Bloomfield Votes Budget Down, Glen Ridge Passes

The budget didn't fail by as much as it was expected to

I suppose that's the most positive spin to be salvaged from a bad night.

Angry voters? Perhaps. Probably more like broke, frustrated, and scared. This budget was done in by people responding to the daily drumbeat of bad economic news: rising cost of living (food and energy), weak housing market, falling home prices, layoffs, recession, state budget woes, corrupt and pension-padding politicians, taxes, taxes, taxes. It's really no wonder that voters said "No More!" on the one occasion they are able to render a decision on public spending.

The BOE should have been more cognizant of public perception and deferred action on the superintendent contracts until after the election and the new board seated. Digesere and his assistant (whomever that may be) may very well be worth every penny of the generous salary increases provided in their new contracts, yet I doubt whether most people ever got to the point of considering that. The unflattering coverage of the administration by the local press in recent weeks planted the seeds of suspicion in voters minds that these generous early contract renewals was some sort of sweetheart deal that the BOE wanted to push through before the clock ran out. The timing really sucked on that. The board should have realized how much that would stir things up, and put it off to later.

I'm sorry to hear that Mark Wiley lost his seat. I voted for him. He seemed like a very enthusiastic, engaged, and committed board member, and I thought his professional background brought a unique contribution to the board. Rachel Park seems like she will be a promising addition to the board, but I'm not enthusiastic about Anthony Petrillo. He had his time on the board already, and I don't perceive him bringing much in the way of fresh ideas and perspectives. His pet issues apparently are resurrecting the adult school and restoring behind-the-wheel driver training, both of which seem like they would be needless distractions from the critical issues facing this board and administration. (And redundant, too. Clifton seems to have a very rich and diverse adult school program open to anyone, at least from what I see in their booklets I get twice a year. Why do we need to replicate that here? And behind-the-wheel training is what driving schools are for.)

Let the gnashing of teeth and rending of hair begin!

According to the clerk's office, Park, Petrillo and Wolf won...not Smith:

- Rachel PARK 2,046
- Emily SMITH 1,189
- Anthony PETRILLO 1,726
- Donald CAPIO 455
- Mark WILEY 830
- Susan WOLF 1,595

Write-In 30 0.38%
Total 7,871 100.00%

Yes, Wolf won, not Smith.

I'm not sure how solar panels and geese peace is more relevant than adult school or any other issue. In fact, opening up BHS or BMS to the community via adult school would foster goodwill in the community toward the school board, which is obviously lacking at present!

(Meanwhile, we in Montclair still feel special with our appointed school board and budget process.... Why vote when you can appoint. Silly GR and Bfd.)

Geese Peace? Dude (dudette?), take a walk around the middle school where the kids play soccer and baseball. Geese crap EVERYWHERE. It's beyond unsanitary!

Porkroll, you hit the nail on the head when you wrote, "...The BOE should have been more cognizant of public perception..." and "... The board should have realized..."
I feel the results of the budget vote have less to do with muck stirring local papers than it has to do with the perception that the BOE is unaware and unceoncerned about what taxpayers in Bloomfield think. Frankly, I doubt that the board is seen as little more than a poor planning commission which feels it is working in a town of few problems and deep pockets.
The BOE, while it may have the potential to do great things, is also in need of a wake up call by the citizens of Bloomfield and this is what they got yesterday.

Yeah, much nashing here. Pork Roll's post covers it exactly. Park and Wolf seem like good additions but I don't see that Petrillo brings anything to the board.

Worse, with BOE budgets getting rejected over and over I can't help get the impression that Bloomfield just doesn't care enough about education. I appreciate people's reasons for rejecting the budget, but every year there seems to be some good reason to reject it, but no good reason, like a good education, to accept it.

This issue, along with the a downtown that's getting worse not better, is really pushing me and others to find a better place to live, and that's really too bad. I like Bloomfield a lot, but this is very discouraging.

Miss M, your hamlet on the hill is looking better and better all the time.

sadly i couldn't agree more with state street pete. bloomfield appears to be it's own worst enemy. i think it's time for this nj transplant to take her tax dollars elsewhere.

I've had at least one child in the school system since '91 and this is the first time I voted NO on the budget.

Everything mentioned above stuck in my craw and helped me make that decision. But also the fact that it is running on a (near?) deficit. I decided to treat the BOE the way I treat my son with his allowance. "You'd better be careful how you spend this, because that's all you get."

Bloomfield can't manage a full day kindergarten? The kiddies are the worse for it. Not only should there be full day K, there should be public pre-K as well. The town is relegating itself to second-class citizenship.

I'm not sure how solar panels and geese peace is more relevant than adult school or any other issue

The "Geese Peace" idea is just silly. I think the only thing more addled than the eggs they shake is the logic of their supporters.

But we've been over the solar panel thing. Several school systems in New Jersey have created a new revenue stream because they can sell renewable energy credits back to the power company on the market that has been created to do that. While there is a significant installation cost, there are also low- or no- interest loans and grants available for solar installations, as well as other funding sources. Structured properly, solar installations could not only cover the yearly overhead but add money into the annual budgets for other things - like full-day K, new roofs, or even pre-K.

On this point, I think those who dismiss this idea without even considering the merits are being quite narrow-minded.

In the end, it seems like Digesere's new contract sunk the budget, killed full-day K, and torpedoed Wiley and Smith's re-election bids.

Oh those damn solar panels. Listen, if the board of education and administration had taken care of the immediate needs of the school district, I'd be happy too hear about a cost saving, environmentally friendly initiative such as solar panels. But quite frankly, it escapes me how anyone can debate putting panels atop roofs that leak! Bloomfield made a $60,000,000 investment in BHS that is being compromised every time it rains or snows. The board of ed is/was well aware of the roofing issues and in fact Zilinski agreed that the roof would be addressed and money allocated out of what was left over from the construction project to do so. Then we waited... another meeting, and another meeting... and still no resolution to allocate the funds or to request bids for the work.

Apparently they were too busy counting to 5 to line up affirmative votes for the super's and a/super's contracts and had no time left to do their jobs.

I'll hand this to Emily Smith: She stood her ground. She believed in certain issues (solar, geese peace). Whether I think one is putting the cart before the horse and the other is just ridiculous, neither mattered all that much that I would have dismissed her as a candidate.

However, voting yes to give Digesere a raise 2.1% over the budgeted amount, only 2 weeks after having approved that budgeted amount, was going too far. She said at the meeting that if the raise issue cost her the election, she'd be proud. I can respect her standing her ground, but I wasn't going to vote for her.

Once I read about the Superintendents' raises and how they were approved in the face of program cuts, I felt there was a total lack of integrity on the Board. Full day Kindergarten got my vote, but the budget got a fat NO.