Readington Township needs to take a new approach to negotiating with the owners of Solberg Airport.
By Edward J. Kmiec
Califon
To the editor:
A recent letter to the editor contributor believes that the owners of the Solberg Airport and Readington Township should meet again and work toward a compromise with respect future airport expansion plans.
He ends his letter by saying, "If at first you don't succeed, then try and try again."
Effective negotiations require some element of trust between the parties. Over the years, Readington Township has destroyed all credibility and trust between the township and the owners of the airport.
This was made clear by Judge Paul Armstrong in his written opinion regarding the township's ordinance to condemn the Solberg property.
2 points of view on Solberg Airport negotiations
Judge Armstrong stated: "An objective scrutiny of the collective testimony of the elected officials involved in the architecture and implementation of the eminent domain ordinance concerning the SHA property reveals a studied attempt to obscure the true purpose of the condemnors in the instant taking. The court finds this testimony, as a whole, to be un-forthright, evasive, untrustworthy, argumentative, lacking credibility and therefore unworthy of belief."
A prudent person has to ask, "Who voted for these people?"
If Readington Township does decide to try another round of negotiations, at a minimum they need an entirely new negotiating team and a new strategy. John Broton is one of the newer members of the Township Committee and has not been involved in prior negotiations with the Solberg's.
What is the best way forward in Readington?
For that reason alone, Mr. Broton would be an ideal candidate to lead a new negotiating team on behalf of Readington Township.
Readington Township has been fixated on the Solberg airport for the past 20 years. It is well past time for a change in people and approach.