Honecker deserves consideration for prosecutor’s job

I have known Robert A. Honecker Jr., Monmouth County first assistant prosecutor, for over a dozen years, as colleagues on the Monmouth County Human Relations Commission, which he helped to found. In the event that Prosecutor John Kaye is not reappointed, I strongly recommend that Mr. Honecker be appointed to serve as Monmouth County prosecutor.

As a school psychologist, I am a good judge of character and personality. Mr. Honecker has always exhibited empathy and respect for all individuals, including females, people with disabilities and people of color. He has a reassuring, honest, calm, caring, warm demeanor, even when he comes to a meeting from a crime scene or in the aftermath of 9/11. Yet, he is firm and strong in the prosecution of criminals and for homeland security.

With the Center for Holocaust Studies, he initiated a program in which all county police officers are being sent to Washington, D.C., to experience the Holocaust Museum; they return with great praise from the experience, which is a national model. During a small-group affirmative action training, I learned firsthand of his fairness and commitment to gender equity and family.

Mr. Honecker has sent his detectives and come personally to the Middletown Human Rights Commission, which I chair, to assist us with Middletown bias issues. When I needed personal help from the prosecutor’s office, he is the one I contacted; in fact, I have long commented that Bob Honecker should be the prosecutor.

I read in a recent newspaper article that he may be overlooked as a candidate simply because he is a member of the current prosecutor’s office. That omission would be a terrible mistake. I urge Gov. Codey and our county senators to interview him for the position and discuss his goals personally. While an outside candidate may seem warranted, it is not necessary. There need be no worry about Mr. Honecker, who is “squeaky clean.”

I urge readers to support Mr. Honecker by contacting those who will be appointing the next prosecutor: Acting Gov. and Senate President Hon. Richard Codey, (609) 292-6000; Hon. Ellen Karcher, (732) 462-8883; Hon. Joseph M. Kyrillos Jr., (732) 671-3206; and Hon. Joseph A. Palaia, (732) 531-1303.

Although I am active in several groups, I am speaking from my own heart here when I say to the decision makers, please appoint Robert A. Honecker Jr. as Monmouth County prosecutor. They will never regret that decision.

Carolyn Schwebel

Middletown