This letter to the editor was submitted to The Sun from Mt. Laurel resident Deborah Souder-Pelaez:
It is a sad day when our elected officials make choices that are for their benefit only and not to benefit the community as a whole.
Mt. Laurel Mayor Kurt Folcher, Deputy Mayor Linda Bobo and Councilman Irwin Edelson are doing just that.
Last November, after decades of Republican domination over our local politics, two Democrats won council seats.
Kareem Pritchett was the first African American and Stephen Steglik was the youngest to ever serve in our town.
Rather then celebrate this diversity, the rest of the council is attempting to move our local election from November to May.
This will allow for a nonpartisan election, where they believe they will not be under the specter of the GOP and Trump.
It will also cause confusion for the voters, come with a financial liability to the town and is basically an attempt at voter suppression.
If the mayor et al. feel that their affiliation with the GOP at the state and federal level is damaging to them, I suggest they work to change the culture within their own party to be reflective of what they believe in.
That is exactly what Pritchett and Steglik did and why they won against longstanding Republicans in the town.
This blatant attempt at vote suppression suggests to me Folcher, Bobo and Edelson have far more in common with the GOP at large then they want the public to believe.
Sincerely,
Deborah Souder-Pelaez
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