No to Grafton town hall

Saying Grafton Township government is in disarray is an understatement on par with suggesting that passengers on the Titanic could have had a more comfortable voyage.

Much like the Titanic, Grafton Township is a sinking ship. And its iceberg is the push for a new township hall. The effort has been catalyst for more than 18 months of heated infighting, wasteful lawsuits and countersuits among elected leaders, repeated calls to police and legal bills topping $300,000.

The unnecessarily nasty dispute reached a new low Oct. 14, when David Moore, husband of Township Supervisor Linda Moore, was arrested on allegations he shoved township Trustee Gerry McMahon after a board meeting. Remarkably, it is not the first time this year police have responded to accusations of violence involving township leaders.

It is in this poisonous atmosphere that voters will be asked Nov. 2 to approve a loan of more than $3 million to fund a new town hall. But there's a catch: even the township officials who want the new building have withdrawn their support for the referendum, claiming opponents rigged the process to get the outcome they prefer.

Under ideal circumstances, we would have trouble supporting this measure given the economic uncertainty facing taxpayers and governments at all levels.

With Grafton's climate both financial and political we see no reason to trust that township officials would, or even could, wisely use these funds. Grafton Township badly needs to get its house in order before building itself a new home. We recommend a NO vote.