Lets clear the air on Tartaglio park in Galloway Township.

For over 20 years Galloway invested little in our recreation programs.  When I was elected to council in 2001, I vowed to provide more sports facilities to our growing community and to address overcrowded sports fields.

We we were successful in securing funds from both the New Jersey Green Acres fund and Atlantic County Open Space fund to purchase Tartaglio park on Duerer street.  No local taxes from Galloway were used for the purchase of that land or development of those fields.  This was a cost born exclusively by open space monies that were available to Galloway.

If Galloway didnt get this money, then it would have gone to another town.

In this years budget and because of the bad econmy, there will be major cuts in recreation.  Protect our police officers is our top priority, but there are limited funds that can be cut from recreation to fund our police officers.  Also, the state 's cap law severely limits how much Galloway can do.

Council will work to make sure we responsibly balance our budget and continue to fund services.  But the state and county money we received to buy and build Tartaglio park has had nothing to do with our budget problems.

Al DeSimone
Councilman
Galloway Township