Officials get feedback on inaugural newspaper

BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK — The response to the township’s new newspaper has been overwhelmingly positive, Mayor William Neary said last week.

Despite the feedback reported by the mayor, not everyone at last week’s Township Council meeting was impressed with the inaugural edition of the East Brunswick Quarterly.

One issue discussed Aug. 22 was the claim that the East Brunswick Quarterly was paid for strictly through advertising revenue.

Resident Michael DeLucia told the council he does not believe the newspaper will ever be self-sustaining.

“The ads would never pay for this paper. Just do the math,” he said.

DeLucia pointed out that the paper states it is funded through advertising money. Although there was a good deal of advertising in its first issue, mailed to all residents and businesses in August, Neary told the Sentinel the township still had to pay at least $8,000 for the issue. He said it is believed that after the paper is more established, the advertising will finance the entire operation and bring back the money that has been spent.

Another resident who frequently attends meetings, Robert Lennon, said he was glad to see the paper, but he felt it did not provide a lot of good information. He recommended the township insert more information about things such as construction projects, traffic hot spots, road work that could affect traffic patterns, and crime statistics.

At a previous council meeting, Lennon asked for crime statistics as they relate to senior citizens in the township. He was told later that the police department does not keep statistics based on age categories.

DeLucia told the Sentinel all the information he saw in the first issue of the East Brunswick Quarterly was outdated and that residents could have seen all the details before.

He told the council there was “no news” in the paper and that, if the paper had contained pictures of work along Tices Lane, for example, it would have been more impressive.

He also noted that Councilwoman Christi Calvano, the only Republican on the governing body, had earlier requested information on a $2,500 line item in this year’s budget. Calvano was told that the money was for a community newspaper, she told the Sentinel.

DeLucia noted how in the past he advised the township to make better use of its Web site when it comes to informing residents. But he said that the agenda for Monday night’s meeting was not even on the Web site.

“You should spend more time getting information out that way,” he said.

Neary, in his mayor’s report, said he received phone calls, letters and e-mails that amounted to an overwhelmingly positive response to the first issue of the newspaper. He said residents told him they were glad to have something that featured only East Brunswick news and gave detailed information.

Neary said that for years officials discussed how to better communicate with residents, and he thanked the council for its support of the publication.

“It makes our job a lot easier,” he said of the newspaper.

The newspaper is published by a private company, Quarterly Publications LLC, of Highland Park, but the subject matter is viewed by Neary and his staff members prior to its being printed.

The first issue included 16 pages, with articles and information on township services and happenings, columns from Neary and Council President David Stahl, and advertising from local businesses.