Dear Editor:

Recently, both in print and on a website newspaper, there have been attacks on both me personally and the Administration in general. Rather than dwell on the effect of this questionable diatribe, I thought I would like to give you some very good news regarding the Township.

In the June 2012 edition of “Inside New Jersey”, a monthly publication of the “Star Ledger”, there is a very interesting report entitled “The Best Places to Retire in Jersey”. The study is a “weighted tabulation that combines quality of life rankings, covering areas such as property taxes and access to health care and culture”.

I am delighted to report, that out of 556 municipalities in the State of New Jersey, Manchester Township finished at #51 statewide and #2 in Ocean County.

The four criteria measured were median property tax; Manchester finished lower in that category than any of the 50 towns above us on the list. The next category was violent crime rate per 1,000 population; Manchester did extremely well in this category with a score of 0.60, well below the average. The other two categories are access to good medical care where Manchester finished #2 out of 50 on the list and cultural activities which was not a representative evaluation since it did not measure the cultural activities and amenities of our individual retirement communities.

All in all, I believe our retired residents should be delighted to have chosen Manchester as the place to retire. I know that if I retire after 22 years of service to the Township, I will stay in this great town.

Sincerely,

Michael Fressola
Mayor