Dear Editor,
I just love it when something good happens in Haddonfield. And something good did happen when David Hunter, publisher of the indispensable Haddonfield.today triweekly, which all town residents receive via snail mail, started the petition to restore free parking on Saturdays.
Yes, free parking on Saturdays—a Haddonfield tradition—has been done away with, and the petition to reverse course is being well-received and passed around like nothing in recent memory, and promises to be a game-changer simply because it aims at stemming the tides of change—some entirely unnecessary—being imposed on lovely lovely olde Haddonfield.
This newest imposition, designed solely to generate revenue, reveals the hidden ugliness of so-called entitlements generally; that once people receive something for “free,” they invariably feel entitled to it, and resent having it taken away, often leading to considerable discord. We’re seeing considerable discord now, as was evident at last night’s commissioners’ meeting, when residents and merchants aired their objections, asking the commissioners to rescind the whole ridiculous idea. The commissioners will do well to listen to the people and do the right thing.
As Mr. Hunter so delicately describes the new parking fee, “the dumbest move by elected officials in NJ since Governor Jim Florio imposed a tax on toilet paper in 1990. (It cost him a second term, four years later.)”
The more the merrier. Please add your signature to the more than 1500 who have already signed, in just five days, at chng.it/54CZ4j8NDy. There you can comment and read the comments of others.
Mr. Hunter’s reasons for signing the petition are listed at wawego.me/08033park.
Commissioners: Please restore free parking on Saturdays and weekday evenings. It’s the right thing to do, and everybody, but everybody, will love you for it.
Walter Weidenbacher
Haddonfield
