The Price You Pay

On November 8, 2011, you will have the opportunity to vote on a referendum to determine if The South Orange Board of Trustees should begin to receive PAYMENT for serving the Village. I urge you to vote NO on this referendum for a variety of reasons:

Serving as a volunteer is a longstanding Village Tradition

Since the Village was settled, serving as a member of the Governing Body has been an honor and a privilege for those who want to serve the community. In all that time, this honor has been done by VOLUNTEERS who were not paid for their service. People served the community because they wanted to do the right thing for the Village, not because they were looking to supplement their income. This tradition is an important part of the culture and history of South Orange and should not be changed.

Providing compensation is not necessary

Serving the Village on the Board of Trustees is a part-time position. The Village already has a large payroll of full-time paid staff that handle the day-to-day operations of the Village. As a member of the Board of Trustees, I can say firsthand that serving on the Board of Trustees does not require a financial outlay for any mandatory expenses. In fact, the Board of Trustees already receives complimentary admission to many political fundraisers, a complimentary parking sticker to park in any permit space downtown and other perks. No compensation is required for the Board of Trustees to complete their duties.

Changing the Charter opens a Pandora’s Box

Altering the Village Charter to provide monetary compensation to the Board of Trustees will open a Pandora’s Box that can never be closed. What begins as a modest “stipend” today, will inevitably grow over time. Simply view the graph of Congressional salaries over time as an example of how, when given the opportunity, politicians love to pay themselves more and more money over time.

Our Taxes are already overly excessive

In this time of flat incomes, reduced services, reduced staff, and skyrocketing property taxes, we simply cannot afford a new expense added to the budget. The taxes in South Orange are outrageous and we need to find ways to REDUCE the budget, not INCREASE the budget by adding an additional expense to pay volunteers for serving their community. We simply cannot afford it.

VOTE NO ON MUNICIPAL QUESTION #3

Please share this with your friends and neighbors or go to http://nopayforpoliticians.wordpress.com/ for more information about the election.

Real World

At what point will people say enough is enough with the offensive tax bill in South Orange, specifically and Essex County, in general? After all the recent debate and discussion about the Municipal Budget, the certified tax rate has been released showing an overall tax increase of 4% - increasing the average homeowner's tax bill by almost $600 this year to a total of $15,260.

The breakdown of your tax bill for 2011 is as follows:

The County portion went from .389 to .413 (a 6% increase)
The School portion went from 1.486 to 1.546 (a 4% increase)
The Municipal portion went from .729 to .749 (a 2.7% increase)

County Open Space remained at .015

Municipal Open Space remained at .01

Total rate = 2.733 per $100 of valuation

While most people are seeing their incomes remain relatively flat and we continue to see the challenges every day of the ongoing recession, the taxpayers of South Orange are being told to support a 4% increase to their already excessive tax bill. To make matters worse, there were very clear options this year for both the School tax and Municipal tax increases to be much lower: The School District recently received a $1M "rebate" from the state that could have been used for tax relief and the Municipality received a similar amount when the arbitrator's ruling for the Police union contract came in significantly less than was budgeted (and paid by taxpayers) over the past 3 years. That savings could have EASILY been used for tax relief, but wasn't. In addition, no structural changes were made to the budget at all this year - rather small discretionary spending items (like a business recruiter, holiday decorations and downtown concerts) were cut this year, and will simply return to the budget next year. As a result, I voted "no" for the Municipal Budget and likewise voted "no" on the School Budget.

When the average South Orange homeowner already has a tax bill over $15,000, it is completely unsustainable to raise it by over $600 each year - especially in light of the 2% CAP mandated by Governor Christie and the State of NJ. This budget crisis was further highlighted during the recent controversy over the retention of the CFO and Administrator. As I stated at the time, the financial terms that were proposed were not in the best interest of the taxpayers. Yet, no consideration on how the proposed deals would impact the budget was even discussed.

We all moved to South Orange for different reasons - including our housing stock, our proximity to NYC, our people and our sense of community. However, unless something is done to hold the line on taxes, our community will become far less desirable as a place for people to come to live or as a place people choose to stay. In the meantime, I will continue to scrutinize every expense we are asked to approve and will continue to vote "no" when I feel an expense is excessive or unnecessary. As always, I welcome your thoughts and input.

All or Nothin' At All

Washington, D.C is not the only place with a budget stalemate. Here in South Orange, we are currently facing our own stalemate, with the Board of Trustees evenly split over the proposed tax increase for this year. Myself, Trustee Gould and Trustee Bauer are advocating for a 0% municipal increase. Trustees David Ford, Levison and Rosner are advocating for a 2% increase.

While I cannot speak for my colleagues, I can certainly share MY opinion.

1. While there is now a 2% "cap" in place for tax increases, I do not think that maximizing increases should be our goal. We have such an enormous tax burden to begin with, every increase on top of that is "real" money and we should do what we can to minimize the increases.
2. We can actually accomplish a 0% increase this year, without ANY additional cuts in services. The most significant source of the revenue is from our recent settlement with our Police and Fire Unions. Over the past 3 years, we have been budgeting "x" for Police/Fire increases. However, until the arbitrator provided their ruling this year, that money has been accruing. The arbitrator's ruling was quite a bit less than had been budgeted, so the "excess" taxes that had been collected over the past 3 years should rightfully be returned to the taxpayers. We can accomplish that and STILL have additional funds in "surplus" to deal with any unexpected events next year.
3. This year Maplewood passed a budget with a 0% increase and it is important that we stay in close parity to them since our towns are so comparable in many ways.
4. Lastly, although we are being told we need a higher increase this year so as to not face a steep increase NEXT year, let me share that we have heard that same argument for each of the past 3 years, as per the following table. Things always look bad for the subsequent year and somehow, we always manage to significantly reduce the looming increase:

Year	Initial Tax Increase Estimate	ACTUAL Tax Increase
2008	13%	6.5%
2009	27%	3.9%
2010	29%	1.94%

Taxes have been spiraling out control for way too long, in South Orange, and throughout New Jersey. The time is finally right to take a stand and hold the line for once.

As always, I'd love to hear what you think.

From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)

As many have heard, earlier this year, the Board of Trustees created a Special Improvement District Advisory Committee. This Committee was formed after several business and property owners came forward to express concerns about the state of the downtown. (I blogged about this last Summer http://trusteegoldberg.blogspot.com/2010/08/dirty-boulevard.html) They provided hundreds of photographs of litter, poor maintenance and unsightly conditions all around the downtown. After discussing a variety of options and realizing the limited financial and human resources available to the Village to address the problem, the idea of creating an Improvement District was raised and the BOT created a committee to study the feasability.

The Special Improvement District Advisory committee, consisting of representatives from Main Street, the Parking Authority, Board of Trustee liaisons and a majority of business/property owners, has been meeting every other week since April. Since that time, the committee has prioritized potential goals for the Improvement District, outlined a potential boundary for the District, created a potential budget and is now ready to share the findings with the business community at large and residents. While all meetings have been open to the public, the committee wanted to hold a special open forum where they could present what they have been discussing and solicit input from the wider community.

The public forum will be held on Wednesday, July 20 at 8pm in the SOPAC loft. All business and property owners are invited to attend. In addition, the committee would like residents to also attend since they also have a vested interest in the success of our downtown. Please mark your calendar and join us.

For further information, you can visit http://www.southorange.org/downtown/or send an email to downtown@southorange.org your comments or questions.

When the Lights Go Out

Is a gas lamp near you malfunctioning? As I travel around town, I notice MANY gaslamps that do not have all 3 mantles glowing and it would be incredibly helpful if everyone pitched in to report them.

South Orange’s signature gas lamps offer less illumination than a normal street lamp, so it’s important from a public safety perspective that they always work at maximum capacity.

The Village is asking residents to take an active role by being aware of how to recognize a problem and report it to PSEG. If there is a gas lamp in front of your property, we would like you to adopt it. Keep an eye on it and report any malfunction. It takes only minutes to save $'s and gas.

Here are the basics to know:
• All gas lamps operate with a triple mantle burner.
• Each lamp should have three glowing mantles 24 hours a day. In addition, the globe should be clean and clear. Reporting a malfunction or dirty globe is easy. Simply go to the Village website, http://www.southorange.org/, and from the opening page, top left, under “Easy Access,” click on “Report Streetlight Outage. ”You’ll be connected to a PSE&G Customer Service form, where you can report your observations.
• Or call 1-800-436-PSEG (7734) to give the location of the gas lamp, and the nearest cross street.

Local Hero

It is with great sadness and great pride that we complete our final Board of Trustees meeting  tonight with Doug Newman as our Village President.  Sadness, of course, because we are losing our leader and someone who has been a great inspiration to many.  Of course, I often disagreed with Doug as he did with me.  However, he always managed to keep his cool and work calmly to find a workable compromise to almost any issue.

 

As anyone who watched these meetings or got to know Doug quickly saw, he truly does know something about everything. (although he sometimes would like you to think he knew everything about everything)  His grasp of facts, figures and infinite details for a wide variety of critical issues that were happening at any given time is incredible.   Watching Doug navigate through the issues in excruciating detail, even into the wee hours of the morning, was exhausting, yet impressive.  Yet, I would often awaken the next morning after a late Executive session to find numerous additional emails from Doug that were written even after the meeting or before I had awaken.  Doug is never one to toot his own horn, but he literally did work for the Village 24 x 7 these past 4 years.

 

However, it is difficult for anyone to sustain that level of commitment for anything, so it wasn't a huge surprise when Doug announced he was not going to run again so he could regain his life and focus his energy elsewhere.

 

I have great pride for having served with him and the things that have been accomplished under his leadership these past 4 years.  When I think back to the way things were just 4 years ago, it was a very different Village – just looking around the room here, we have a new Clerk, a new attorney and a new Director of Recreation.  Meetings are more focused, agendas and ordinances are posted online in advance of the meetings and we always announce Executive Session agenda items publicly.   We also rarely have long lines of residents standing at the podium to complain about issues - although that is partly because many of those complainers are now sitting up here on the dais.   Looking around town, there are many things that have happened on Doug's watch - Eden Gourmet is open and thriving, the Firehouse renovation is complete, and the first phase of the River Greenway is completed.  While Doug cannot take direct direct credit for these items, just 4 years ago, we thought these were all "Coming Soon" and they are now all realities. 

 

There are so many memorable events and activities I shared with President Newman over the past  4 years, from literally measuring streets for commuter parking spaces with a tape measure, to  attending ribbon cuttings for new businesses, to hosting Mock BOT Meetings with the Cub Scouts to probably one of Doug's most enjoyable tasks – establishing the Community Garden.  Of course, we have also had our share of challenges – from potential layoffs of employees, to a very public issue over a private conversation between 2 Trustees, to "flash mobs", to continuously scrutinizing the budget to mitigate the insane tax burden we all bear.  However, through it all , Doug has provided leadership and remained focused on doing everything he could, solely for the benefit of all residents. 

 

As we end a Chapter in South Orange history, I may be biased, but I can honestly say that South Orange is a better place than it was 4 years ago.  It truly does "take a village" to make things happen – from all the employees, to the residents, to all of us up here, to the business owners.  We should all be proud of our town and be thankful for the endless time and energy that Doug Newman contributed over the past 4 years.  It has been an honor to serve with him and I thank him for his service to our community.

 

Be True

Right after the Board of Ed election this week, comes the latest Board of Trustees election on May 10. For those people who do not follow local politics, there are four seats up for election this year - 3 Trustee seats (currently held by Mark Rosner, Howard Levison and Deborah Davis Ford) and the Village President seat (currently held by Doug Newman).

Several weeks ago, we learned that at the filing deadline, the 3 Trustee seats will be uncontested by the 3 Trustees currently occupying them. Congratulations to my colleagues on being willing to serve another 4 years.

We also learned that Doug Newman decided not to run again and the Village President seat is being contested between current Trustee, Janine Bauer, and newcomer, Alex Torpey.

As most people know, I ran together with Janine Bauer two years ago (along with Nancy Gould) and I wholeheartedly endorse her taking the next step as our next Village President. As an attorney, Janine has an incredible depth of knowledge on many issues. I've worked closely with Janine over the past 2 years and have seen her logical and analytical approach to every issue. Having worked alongside President Newman these past 4 years, I have seen firsthand the incredibly complex and difficult issues that must be addressed by the Village President. From contract negotiations, to legal issues, to personnel issues, to financial issues, to public relations issues, and overall leadership - the job of Village President is incredibly demanding and requires tremendously broad experience. Janine Bauer in the only candidate that has the experience, maturity and demeanor to lead our Village for the next 4 years.

I actually know Alex reasonably well, think highly of him and commend him for stepping up to run for a difficult and often thankless position. However, having seen what the role of Village President really entails, I simply cannot discount the one quality that only comes with time - experience. Janine Bauer has the experience. I hope you will join me in supporting her for Village President on May 10.

The Rising

In past years, I have resisted getting involved in Board of Education elections for a variety of reasons. However, this year, the stakes are simply too high and I could no longer sit on the sidelines without expressing my opinion. This year, I wholeheartedly am endorsing Marian Cutler and her running-mate, Jim LoStuto.

Not that many years ago, our school district was top-ranked in the state. However, most recently, NJ Monthly Magazine ranked our High School 75th out of 322. That is simply not good enough. (By comparison, our neighbor in Millburn was ranked 1 and Glen Ridge was ranked 4) We need members of the Board of Education that are focused on increasing rigor in our curriculum, so our District can re-capture the "prestige" it once had. There is simply nothing more important to our community and our property values than the quality of our school district. In addition, we need members of the Board of Education, who realize that a "one size fits all model" simply does not work. The School District needs to take into account differing abilities and objectively provide varied levels that work to the students' varied abilities.

As I said in my letter to the News Record,we need people on the Board who are willing to make tough decisions and fight to ensure that our kids receive the best possible education. In these challenging economic times, that requires creativity and a willingness to think outside the box and beyond the status quo. As a member of the South Orange Board of Trustees, I know firsthand how difficult it is to balance state mandated caps, the demands of Union contracts and the passionate needs and wants of our diverse community. The balance that the School Board must find is no different. However, with the School Budget consuming over 56% of every resident's incredibly high tax bill, it is critical to elect someone who is vividly aware of the tax burden but is willing and able to look at things differently to move our District forward, despite the challenges.

I have known Marian Cutler for several years and know that there is nobody more passionate and dedicated to our kids and our District. Marian Cutler is willing to devote the time and energy required to be an effective leader and an advocate for a strong rigorous education that fully prepares all of our kids for the intensely competitive world that we all live in. Her corporate expertise in Public Relations will bring increased transparency to the Board so we can all be further engaged in decisions that impact the education of our kids. Finally, as an outsider to the Board of Education she will bring a fresh perspective, innovation and creative thinking to education, yet ensuring our excessive tax burden is controlled. Together, her and Jim LoStuto bring a wealth of professionalism, passion and knowledge which will benefit all of our kids and the entire District.

I urge you to join me in supporting Marian Cutler and Jim LoStuto for Board of Education on April 27.

The Wish

At our most recent Budget Workshop held on March 3, we reviewed a number of departments, including Recreation, Code Enforcement and Health, as well as funding for one of the nonprofit organizations - the Community Coalition on Race (CCR) which consumed the largest portion of time.

I have made no secret that I have issues with much of the "politics" of the CCR, including their lobbying of the School District for delevelling and their lobbying of Trenton on Affordable Housing legislation. However, politics aside, in reviewing their financials & financial model in comparison to other nonprofits, both supported and not supported by the Village, it became apparent that something is not right. First, unlike the other organizations supported by the Village, they pay rent plus a significant amount for telephone and internet connectivity. To rectify this, I proposed that we locate appropriate space within either Village Hall or The Baird and provide them space in lieu of a financial subsidy.

Secondly, reviewing a list of other nonprofits in our community, I identified numerous valuable organizations that receive ZERO Municipal dollars, utilizing other models to sustain themselves. Finally, many supporters of the CCR claimed that if we support integration we MUST provide them a subsidy. My response is that we (both as individuals and as a community) support the following organizations, yet we do not provide a taxpayer subsidy to prove it:

Achieve
Improves the academic skills of children in-need by matching them with trained volunteer tutors from the local communities. Every year, 150 ACHIEVE volunteers provide over 2,500 hours of free tutoring to 250 students in grades K-12, who are referred for extra help by their teachers and guidance counselors. ACHIEVE recruits volunteers - professionals, retirees, parents and high school and college students - from local groups and organizations and the community-at-large.

Adult School of South Orange/Maplewood
Offers a wide array of affordable, high-quality classes, lectures, and trips to more than 1,600 local residents each semester

First Night of Maplewood/South Orange
Provides an alcohol-free family-friendly way for the Community to celebrate New Years Eve

Jersey Animal Coalition
Provides homeless dogs and cats with medical attention, shelter, and boarding, and find them permanent loving homes. Based in South Orange, New Jersey, but place animals throughout the state and nearby states. Since its founding, rescued over 6,500 stray and abandoned pets. Without JAC's intervention, these animals would most likely have been euthanized in pounds or left to die on the streets.

JESPY House
An extraordinary program for adults with learning and developmental disabilities who demonstrate the ability to live independently and gain competitive employment.

Lions Club of South Orange
Lions are an international network of 1.3 million men and women in 202 countries and geographic areas who work together to answer the needs that challenge communities around the world. Known for working to end preventable blindness, Lions participate in a vast variety of projects important to their communities. These projects range from cleaning up local parks to providing supplies to victims of natural disasters.

Montrose Park Historic District Association
Promote, preserve and beautify the Montrose Park Historic District, maintain its integrity and enhance the quality of life for its residents. Promotes promote public awareness and sensitivity to the history and architectural significance of the Montrose Park Historic District through house tours, lectures, beautification programs and other projects.

Newcomers Club of South Orange/Maplewood
Extends a warm welcome to newcomers in both South Orange and Maplewood. Has about 100 member households and run 15 to 20 activities each month. Hosts a monthly General Meeting and offer a wide variety of activities, programs and services in an effort to acquaint new residents with the area and to promote camaraderie and lasting friendships.

South Mountain Peace Action
A community organization based in the towns of Maplewood and South Orange, New Jersey. Works for peaceful alternatives to war and for changing our national priorities to reduce excessive military spending and to increase resources for human needs and the environment. Holds an annual Be About Peace Day in March and many events and actions for peace during the year.

South Orange Historical & Preservation Society
The goal of the organization is to further the study of the history and architecture of the Village of South Orange, New Jersey.

South Orange Rescue Squad
The primary emergency medical service for South Orange Village. Provides basic Life Support ambulance service free of charge to residents and visitors and provide assistance to our neighboring communities. On duty every night from 6:00 PM until 6:00 AM and on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday around the clock. When not on duty, provides back up service to the paid agency that covers the town. Approximately fifty members are unpaid volunteers who received their initial medical training from the Rescue Squad

South Orange Rotary
Rotary club members are a diverse group working to address various community and international service needs. Through community service, Rotary club members help promote peace and understanding throughout the world.

South Orange / Maplewood Interfaith Holocaust Remembrance Committee
Dedicated to preserving and honoring the memory of the six million Jews and 5 million other victims of the Nazi reign.

I certainly don't think anyone in good conscience could critique the value these organizations bring to the community, yet they do so without funding by the taxpayers. Other financial models do exist and the CCR must find which alternative model works for them in order to cease reliance on the taxpayers.

Darkness on the Edge of Town

Last night was a meeting of the Board of School Estimate - a joint body of representatives from Maplewood, South Orange and the Board of Education - to vote upon the proposed capital budget for the current year. While the total amount being considered was $4,555,753 for a variety of projects, such as roof replacements, mechanical upgrades, sidewalks and parking lots, the one issue that garnered the most attention was the expenditure of $50,000 for lights at the Underhill Field sports complex.

This issue came before the Board of Education 1.5 years ago, when they were planning to spend $100,000 (of the $200,000 total project cost) from the operating budget. For a variety of reasons, the School Board voted against that, but the project never went away. Since that time, I have heard from many residents who live near the property and have concerns that lights on a turf field will negatively impact their quality of life. As we heard last night, the lights are proposed to be in use an average of 5 nights per week during the Fall and Spring.

Although I was inclined to not support the project, once I learned that no effort was made to notice homeowners that live near the property (not to mention the fact that the vote was held during a snowstorm), I felt strongly that the process was flawed and I could not vote for a project that we KNEW the public has concerns about, but were not informed about the meeting. In fact the vote was not even posted on the District website or covered by any of our local media, so unless someone reads the fine print in the legal notices of the newspaper, they would not even have known the vote was taking place.

When a someone buys a home, they have the right to expect a certain quality of life based on the location of the home. If you live next to a train track, you have to expect a certain level of noise. If you live next to a park, you have to expect a certain level of activity in the park. If you live near a football stadium, you have to expect some level of inconvenience due to noise or parking. However, in this case, the residents did NOT have the expectation of games and the associated noise (and light) running into the nighttime hours. A big reason that applications go before a Planning Board is so if dramatic changes are proposed to occur, public hearings are heard, restrictions are imposed and memorialized and everything is documented in an open, transparent and fair way. However, for some unknown reason, we are told that a Board of Education is exempt from this process. That just makes no sense to me.

In this day and age of belt-tightening and cutbacks, spending money on a luxury like field lighting seems inappropriate. To make things worse, to do it without the people most impacted invited to participate in the dialog seems just plain wrong. Unfortunately, my colleagues did not agree and the funding was approved. However, I am proud to have voted "no" on behalf of the residents who couldn't.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

This week we continued our Budget Workshop series by reviewing the Capital Budget and identifying the priorities for the upcoming year. There were a total of $11.3M in projects that were suggested, with about half of that money coming from existing capital funds, and the balance coming from new capital, grants, open space fund and the operating budget. The biggest projects anticipated to be addressed in 2011 are:

• Village Hall renovation
• Resurfacing about 10 streets
• Improvements to the Crest Drive Firehouse
• Planning for the Baird renovations
• Open Space Acquisitions
• Next phase of the River Corridor project

Another topic discussed was the Holiday Schedule for Village employees in 2011. After doing a comparison of current holidays in the Village, it is apparent that the Village is quite out of line with other organizations. For example, most corporations provide 7 holidays to employees, typically:

• New Year’s Day
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Day After Thanksgiving
• Christmas Day

The Federal Government adds the following for their employees:

• Martin Luther King's Birthday
• President's Day
• Columbus Day
• Veterans Day

and eliminates the Day After Thanksgiving for a total of 10 holidays.

South Orange, further adds:

• Lincoln's Birthday
• Good Friday
• Election Day
• Christmas Eve
• the Day After Thanksgiving

for a total of 15 holidays annually, in addition to 4-5 weeks of paid vacation! In this day and age of cost cutting, downsizing and increasing efficiency, it seems quite excessive to provide the equivalent of two full months of paid time off each year.

I'd love to hear how many holidays YOU get in YOUR job.