The district is finally doing some things right. The NJGPA results are promising. Agendas and presentations are coming out earlier. The new Superintendent has begun releasing important documents, and so far BHPS has avoided more OPRA lawsuits. Our Assistant Superintendent looks engaged and on the ball, and the full-time Business Administrator seems solid on paper — not a relic from the Calvin Coolidge era running the Business Office like it’s 1925.

That’s progress.

But here’s the thing: it doesn’t matter if nobody shows up.

After years of our org fighting for Zoom access, I’m still the only one using it. At the math presentation last year? About fifteen people. Fifteen. On Valentine’s Day.

Apparently, $30 Chicken Parmesan was more important than our kids’ math curriculum.

Berkeley Heights government is about to experience a huge net loss next year with Dipti Khanna choosing not to run for re-election. I understand her decision, and I’ll let her speak to it. Her leadership was a once-in-a-generation opportunity. The district made progress because of her, and it’ll be clearer in hindsight how rare that was.

Meanwhile, the Council side is stuck in rewind — blocking Zoom, sneaking bonds through, and rewriting ordinances for cover. The only time participation ticked up was after the floods or when something hit people personally. Predictably, the township played games again. But here’s the kicker: showing up worked. Based on what we’re hearing / letters we reviewed / reports from last night dredging is starting to happen, more meetings are planned and the state is taking a harder look at our municipal government’s words.

So again:

• To the folks at Council meetings: keep showing up. Don’t let them spin you with “our hands are tied.” And when they act like they know more than you, remember: they don’t.  They really, really don’t.
• To parents blowing off BOE meetings: you’ve never had more access or more receptive leadership. Stop wasting it.
• To everyone DM’ing or commenting from the sidelines: we hear you, but venting isn’t change. Showing up — getting on the mic or putting it on paper — is.

Speaking only for myself and no one else on the 21st, I’ll still keep watch, but my energy is shifting to places where residents are hungry for change and ready to fight for it. I’ll still write about Berkeley Heights, but I’m done going the extra mile for a town that seems too comfortable, too wealthy, or too timid to care. There are other communities in and around the 21st that I feel are more in need of and more motivated to use this platform.  If you want it, it’s here for you to use.

As for this year’s Town Council and BOE candidates (again speaking only for myself): don’t expect endorsements or support from this end if you can’t acknowledge specifically what needs fixing — or if you’re too afraid to make waves. If you can’t do it as a candidate, you’re telling us you’ll be the same kind of leader who got our community and schools into the mess we now have to work our way out of. If you won’t name the problems now, why should anyone believe you’ll solve them later?

Start showing up, Berkeley Heights.

Democracy and good government requires attention, work and your voice.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the editorial position of NJ21st.

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