems in Jackson and he is not contributing to thesolution. We need people who can work together to resolve these problems and hedoesn¶t appear to want to participate. He is however interested in telling you who toblame for all of your problems. This is nothing more than election politics and he plays

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the game all year long. It is time to stop the game playing and be the representativethat you were elected to be.

Otherwise, Dr. Hofstein stated ³Hopefully he will realize that except for a small loyalcore of supporters, he has lost the respect and confidence of many residents.

Councilman Kafton should seriously consider leaving office when his term ends.´ If hedoes not hear the message, I can onlyadd to that by saying ³Why wait? Resign now.´