Well, I must say last night's Council meeting could have been a TV show. There was so much on the agenda that it was impossible to cover it all without glossing over some of it. As it was, the meeting ended at !:00AM, and everyone who spoke pulled no punches.
The chief issues were the budget, the creation of the position of Construction Inspector, and closing the Building Department. The budget passed 5-0 without any cuts. There will be a shortfall next year, and there is nothing political about it. We are starting with a $2,000,000 one-time land sale that was applied to the budget and will not be there next year. Everyone in that room last night heard the dire predictions. Even the Mayor agreed, so this is not a question of Democrat or Republican or Independent...it is a question of financial fact. There WILL be a fiscal problem next year.
By far, the biggest issue was the Building Department. The questions from the audience were very probing, and the Council was just not prepared to answer them. Unfortunately, there was not enough information provided to the Council for them to make an informed decision. That became more and more obvious as the meeting progressed, and finally, Mr. Stallone, who was embarrassed by Mr. Mayorwitz, made a motion to carry the ordinance until the second meeting in July , and I don't take this decision lightly. You can bet I will do my homework.
Other items were the appointment of Debbie Garafano to the MUA upon Charlie's resignation before his term was over. No comment. There was also the installation of 1/2 million dollar surveillance camera in the Justice Complex. Again, no comment. I don't care how you spin it, the current Council certainly tried to pass a huge agenda a mere seven days before the new Council members take their seats. We will be starting with basically a clean slate of expectations and ideas. I expect to see us fill it with resolutions and ordinances that are good for all the people of Jackson.
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This has been a running commentary on life as a Councilwoman for the Jackson Township Council in New Jersey. I will now continue this blog with observations on being a member of the Board of Trustees of my homeowners asscociation.
About Me
- Bobbie
- I love to write, and I hope this blog will be an outlet for my meanderings.
Ya gotta make lemonade outta lemons or life will be real sour.
2 comments:
I was wondering when you were going to write about last night's meeting! What a circus. Here's a thought - do you think this agenda was loaded with a lot of stuff to cover just so that people wouldn't complain about the budget and just focus on the building department situation? That idea is out there. However, I don't think that all of them put together are smart enough to even think up something so contrived as this, let alone act on it. I'm so glad that they carried it until July. Now maybe someone can do their homework and make an INFORMED decision on this situation once and for all! I agree that there should be layoffs, to what extent I don't know but to shut down an entire department and outsource the work is crazy. We spend our money out of town to go to the movies. We spend our money in other towns to shop. We spend our money in other towns to eat at nice restaurants and now Seda and the puppets want us to spend our money out of town to have our construction inspected by outsiders. Why don't we spend our money in another town to borrow a good mayor. That would be money well spent!
Anyway, I'm looking forward to July 1st and I will be sitting in the front to watch The Right Team for Jackson take the oath of office to do what's right for the residents of our town. I am honored to have met you and to call you my friend Bobbie!!! Go get 'em!
Love,
MD, Jr.
It was a very long meeting, but I was glad to see that most people stayed for the entire meeting.
I look forward to the July 1st reorganization meeting and will see you there. :)
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