Changing Dover Township's name is a bad idea
By J. Mark Mutter (former mayor)
Reprinted from Ocean County Observer 9/21/03
What's in a name? When it comes to changing the name of Dover Township,
our town - everything!
Recently, it has appeared in the news that there may be an effort again
- this year or next - to change the historic name of Dover Township to
Toms River Township.
Before any rush to judgment in favor of change, let's slow down for a
moment and consider the fol-lowing:
1. The issue is settled. By a comfortable margin in 1987, the voters of
Dover Township spoke and rejected the name change idea in a binding
referendum. Since what a community calls itself is such a fundamental
issue, it should be considered only very: sparingly every generation or
so. To go back to the voters again and again de-means the process and
the very importance of our name. Time should pass to the next generation
on this issue. We, the present generation, have already spoken and we
have said "no:"
2. Let there be no doubt about it: There will be a cost to the
tax-payers. You don't need to be Einstein to recognize that there will
be costs associated with a change: municipal vehicles and uniforms;
township seals; emblems; stationery; official records and documents; any
legal fees associated with the change. Proponents insist these costs
will be minimal, but they do concede there shall be costs. How much? No
'one knows.
Speculation is from several hundreds of thousands to several million
dollars. Would you buy a used car without knowing the sticker price?.
3. Changing the name will disinherit whole sections of our community.
Let's take a look at our township today: Whole segments are connected in
one way or the other to the name Dover: the elementary schools at North,
East, and West Dover; the East Dover First Aid Squad and the East Dover
Fire Company; the Dover-Brick First Aid Squad; and probably hundreds of
local businesses and organizations. And then there are many individual
sections of our town: Silverton; Ortley Beach; Normandy Beach; Gilford
Park; Pleasant Plains; North Dover. By eliminating Dover from our
everyday family name, large parts of the community will be left. with no
connection to the town name. From the perspective of their local
identity; they will be disinherited. What about them?
4. More than 225 years of history will be tossed aside. Dover Township
enjoys a colorful, historic past. Chartered in 1767, we are older than
the United States. Along with Stafford, we are the two founding
townships that make up what is today Ocean County. The Revolutionary War
attack on the village; Capt. Joshua Huddy; the Methodists of Cedar
Grove; the sea captains who settled here after the Civil War; the
shipwrecked Germans of the late 1800s who founded "Assaytown"; the city
dwellers who built Money Island after World War I; the Jewish
immigrant chicken farmers who came here in the 1930s to avoid
persecution; the retirees and others who moved here after the Garden
State Parkway was opened in the 1950s. Dover Township is a name that
binds together our entire community. It has been good to us and it has
never failed us. Were we to change its name now, a million ghosts from
our township's history would rise up from their past glories and thunder
our majestic name: the Township of Dover.
5. Another name change referendum will be a time consuming, draining
exercise for the entire community. I remember, first hand, the 1987
debate and, sadly, it pitted people with good intentions against one
another . The process was emotional and draining, and it left many hard
feelings. Now more than ever is not the time to embark on another
referendum. Beginning next year, we will have a completely new form of
government and, with a sluggish economy, the financial future of the
township is far from certain. The seas might be rough. Instead of
changing the name of the ship of the state, let us work instead together
to ensure that the ship sails in smooth seas. We simply cannot afford
the distraction that a name change fight will entail. .
The name change: a bad idea in 1987, a bad idea even more' today. What's
in a name,? Everything! Let us keep Dover in our township.
J. MARK MUTTER Dover Township (former mayor and councilman)