Mendelsohn explains position on train station development You decide. James Shea wrote a letter about me that appeared in the Dec. 20 issue of the Independent ("Mendelsohn blew his opportunity to serve Matawan"). This is my side of the story. In 2005, Mary Aufseeser asked me if she should run for councilwoman. I told her that if you have your family's blessing, you must run. When she was asked to step up to run for mayor, I said the same, but much more excitedly. She asked me to run in her place for councilman. I did so because I thought it would give me a chance to do something positive for my community and seal my friendship with her. We went to teas and participated in a door-knocking campaign; we did not say we were in favor of moving "slowly" regarding "New Jersey Transit train station redevelopment," we said we were in favor of "smart" redevelopment. Redevelopment does not equal eminent domain? This town has already destroyed at least one beautiful building. The high school was replaced with a parking lot. And this was done without much public protest and it wasn't even for a worthy cause? The elder Mr. Lou Mendes - the owner of Key Auto Body Shop, a business within the proposed transit village district - told me he just wanted to know one way or the other. He said he would maintain his building until I knew. Bravo to him. "Redevelopment is moving like molasses," whether a quote or not, does echo how I feel about the issue. I have always said it is the only answer to stabilizing our real estate taxes. One day during our campaign, Mary and I - while walking along Main Street - agreed that "smart" redevelopment at the train station could revitalize Matawan's downtown business district. "Any other sitting mayor would have ridden Mendelsohn right out of town on a rail." I can say without doubt that Mary Aufseeser has too much character to ever truly stifle someone's freedom of speech. In the 1930s, both lakes were stocked with fish. When did the fish in Lake Matawan die off? Well, when I pulled a buoy out from Lake Matawan in 2005 in pieces, I found tiny fishes inside. Mr. John Tiedemann, assistant director at Monmouth University, who is an expert in this field, is the one who said fish could return to Lake Matawan. To remove a resident who will work tirelessly toward refurbishing our lakes is just wrong. Shame on you, Mr. Shea! How could you demean the devastation at Pearl Harbor by comparing it to my report? Neil Mendelsohn Matawan