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Editor, the Asbury Park Sun:

With reference to the recent letter by Donna DeNoble wherein she heaps praise on the incumbent city council, I feel it is important to ensure that your readers know one important fact. The fact is that Ms. DeNoble and Councilwoman Sue Henderson are in fact long-term domestic partners and in my opinion, this should have been disclosed so that the citizens know how tainted her opinions are.

I believe that not disclosing this fact up front just shows how disingenuous Ms. DeNoble is. It is noble for Ms. DeNoble to support Ms. Henderson and the incumbent ticket but one has to ask, how could it be otherwise? It’s sort of like a daughter not supporting her mother… Not likely!

Concerning her insulting comments about Duanne Small and Remond Palmer, I will say that it is indeed possible for people to redeem themselves and her comments are disgraceful, narrow-minded and certainly don’t fit into the fabric of a progressive city like Asbury.

Just a few additional facts that I believe Ms. DeNoble misstated in an attempt to deceive the public… She says that her (and she omitted Ms. Henderon’s) property had appreciated four times and somehow attributes that to the incumbent council. The facts are that today’s market values have collapsed in Asbury and today’s values are back to 2002 levels, by my calculations.

She also leaves out the fact that she and Ms. Henderson added an addition, a garage and a pool that would raise the value on their property, even if the market declined. Let’s look at the real facts. By my calculations, Asbury real estate taxes have gone up 30 percent, debt has increased by about $30 million, murders and shootings have skyrocketed, $90 million of future tax revenues was just given needlessly to the waterfront redeveloper, budget deficits continue and spending is reckless, all this under Ms. Henderson’s tenure.

— Rita Marano, Asbury Park

[This letter represents the opinion of its writer and is not representative of any opinion of the Asbury Park Sun staff. All readers are welcome to submit Letters to the Editor to news@asburyparksun.com for our consideration. For guidelines on letter-writing and submission, click here. Do not send attachments.]

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