The comments of Bancroft CEO Toni Pergolin in the Jan. 9, 2013 edition of the Haddonfield Sun continue to be breathtaking in their arrogance as were similar comments in the Wired and in a previous edition of the Haddonfield Sun. Does Bancroft truly believe that it can threaten and blackmail the voters of this town into voting ‘yes’ on the referendum?
How dare someone threaten our town and its voters! If you don’t vote ‘yes,’ Bancroft will take the property off the market and build a new $50 million complex, with the construction lasting “years” and having a “domino effect.”
It is regrettable that Bancroft feels compelled to resort to threats against the citizens of our town because it is afraid of losing this good deal. After all, if the referendum passes, Haddonfield taxpayers will pay Bancroft the handsome sum of $12.2 million for a property, which is many millions above the applicable appraisals of between $6.5 million and $8 million for permitted uses of the property. Bancroft will be laughing all the way to the bank.
Maybe I would threaten people too, if I was in danger of losing that much money.
Citizens of Haddonfield will reject the Bancroft deal because they reflect the scare tactics of a desperate seller. Toni Pergolin threatens Haddonfield that Bancroft will get the land re-zoned to institutional use if the referendum fails. Bancroft is well aware of the fact that any future development plan it may have in mind will be subject to our zoning laws and input from the public, our elected officials, and our administators, and others. We do still live in a democracy, under the rule of law. And we are the voters here and we will not be dictated to by the CEO of Bancroft.
Let Bancroft go ahead and threaten us. Maybe Toni will even want to build a skyscraper. And let us all make sure that Bancroft is forced to comply with every local, state and federal regulation when they build after the citizens and voters of Haddonfield vote No on the Bancroft referendum.
Susan Hoch MD
