American Idling

This week I had the honor of being invited to an assembly at South Mountain School where the subject was car engine idling.

Girl Scout Troop 250 and the 3rd Grade of South Mountain Elementary School combined their valuable lessons learned this year and put them to good use spearheading an awareness campaign regarding the problem with unnecessary idling. The New Jersey Environmental Federation also worked collaboratively with this program.

The Girl Scouts presented a short skit about the dangers of Global Warming and engine idling to all classes from K-5 and then a number of 3rd grade students read letters out loud to the Governing Bodies of South Orange and Maplewood, as well as the Police Chiefs of both towns. Also at the assembly were Village President Newman, Police Chief Chelel, Township Committeewoman Leventhal and Police Chief Cimino who also spoke to the students to acknowledge our own concerns for the environment and to personally thank the students for their efforts.

I was so incredibly impressed by the awareness these students had of such serious issues that we all face. I congratulate Renee Leviton for pulling this together, as well as the teachers, staff and administration of the school for including such important values in our curriculum.

It amazes me how these students not only knew about the issue at hand, but also had a general understanding of the role that local government can play. I hope these kids continue to stay involved to improve our community as they get older...and maybe some of them will even inspire their parents to get more involved now!

Open All Night

As published in today's News Record and yesterday's Star Ledger, NJ Transit has backed down from their proposed plan to close South Orange Train Station earlier in the day. Initially, the proposal was to close the station at 1PM. That was later renegotiated to close the station at 9:45pm - a position still unacceptable. Closing the station so early would force people taking the train home late from NYC to the stairwells at South Orange Avenue or 2nd Street - both of which are too far from the NJ Transit Lot and SOPAC.

Huge Thank Yous are owed to Village President Newman who immediately took up this issue working directly with NJ Transit to strongly express the Village's concern. The cause was then also taken up by Assemblywoman Jasey and Assembly McKeon who also expressed their concerns to NJ Transit. Finally, Governor Codey got involved and wrote a strongly worded letter to NJ Transit which seemed to have sealed the deal to have the station remain open. Thank you to all for stepping up for South Orange and Thank you to NJ Transit for listening to and agreeing to our appeals.

Red Light, Green Light, 1-2-3

Last night at the Public Safety Meeting, we heard a presentation from a company called Redflex. The company is a provider of automated photo enforcement systems for Traffic Lights. When someone runs a red light that is monitored, photographs and video are captured and sent electronically to the Police for review. Once an officer reviews the violation, a citation can be issued to the owner of the car. (However, the driver is not identified and charged, therefore it is not treated as a moving violation for insurance purposes).

I was initially skeptical mainly over concerns of cost. However, we learned that the systems are installed and maintained at absolutely zero cost to the Village. The program is completely funded by a portion of the violation fines. The system is also not allowed to be used for anything other than the actual red light violation. (Currently, NJ state law prohibits use of these devices for other infractions such as speeding - although that has been changed in other states and may ultimately change in NJ).

Certainly, there are still many questions to still be addressed and no decision or recommendation is imminent, but the concept is an interesting one and one that seems to have gained momentum in other parts of the country.

I'd be interested to hear what you think.....

Obama for President

It's so interesting that for the first time that I can remember, New Jersey actually has a say in the determination of who gets the Party nomination for President. On Tuesday February 5, we have a very tough choice between Hillary Clinton & Barack Obama. I find them both to be incredibly smart and thoughtful - a far cry from our current President - and ultimately I will be happy with either as our next President.

I have long been a big fan of Bill Clinton and the prospect of having Bill Clinton back in the White House is appealing. The problem is that Bill Clinton is not running, Hillary Clinton is - despite how it sometimes appears. In fact, in recent weeks, we have not seen the charismatic Bill Clinton we all remember and instead we have seen a much more divisive side, which is disturbing.

After all the partisanship and divisiveness of the past 7 years, I think it is now time for a new generation of leadership and someone who will try things differently and can try to start to bring this country back together within itself and with other countries. I think the person who can best accomplish that is Barack Obama. I hope you will join me in giving him your support on Tuesday.

Money Pit - Part 2

We are now in the midst of budget reviews and clearly this is the time to scrutinize our expenses to see how we can spend tax dollars more efficiently.

First, I would like to commend Village President Newman for his repeated insistence that the Village look at things differently to ensure we explore opportunities for Sharing Services, Outsourcing and maximizing economies of scale by looking at our purchasing holistically throughout the entire Village. These are all fundamental concepts that have been adopted in the Corporate world and are long overdue in Municipal Government.

There are two other areas that have recently arisen that should also be explored - expanded Volunteerism and potential consolidations.

1) Expanded Volunteerism - at the recent Budget Workshop, the Fire Chief presented his proposal to increase the fire staff from 8 firefighters per shift to 10 firefighters per shift. His main argument is that the 8 person shift puts us at greater risk. While I greatly respect the Fire Chief and all our firefighters for all they do to risk their lives for our community, we simply cannot afford this increase in headcount and associated expense - particularly with regard to healthcare and pensions.

However, I have suggested to the Chief that he explore supplementing his force with Volunteer Firefighters. There are still numerous towns throughout New Jersey that have entirely Volunteer Fire Departments. While the age of our housing stock, our population density and our high cost of living may not allow an entire Volunteer Department, I would be willing to bet there are numerous people who would be more than willing to Volunteer in order to supplement our current force. Increasing the department through Volunteers would reduce the "risk" the Chief is concerned about, while controlling the costs to the taxpayers which would be a win-win scenario. I will continue to urge the Chief to pursue this.

2) Potential consolidations - clearly, we need to look at the budget creatively to see where we can potentially consolidate redundant activites. Recently, the Parking Authority announced their plan to raise parking meter rates, along with parking permit rates. I support the increase in commuter parking permit rates for the following reasons;
- grant funding for the jitney will expire this year and permit rates will help fund the continuation of jitney service. The jitney is a logical solution to our limited parking, as well as being more environmentally friendly.
- higher commuter rates should encourage higher utilization of the jitney, further helping fund the continuation of jitney service
- higher commuter parking rates will reduce the number of people who are hoarding permits and thereby help move the waiting list
- higher commuter rates are still a fraction of the rates charged by NJ Transit for a permit in the "SOPAC lot"

Clearly, we need to have parking permits to pay for the maintenance of our parking lots, as well as a way of controlling supply and demand.. However, the need for Parking meters and even a Parking Authority is less clear. The question then becomes "who will enforce parking rules without a Parking Authority?". Many people point to Maplewood as a perfect example of how we could survive without meters or an Authority. Although, some skeptics claim it is harder to park in Maplewood than South Orange..

Naturally, someone still needs to enforce Parking regulations and that COULD naturally revert back to the jurisdiction of the Police Department. The critical question is then whether or not doing that work with the required additional people under the Police Department will cost more or less than it does today under a Parking Authority. The time has come for a thorough cost-benefit analysis to examine this very question. We need to ensure we don't sacrifice parking enforcement or general Police protection and at the same time we don't want to simply exchange salaries and benefits in one department for salaries and benefits in another department if there is no saviings. We all may have our gut instincts, but like any business decision, it is important that appropriate analysis is done first. I will be urging the Finance Committee or CBAC to take on this challenge to determine if we can find some real savings. There are bound to be other examples of potential savings that can be found and I welcome your suggestions to help us crawl out of this very deep money pit we find ourselves in.

Feel free to share your thoughts with me at mgoldberg@southorange.org
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Un-Belize-able!

Just back from the most incredible vacation to Belize, Central America - where we learned the expression "Unbelizeable" is quite appropriate for our experience.

Day 1: We started our trip by landing in Belize City and immediately taking a 12 passenger plane for a 15 minute flight to Ambergris Caye and took a cab from the "airstrip" to our Hotel - Xanadu Resort, which is about 1 mile south of the town of San Pedro. After checking into our suite, we grabbed some lunch, settled in and eventually got dinner at a local Tapas Restaurant, Casa Picasso (which had a very cool atmosphere, but unfortunately, the food fell short)

Day 2: We spent the morning basking in the sun by the pool and then by the beach before heading into San Pedro to walk around. It was quite an interesting little town, with a collection of small wooden buildings with hotels, shops and restaurants built very close to the beach. It certainly was not the wide pristine beaches of places like Aruba, but it had a very unique feel with a mix of luxury in some places, and pretty grungy in others.

Day 3: After sitting out a rainstorm in the AM, we headed out to Hol Chan along the Barrier Reef for Scuba (Michael) and Snorkel (Amy). The water was incredibly clear and warm and the marine life was amazing. We swam with tons of fish, sea turtles, nurse sharks, stingrays, lobster and eel.

After a great afternoon at sea, we enjoyed a great Dinner in town at Mangos.

Day 4: Another day of lounging by the beach combined with bicycling into town and exploring further before finishing off the evening with a sunset dinner at Sunset Grill.

Day 5: It was time to pack up and move back to the mainland. This time we took an 8-passenger plane back to Belize City where we rented a car for the drive to the Cayo. Before going to our hotel, we stopped at a resort called Jaguar Paw for lunch. After lunch, we convinced ourselves to try ziplining and had the time of our lives. We were both scared, but after watching so many episodes of the Amazing Race, it seems like something too cool to pass up. We swung between 8 different platforms in the jungle as high as 80 feet in the air!

After the zipline, we continued the adventure with the exploration of "Crystal Cave", which comprised of a hike through the jungle and into a massive cave, where we rode an inner tube into the pitch darkness of the cave with only headlamps (and our guide) to guide the way. Inside the cave we saw stalagmites, stalagtites and lots of ancient Mayan pottery scraps. We paddled our tubes out of the cave and continued our journey to our next stop - Chaa Creek. As we arrived, it was just getting dark, we we could tell it would be worth the 2 hour drive, including a several-mile dirt road to arrive.

Day 6: We were awoken at sunrise by the enormous sounds of multiple species of birds in the trees and we looked outside, it appeared as if we were in paradise- with immaculately kept grounds surrounding the handful of "cottages" scattered around. After the previous days adventures, we decided to explore the grounds and relax in our hammocks before venturing up to the spa in the afternoon. Yes - after convincing Amy to join me on a zipline, she made me a deal that I had to join her at the spa, so I grudgingly agreed and had a pedicure. I must admit it felt like going to the dentist with all the prodding and poking that was going on, but the end result looked good. :)

We ended the day with a sunset canoe trip on the Macal River where we saw numerous iguanas and birds in the trees.

Day 7: We woke early to join a group of 8 other people on a guided trip to visit the Mayan ruins of Tikal in Guatamala. The trip itself involved a 2.5 hour van ride (about 30 minutes on a paved road in Belize and the 2 hours over a virtually unpaved road into Guatamala). While we initially thought Belize was a poor country, compared to the U.S., once we crossed into Guatamala, Belize looked like Beverly Hills. It was incredibly sad to see so many "shacks" alongside the road with wild pigs, chickens and dogs running all along the road. We finally made it to Tikal, where we hiked a 5 mile perimeter of the main Mayan site and learned about the history of the area and got to climb upon the ruins, while also seeing monkeys swinging from the trees above. After a long day, we headed back for the long drive back to Belize. (stopping to see a Tarantula in the road)

Day 8: After packing up, it was time to depart and drive back to the airport and back to civilization. Overall it was one of the most amazing vacations I have ever taken, had an incredible time and highly recommend it.

If anyone wants to see additional pictures of the adventure, you can do so at: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AaMWjdm5as2TE

The Money Pit

This past week were two back to back meetings which are ironically linked very closely - Budget Workshop and the Old Stone House Task Force Workshop.

This was our 2nd budget workshop of the year, so far, and already the situation is looking bleak. We have been given budget projections showing a massive deficit in revenue, mainly tied to pension and healthcare cost increases for employees, along with our massive debt service incurred over the past decade. However, we are determined to scrutinize the budget rigorously to explore creative ways of delivering services for reduced costs. For way too long, the Board has been reluctant to look at things differently and it is clear that we have no choice or face a massive tax increase. We are still very early in the process, but I am confident that significant savings can still be found.

The next night, the Board of Trustees met to review the report of the Old Stone House Task Force, which I participated in along with Stacey Jennings, John Purkert, Gail Kent, Allison Brown, Maria Morrison-Henningburg, Janine Bauer, Jim Ankner and Suzanne L'Hernault. The Task Force worked hard over 4 months in late 2007 and although it was often contentious, it was quite a learning experience. I came into the process thinking there was no hope for the Old Stone House and that demolition was the only option because the town cannot (and should not) afford to spend significant dollars on this project when our taxes are already out of control. However, I did come to gain an appreciation for the history of the house and the passion of its proponents.

I still do not think the Village can afford to spend any money on this project, but I think a viable alternative to demolition has been identified - conveyance. By getting the Old Stone House out of the hands of the Village, it opens up a world of possibility for private or public enterprises that have the means to invest money into the house. (The Village has also proven itself incapable of managing historic preservation as evidenced by the 6-year+ saga of the firehouse)

The Task Force report did identify other options, but I think that conveyance holds the most promise for saving the house (or some portion of it), while relieving the taxpaying citizens of this town the burden of paying for it.

We need to establish priorities for our limited tax dollars to ensure we remain as a place people want to live and to ensure we stop driving people out of town who cannot afford to pay our high taxes. We must stop the endless money pit.