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!!

Crazy days

Hard to believe it has been over a month since my last blog post. However, it has been quite a busy month between my active Trustee duties, campaign events, personal commitments and family obligations. The good news is that it all has been positive, but it simply hasn't given me the time to blog as frequently as I would have liked.

With respect to Trustee duties, we have begun the process to officially avert the layoffs of 14 employees. Although unofficially the layoffs were averted last week when the Union members voted to accept the terms of a Memorandum of Agreement negotiated between the Village and Union Management, last night, we passed an Ordinance on first reading which formalizes this. This ordinance will be read on second reading on May 11 and will "officially" bring closure to this very difficult chapter. I commend the Village President for his negotiating skills and I thank the Union members for coming to the table and agreeing to the significant concessions that were proposed.

Over the past few weeks, there have also been numerous events to attend, such as the annual Holocaust Remembrance Service, the annual Baseball parade, the annual South Mountain PTA fundraiser and a recent tour of the Firehouse - which is now scheduled for completion in May. There have also been many campaign related events, such as "coffees", media interviews, door-to-door canvassing and an upcoming debate.

Two weeks from today, the Municipal Election will be held in South Orange. I urge you to vote for myself and my Pure Progress runningmates, Janine Bauer and Nancy Gould on Row "B". For more information , be sure to visit our detailed website at www.pureprogress.org.

Don't Look Back

Well, for those who have not heard, yet, I finally formally decided to run for re-election as Village Trustee in the May 12 election (and filed appropriate papers on March 18). Many people certainly have asked "why" when it can be such a Thankless job. I definitely gave it alot of thought over the past few months and went back and forth on the decision a few times. While there are far too many people that get into local politics for their own personal agenda or some higher political ambition, I am glad to say that my motives are far more simplistic - I simply enjoy serving the community and wanted to do what I can to make it a better place.
I am actually quite proud of the many accomplishments over the past 2 years and am glad we have been able to start to unwind some of the terrible decisions and attitudes of the past.

After a lengthy search process for the best possible runningmates, I am very proud and excited about the final result - I will be running together with Janine Bauer and Nancy Gould.

The notion of running together with Janine Bauer may come as a surprise to many people. As many of you know, Janine ran for Trustee on the opposing ticket 2 years ago. However, Janine and I have spoken quite a number of times over the past two years and she has actually been quite supportive of what we have been doing. We ultimately agreed it was time to look ahead and move beyond the politics of the past. In addition, Janine has stayed very active in the community - continuing to serve both on the Environmental Commission and on the River Greenway Committee. She also previously served on the Planning Board, where she helped advocate to preserve as much of the quarry as possible (a cause I was very passionate about, as well.) She is a practicing attorney, as a partner in a law firm specializing in land use, environmental, transportation, contracts and business litigation. She lives in West Montrose with her husband and 2 children. I urge you to get to know her and see that she will be a huge asset to the entire town.

Nancy Gould is currently a Real Estate Agent and formerly a Partner in a large Architectural/Engineering firm in New York, where she managed multi-million dollar large-scale development projects and was in charge of the Planning and Urban design departments for the firm. She also currently sits on the South Orange Planning Board. She lives in Montrose with her Husband and 16 year old son. Nancy is a fantastic person and will also be a huge asset to the entire town.

We also decided that we will be running under the name "Pure Progress" (www.pureprogress.org) to continue the vision and platform we laid out and began implementing two years ago. Obviously, Janine and Nancy will each bring their fresh perspectives, but the core of our values remains the same.

I look forward to the campaign over the next 7 weeks and hope you get a chance to talk with Janine, Nancy or myself to learn about our ideas and values. It's time to spring forward and not fall back.

Sad Eyes

On February 17, the BOT held the most recent Budget Workshop. This time, we focused on reaching a conclusion on Recreation Fees, reviewing the budget of the Police Department and reviewing the budget for the Department of Public Works.

With respect to Recreation, it was agreed to do the following:

• increase the fees for Summer Camp to $700/child, with a $100 discount for each additional child per family (beyond one)
• increase the fees for Recreation Badges to $30/person, with a maximum of $120/family
• increase the fees for programs at the Baird by $10
• implement a $10 discount for residents that sign up for Baird programs and have a Recreation Badge

With respect to the Police Department, no formal decisions were reached, however it was recommended that the vacant positions that currently exist in the Department not be filled at this time. However to help meet the Policing needs of the community, it was strongly suggested that the Police Officer currently assigned to Information Management be utilized as a Police Officer and the position of Information Management be filled by a Civilian. In addition, it was strongly suggested that additional per diem dispatchers and Crossing Guards be identified, so Police Officers are not utilized to fill-in for those jobs, causing costly overtime expenses to occur.

With respect to Public Works, the joint bid with Maplewood for large turf mowing was discussed and identified as an area to save around $180,000/year.

However, even with all of these changes, an enormous budget gap still remains. As a result, this past Monday night, the BOT voted to submit a layoff plan to the State of NJ which proposes the elimination of the following positions:

• Public Works – 5 positions
• Recreation and Cultural Affairs – 2 positions
• Code Enforcement & Inspections – 4 positions
• Municipal Court – 1 position

The Board of Trustees also is recommending to the Board of the South Orange Library that it eliminate two positions, in addition to not filling one open position. (The BOT simply controls the amount of money provided to the Library, but the Library Board actually determines how that money is spent)

Clearly, this process has been the most difficult thing we have been faced with and none of these decisions were reached easily or with any pleasure. However, the Village taxpayers spend over $22M for personnel (including salary, benefits and taxes) in a budget of almost $34.5M for 176.5 full time employees across all departments. In addition, over 62% of personnel costs are just for Public Safety (Police and Fire) alone.

As I have said on this blog and publicly numerous times, this financial situation is simply unsustainable. South Orange is one of the most "tax-stressed" communities in the State and something must be done to help the residents. I urge the Unions that represent the majority of the Village employees to work diligently to put an end to the spiraling costs of salaries, health care and benefits for the sake of all residents and employees.

The Big Muddy

Once again, it is Budget season and the Board of Trustees has begun holding frequent Budget Workshops to analyze the budget and determine what should be included this year and what won't. As expected, just like EVERY organization, times are very difficult this year with the unprecedented economic climate we face. However, far worse than expected is that we are looking down the barrel of a $5 MILLION budget gap, which would translate to a 27% Municipal Tax increase if nothing were done!

Clearly, a 27% increase is completely unacceptable. However, we are now faced with the difficult task of determining what elements of the budget should be trimmed to reduce the gap.

At this point, the largest drivers of the increase are: Reduced Surplus (about $1.8M), Personnel Costs, Fixed Costs, Reduced State Aid, (last year we received $600k in extraordinary aid that we cannot count on again), Debt Service and Capital Improvements. With respect to Capital Improvements, we have identified approximately $11M of projects that are LONG overdue, such as replacement of vehicles, building maintenance and roadway improvements for which money has never been set aside. To undertake these projects, requires a 5% "down payment", which equates to almost $550k. It might be easy to suggest deferring these improvements, but the problem is that has been the "answer" for many many years and at some point the work must be done or we will face the situation of the Old Stone House with many more assets of the town.

So, to deal with these challenges, we asked all Village Departments to propose how they can cut a percentage of their current budgets by reducing services/staff costs and/or what revenue could be increased. Monday night, we met with the first two departments - Library and Recreation to hear their proposals.

From Library, the proposals came to a net change of 0%...which unfortunately does not help the situation.

From Recreation, some proposals were presented as follows:

• Increase the cost of Recreation Badges/Guest Passes/Babysitter Passes
• Increase the cost of Summer Day Camp
• Increase the cost of program fees
• Eliminate the fireworks from Village Aglow
• Reduce some costs for Holiday Lighting

At this point, no final decisions have been made. Depending on the severity of these increases, this COULD generate an additional $200k or so, but that is still a long long way away from $5M!

The next Budget Workshop is February 17 at 7:30pm in Village Hall

Just around the corner to the Light of Day

One of the biggest frustrations we have faced on the Board has been the glacial pace of progress for the renovation of the Firehouse. (Although, I am certain our frustration doesn't even remotely approach the level of frustration felt by our Fire Department who have had to endure difficult conditions in temporary trailers for far too long.)

As Chair of the Public Safety Committee, I have met with the Fire Chief periodically to tour the Firehouse in order to see the progress (or lack thereof) firsthand. Earlier today, I had my most recent visit and the good news is that significant progress has been made since I first toured the building in 2007 - when studs were exposed and the building was essentially a gutted shell. On subsequent visits in 2008, the rough/finish electrical was completed, sheetrock was installed and finished and plumbing fixtures were installed etc.

This morning, I noticed much more "finish" work that had been completed since my last visit - such as the front extension doors were removed, carpet and molding has been installed, lockers were installed in the dormitory and appliances were installed in the kitchen.

The good news is that we are very close to having the construction completed. The bad news is that the remaining "punch list" items are lengthy and are still realistically a couple months away from completion, in my personal opinion. Once the punch list is completed, there is still the procurement and installation of furniture, bedding, communications equipment etc which will likely take another month or two.

I wish I had thought to take pictures of the project on previous visits so people could appreciate the progress that HAS been made. However, I did take some pictures this morning, so people can see the progress that still remains.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AaMWjdm5as2T3&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5&cid=EMsharshar

There is a light at the end of the tunnel... but the tunnel is still not as short as we would like it to be.

Enough is Enough

Anyone who has read previous entries of this blog knows of the financial challenges we constantly face in the Village and my frustration with those challenges. This frustration was brought to a new level Wednesday night when the BOT was asked to pass an Ordinance to bond an additional $275,000 for SOPAC.

This request was raised in Closed Session a few months ago and I was shocked when I first heard they wanted MORE money. For anyone who doesn't know the background, when the project was first conceived in the late 1990s, construction bids were rejected when the low bid came in at $12.7 million--$3.4 million over the original budget. The lowest bidder, Arnell Construction, was asked to "value engineer" the building to reduce costs, and submitted a design-build proposal of $10.5 million. Ironically, several years later, Change Orders for almost an additional $4 million were approved. Around the time the facility was completed, it was determined that there was an acoustical defect which prevented the main performance stage from being used at the same time as the Loft space above, due to the transference of sound between the floors.

The contractor made claims against SOPAC for change orders, increased construction costs, and late payment/interest penalties. SOPAC made a claim to remedy the acoustical defect and to oppose increased construction costs.

However, instead of fighting the issue, a "settlement" was reached for SOPAC to pay the contractor WITHOUT having the flaw repaired. Since SOPAC is largely funded by the Village (to the tune of $300,000/year for Operating Expenses), they returned to the Village for and additional $275,000 for this "Settlement".

Village President Newman suggested we meet with members of the SOPAC Board to better understand their predicament. On November 21, 2008 (nearly 2 months ago!) Trustee Levison and I met with Mr. Leitner, Mr Wolf and Ms. Stoller. While the conversation was pleasant and cordial, Trustee Levison & I each had several very specific action items that were agreed to coming out of the meeting. For me, it was simple:
1) Provide full details around the current finances of SOPAC, including salaries of all employees, benefits, raises etc. We need to ensure that current expended funds are being spent wisely before even considering more.
2) Review and Provide recommendations for improving the programming to have wider appeal to increase the likelihood of all shows selling-out, so the facility can start to wean itself off its dependence on the taxpayers.

In the TWO MONTHS that have elapsed since we met, no further information was provided.

When asked to vote on the funding, it was actually easy based on a complete lack of Responsibility:
a. Nobody has taken the Responsibility to be accountable for the significant flaw to the building
b. Nobody has taken Responsibility for proving they are spending taxpayer money wisely before asking for more
c. Nobody has taken Responsibility to follow-up on their commitment made 2 months ago. To add insult to injury, after the vote, Mr. Leitner had the nerve to blame the holidays for the delay. I can't speak for anyone else, but if I was looking for someone to give me $275,000, I would be certain to follow-up and provide any and all information that was requested....especially if I had 2 months to do so.

As with the situation/controversy around Tau, this has absolutely nothing to do with "Art", and everything to do with Fiscal Responsibility and Transparency. Enough is Enough.