Chaaaaarge it!

At our first BOT Meeting as a new Board this past Wednesday, it was a true pleasure to not have the unnecessary drama and petty political agendas that have permeated far too many meetings in the past. However, as I said the night of the election, this does not mean we will all agree and our first order of business proved just that.

On the agenda was the passage of our Capital Budget for 2009. Included in that $2.6 million ordinance was money for projects such as the Public Works garage, Crest Drive Firehouse, Athletic Field improvements, Parking Lot improvements, IT projects, Roadway improvements and Public Works trucks - all valid and necessary expenditures in order to maintain our Village's infrastructure and all costly projects that make sense to pay for over the many years of the useful life of these projects.

However, one element of this Capital Budget I disagree with (again) is to include $60,000 of the $265,000 SOPAC subsidy for Operating Expenses. Two years ago, during a challenging budget cycle, my colleagues agreed to allocate the entire $300k of operating expenses for SOPAC on the Capital Budget and I voted against it. Last year, in order to bring the Municipal increase to a "round number", a small portion of the SOPAC subsidy was put on the Capital Budget and I reluctantly agreed - thinking it was a one time situation. However, this year, that amount was carried forward to the Capital Budget again and I strongly disagree.

The subsidy for SOPAC Operating Expenses is to pay for salaries and other operational expenses that will be incurred THIS YEAR. To defer payment of those funds and spread them over 20 years simply does not make any sense to me. In my opinion, this is no different than buying a big house with a big mortgage and then realizing you cannot afford a fully loaded cable TV package, so you simply put your cable bill on your mortgage. If we cannot afford the SOPAC subsidy, we should address that simple fact. I would like to see where the final Municipal Budget winds up once we learn if we will be receiving any extraordinary aid from the State. At that point, if the Municipal increase is still to large, we should cut additional expenditures, including the SOPAC subsidy...not simply defer the expenditure to the future by "putting it on the credit card". I don't do that with my home finances and don't agree we should do it with YOUR tax dollars either.

The Capital Budget will be voted on a Second Reading on June 22. Let me know what you think.

For You

It is the day after the 2009 Municipal Election and I am honored and humbled by the results. Pure Progress, consisting of myself, Janine Bauer and Nancy Gould were elected by comfortable margins to 4-year terms to the South Orange Board of Trustees. It has been an exhausting couple of weeks and I am glad that the campaign is finally over.

First, I'd like to thank our opponents for a spirited competition that did not revert to the terribly nasty level that had transpired in past elections.

Most notably, I'd like to take a moment to thank the absolutely incredible team of people that donated their time, money and effort to make this successful election happen:

We had so many people that brought their expertise to make us successful - from web design, to photography, to graphic design, to marketing - you all know who you are and I am incredibly grateful.

To volunteers who stood on street corners holding signs, to volunteers who went knocking on doors, to volunteers who made phone calls, to volunteers who stuffed envelopes, to volunteers who wrote thank you notes, to volunteers who delivered lawn signs, to volunteers who hosted lawn signs, to volunteers who made goodie bags, to volunteers who reported election results, to volunteers who sent email blasts to their friends, to volunteers who hosted coffees, to people who attended coffees, to people who wrote letters to the Newspaper, to people who generously contributed money - every one one of you made a difference.

To my Pure Progress runningmates from 2007 - Thank you for all your support and endorsements this year. I look forward to continuing working with all of you.

To the core campaign team - treasurer, events coordinator, volunteer coordinator, media coordinator, you guys are amazing! The energy, effort and enthusiasm you brought was unparalleled and we clearly would not have been successful without you. I can't even begin to list all of the things you accomplished over the past 6 weeks at all hours of the day and night.

Of course, there must be a special shout out for our Campaign Manager, who orchestrated every moving part and kept us all focused 24/7...since those were the hours she was working for us!

To my wife & daughter - Thank you so much for the love, support and patience putting up with my long hours & time away from home.

To my runningmates - You are two of the of the most passionate and intelligent people I know. I have been so proud to campaign side-by-side with you these past few weeks and I am really looking forward to serving with you.

Finally, I would like to thank the residents of South Orange for their support and their confidence in us to allow us the opportunity to continue serving the community. We look forward to moving forward and will do all we can to make you proud! Thank you!!