Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Letter: How the governor can really help

Sunday's Star-Ledger (12/07/2008) ran the following letter from the Muhlenberg Independents (which they signed only with Jim Colvin's name and as pastor of the United Church of Christ-Congregational. The letter did not appear in the online edition.

Below is the full text of the original letter, as submitted by Jim, Sarah, Deborah and Nancy.
How the governor can really help

Gov. Corzine apparently decided to visit our community of Plainfield on November 18th but did not bother to tell anyone. Did he, or his buddy, Assemblyman Jerry Green, also in the picture, simply phone the newspapers for a photo op in an attempt to make it appear as though the governor actually cares about poor people? Why were no Plainfield Schools, churches, clergy or civic groups invited to this most unusual appearance of the governor, who has steadfastly avoided Plainfield ever since he decided to close Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center?

The picture shows the governor packing food baskets, but not actually interacting with any hungry people. It is odd that Gov. Corzine would be interested in the needy ones of Plainfield, since he was good enough to close our hospital and eliminate 1100 jobs. His action indeed created many more hungry and unemployed people here and in the region.

There is no way to estimate the suffering that he has wrought here. The Governor showing up in a a community pretending to care about the well-being of the people is quite cavalier. The "let them eat cake" attitude shows forth in the photo.

Governor, if you really intend to help the needy in Plainfield, then re-open the hospital as an acute care facility and restore 1100 jobs. In the meantime, please refrain from trying to appear as though you care.

The Muhlenberg Independents,
Rev. James Colvin
Rev. Sarah Colvin
Deborah Dowe
Nancy Piwowar

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