To the editor: I read in the Jan. 4 Messenger that our new mayor took the time to call each applicant for the planning board. The mayor also said she wanted “high profile, good qualified appointments” for the board. The mayor then said “I did my best to be bi-partisan” and picked Mr. Gargano and Mr. Warden “because of their high profile nature.. and have served as councilmen.” I ask you to decide if your new mayor is being “bi-partisan” or not. The facts are I have sent my application into the township and as of yet have not received a call from the mayor. My qualifications follow below, read for yourself if the mayor has indeed picked the most qualified applicants. I am a licensed professional planner in the state of New Jersey. I represent two municipalities, one in Passaic County and one in Bergen County. As such I have a large knowledge of county and state regulations and mandates which must be followed. I have worked with many planners in Bergen County, Passaic County, and the state and have both professional and political relationships that can benefit our town. I am for the fair treatment of people who want to improve their properties and should be guided on how to follow the land use laws and not be delayed or subjected to wrong information causing unnecessary expense and delays to the applicants or the township. I was on a technical advisory committee to the New Jersey Highlands Council to craft the Highlands Master Plan. I have a working relationship with the Highlands Council to make sure the transfer of development rights program works to ensure everybody who has developable land gets compensated. I testified on behalf of the Highlands Council in Trenton before the Assembly Committee on the Environment. I want to volunteer my 24 years of architectural engineering, civil engineering and planning experience to help our town through this Highlands Master Plan process to make sure we get the Highlands Master Plan right for everybody. I am willing to sacrifice time away from my family to attend the required monthly night meetings. I currently work for four boards in the two towns I represent and want to share that knowledge with our board to help them better understand the planning process. I am a former councilman of West Milford, a high-profile professional planner and a member of the local environmental groups, but I question if the mayor even considered me for a position on the planning board. The mayor chose two of her personal friends that were former Democratic councilmen and said they were the most qualified candidates who applied. I don’t remember seeing the mayor’s nominees at any Highlands Technical Advisory committees or participating in the Highlands Charette in 2005. I don’t understand when the mayor ran on being bi-partisan, working together, appointing only qualified people to the boards that she chose to make the planning board a partisan issue. We didn’t elect a mayor who was going to make this town more partisan then it already was. I thought she was against our form of government and partisan politics but it seems she wants to make her term more partisan than the Republicans ever were. As an independent voter I gave the new mayor the benefit of the doubt that she would be fair and balanced in running our town. Based on her actions that are putting the planning board in jeopardy and applicants in position for automatic approved projects, I can only ask that she reconsider her choices for the planning board. Pick those who have the experience, both professional and prior membership on the board as her first choice and leave partisan politics and personal relationships outside the council chambers. Dennis J. Kirwan Hewitt