Grassroots movement sparks write-in campaign

By Frances Ruth Harris
MILFORD — Patrick Beck, Annette Haar, Meagen Kameen, Adriane Wendell and David Wineberg have declared themselves write-in candidates for Borough Council.

Although not alligned with a political party, the five are part of a grassroots coaltion called "Milford on the Verge," which has no formal platform but makes it quite clear that it believes the current Council is creating a climate that is hostile to buiness.

The use of "the verge" is a play on words that came about after the village's Hotel Fauchere was ordered by police to remove the rocking chairs it had traditionally placed on "the verge," the strip of grass between the street and the sidewalk. The rocking chairs quickly became a symbol for what some, including the write-in candidates, are calling Council's overarching regulation of small businesses, which they say is hurting local businesses and discouraging development.

"Small towns are either degrading or improving, and Milford is on the 'verge," Hotel Fauchere's Sean Stub says in a video on the group's Facebook page. He said he believes the Borough Council is well intentioned, but that it is mistaken in this "whole overarching campaign" of micoregulating small businesses.