The Senior Center and Montclair’s debt are talking points at tonight’s town council meeting.
Montclair’s Second Ward Councilor, Cary Africk, wrote in:
This Tuesday night, January 19th, there is time on the Council Agenda for a discussion of the “Community Center.”
I have received at least three dozen emails, and numerous telephone calls with regard to this project. This is the time to come and be heard.
Some questions Africk will be asking regarding the center are:
1. What UNMET needs are there for our Senior/Teen/Disabled population?
2. Which of those needs will be addressed by the proposed facility?
3. What programs will be put in place to address those needs? Be specific.
4. Identify, program by program, the costs of implementing. Break out for
personnel, and include whether or not they will be new hires and thus eligible
for health and pension benefits, or part time.
In addition to the Center discussion there will be a presentation by the Capital Finance Committee on the state of Montclair’s debt.
Meeting is at 8 p.m. in the Council Chambers.
Are those questions Africk “Will be asking” wishful thinking on your part Kristie? Fortune telling? Voodoo spell?
Assuming someone told you Africk was going to ask those questions and therefore he plans on asking them: they’re THE WRONG KINDS OF QUESTIONS!
Cary,
If someone can answer those questions, then you’ll be in favor of the purchase?
This “center”, no matter how many pointless questions you throw at it can be very simply boiled down. It’s a non-necessary facility aimed at social entertainment.
No matter how “justified”, the germane question is “can we afford it?”
The answer is “no”.
Cary reminds me of a laid-off breadwinner whose spouse wants to buy a country home and he wants a cost/benefit analysis.
I really hope they discuss the state of Montclair’s debt prior to discussing adding 3 and a half million more to it.
But of course they won’t. They are the smart ones who know better than their constituents.
Stu,
as long as the quotient of dollar per “UNMET need” exceeds the rate of growth in the inflation rate of the unequalized debt to principal ratio of the item in question, then it’s good public policy, you see?
ROC, please stop chewing on Cary’s leg long enough for him to answer this question: Is there any merit in the suggestion that the town is buying this building to prevent it from being acquired for a charter school?
Wall,
Highly unlikely that the town is deliberately buying the center to thwart the efforts of the Charter School.
The Capital Finance Committee does have a presentation prior to the discussion of Senior Care. In that presentation they will discuss “problems” with the debt! The Committee also will give their “review” of the Senior Center plan.
Thanks!
Cary
Cary, Those four questions you pose imply that if there are certain conditions under which you’d support the new senior center.
Can you outline them briefly?
Okay, Cary. I’ve already been accused of being too cynical. I suppose I shouldn’t also open myself up to charges of being paranoid.
One more thing: I will take back every horrible thing I’ve ever said about you and promise always to follow mention of your name with the words “may God hold him in the palm of his hand” if you stand up tonight and throw down the gauntlet. Tell it like it is, man! Speak truth to power! Go get’em, guy!
Repeat after me: “Read my lips, no senior center!”
RoC,
Will you be at the meeting tonight to make sure that the “proper” questions are asked? Will you ask them?
You think anyone is going to vote against this on the council voice? Cary, its chief “opponent” is already looking for reasons to approve it.
Has anyone emailed or called members of the Town Council to let them know what your feelings are on this issue? Or are you counting on them reading your comments here and caring about the opinions of a bunch of anonymous cranks? Is anyone actually going to this meeting? Or are you all just going to stay at your computers complaining that no one hears you?
Just curious.
who’s complaining that “no one hears them”
just curious.
i have sent emails and i cannot make the meeting because i have to work hard to make less than i did last year to pay my ridiculously high taxes here.
“highly unlikely” the town is buying this to thwart a charter school is not exactly a resounding “NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT!”. and this will happen because they want it to happen. there must be some motive because surely buying this to have a place for seniors and teens to hang cannot be the only reason.
“highly unlikely” the town is buying this to thwart a charter school is not exactly a resounding “NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT!”
Actually for Councilor Africk it might be.
Remember when he said:
“We don’t need it. Clear enough for you ROC? Now please let me move on.”
and now he’s entertaining the concept (once again).
I am NOT entertaining the concept.
I AM trying to convince others, residents, councilors, etc., to follow my logic and see WE DON’T NEED IT AND WE CAN’T AFFORD IT AND WE SHOULDN’T DO IT.
Clear enough, ROC?
Cary
So the questions then? They’re all BS?
If you want people to follow logic you have to present some.
If you present questions which amount to a call for a worked out plan, someone might show up with one and have it all worked out.
Then what would your “no” be based on? If the answer is “no – no matter what” then cut with the BS and attack the idea front on.
Googleaddict, just to satisfy your curiousity -
Right after I saw the first headline in TMT, I was shocked. I emailed the Council and, based on 30 yrs experience in non-profit and public sector management, warned them about the pitfalls, of committing to any project of this type without professional needs assessments and fiscal projections. I pointed out the number of social/community institutions that have closed, or are in perennial fiscal crisis, in Montclair.
I received a reply from our Councilperson, who was one of two councillors that even bothered to question this bazaar proposal. She informed me that the others were already prepared to vote in favor of it at the next Council meeting!
Anyway, I am one senior who will not benefit because, like many other moderate-income seniors, I cannot afford Montclair, because of property taxes.
It appears to be difficult for this group of council people to make a well reasoned decision, even when enormous numbers of people are pleading/e-mailing, etc. to stop ALL spending for now. They could not stand up to Hartnett or help a volunteer organization that gave so much to Montclair(PAWS) in their hour of need.
They are swayed by the prospect that it may look like they are “against seniors” – when the seniors are only being used to prop up the frivolous use of taxpayer’s money for fancy offices (and to bail-out a failed organization that couldn’t find enough seniors in Montclair to support it??????????) Apparently the employees have already claimed their “choice offices.” It is a joke that this a “community center.”
ROC,
First of all, please consider:
I am the only council person now speaking up and firmly saying no to the Senior Center.
I take it that you would “vote” no also.
Why then are you constantly attacking ME? I’m on YOUR side. The ONLY ONE of the Council on your side.
Wouldn’t it make sense for you to write the others and try and convince THEM, rather than to continue to go after me?
Dear Trouble,
Senior Care “failed” in the location they are in now because their break even point was 150 seniors per day and they couldn’t get half that. Although they lowered their costs, they still couldn’t make it.
They are a very worthwhile program and an asset to the community.
They will move to another, smaller, location, and continue their work. The purchase of the existing facility will enable this to happen.
Montclair is NOT proposing the same kind of facility. Montclair is proposing activities for seniors.
Last night the Capital Finance Committee gave an overview of their analysis of the Town’s proposal. It was not positive.
I am trying to get their presentation posted on the Town web site. I will gladly send it to anyone emailing me for it, and will also post it to the Watercooler in case I am unsuccessful in getting it posted to the Town web site.
Cary
Dear RoC,
So, I take it that YOU didn’t go tot he meeting.YOU did not ask the questions that YOU felt were so vital. YOU left it up to Cary to be the lone voice crying out for fiscal sense.
WHY?
Cary,
Why would I assume you are still resolutely against the measure if you are calling for details of the proposal? Why would you want the answers to those questions if you’ll vote against it anyway? Busy work?
Its a bad strategy – speaking out of both sides of the mouth. It’ll piss off everybody.
It’ll piss off people who agree with your position because it will seem like you are weakening in your resolve. It’ll piss off your opponents because they may think you are sincere and spend time and effort trying to answer your questions in the hope of support.
Good luck trying to have it both ways…
I watched the meeting the last night. Here is a review for those who did not.
1. Town debt presentation was eye opening.
The financial committee head said our debt situation is a ticking time bomb as we had almost 100 million in non fixed debt that we are currently paying interest of 1.5% on but when converted to fixed debt will be closer to 5% and would represent a huge one time permanent tax increase. Town has an RFQ out to hire a consultant to determine timing and best method for conversion since doing it all at once would be too painful. He also recommended that we should be selling assets to bring down debt, not purchasing new ones. He pretty much said discretionary spending should not be occurring. He also discussed the lack of a town financial plan and that the manager’s report on the senior center lacked any proof of need. He also pointed out how incredulous it was that there was no budget for staffing all of the future programs to be held there nor for the purchase of billiard and ping pong tables, etc. Finally, he emphasized the problem with looking at each capital improvement/purchase in isolation versus having a plan. Sure $50 per person does not sound like a lot, but $50 here, $20 there, $10 here adds up to a significant debt problem. Especially when we never pay down the principal!
2. Our brilliant town council representative Nick Lewis then debated with the expert over the meaning of a compelling purchase versus a necessary purchase. It was very Bill Clintonesque. Ignore the facts and get people to focus on semantics.
3. After this 30 minute presentation Hartnett’s only real response was that the town runs many programs for free so the financial expert was wrong.
3. Public grievances were fantastic tonight. Resident after resident got up and compared the town council to a child with a credit card. Three seniors got up and unequivocally said taxes are their biggest deterrent to staying in Montclair and were all clearly against the purchase. One senior offered up his basement for a very reasonable rental fee.
From my perspective, the majority of the town council did not seem swayed by the overwhelming ‘no’ offered up by their constituents. I would like to think that they believe that they know better than us, but I’m beginning to believe that it IS all about blocking the charter school and more likely about getting fancy new digs for many of our department offices. As you all know, this town council is all about Montclair’s image (and bicycles) and they have already expressed their displeasure in the appearance of the municipal building not being befitting of a town with cachet of Montclair.
I expect the senior center to be purchased and they will choose to use the small size of the purchase price compared to the large size of the new school purchase to make their point, completely ignoring the will of their constituents, seniors and financial experts.
Bike racks for everyone!!!
Wow stu, thanks for the great report.
I’d like to nominate the financial expert for the post of Town Manager.
And I’d like to nominate stuw6 for a local blogging “Bueller-itzer Prize” for producing some actually reporting!
ROC, you are as stubborn as a mule.
Cary is trying to give the other blockheads on the council a reason for them to change their minds. Simply saying no is not terribly persuasive now is it? The answers to Cary’s questions, if the council were to actually seek them out, would make them look much more careless if they still voted in support of the purchase. It simply won’t work the other way! If the town council chooses to ignore the overwhelming response of the constituents including the majority of seniors in town as well as their financial committee members, then how is an emphatic no from Cary going to influence them?
It is critical that Cary point out WHY this is not a need nor an intelligent purchase! If he can succeed, then the other town council members will look really bad voting against the facts. Of course, this has not stopped them yet. Cary must simply be an ‘angry’ town council person.
oops.
I rescind my nomination for the award.
Native American giver!
Stuw6, Wow, thanks for the rundown. When did they get around to discussing the center? I watched a portion of it on tv last night and all I saw was speeches from the Council members about everything except the center. Speeches about Joe Hartnett, the new manager, two opportunities to meet the new manager, a farewell speech from Joe, info on Haiti, you name it. Certain people love to hear themselves talk (when they should be listening to the taxpayers/voters).
The center is an absurd waste of money. The assertion it can be run for $150,000 a year is willfully niave at best.
Speaking of ignoring the will of the people…look at what happened in Massachusetts last night. Wake up!
Rubber Chix:
I agree. These town councilors speak and speak and speak. At the end of the day, they really say absolutely nothing but the obvious. Then when the public comment begins, you get three minutes and they are generous enough to let you know when your are down to your last minute. Worst of all, they almost never offer feedback to the comments outside of a, “thank you (we’re not listening).”
As usual, whenever a controversial decision comes up and a lot of people opposed attend the meeting, they choose at the last second to address the issue at a later date. This is pretty much what happened last night. Fortunately, a few members of the public stuck around till the end to air their opinions anyway.
I look forward to the town council telling Peggy Adam at the next meeting that she only gets 3 minutes to read the 26 opinions emailed to her of constituents who will not be able to attend the meeting. If she’s smart, she distributes one or two emails to each public commenter to add to their grievances.
I went to the meeting last night. The report from the Cap Finance Committee was nothing less than shocking. Basically, the town is drunk on what amounts to credit card debt — $100 million in temporary loans, which we’re paying at 1.5 percent interest; in the next couple of years this staggering sum will have to be converted to permanent debt at somethign like 5 percent, which alone would push up taxes by as much as 7 percent. That’s if we spend no more money.
Incredibly, these grim numbers seem to be news to the town council members. What’s more, there is no capital spending plan going forward to deal with this. The town simply has no idea what it can and can’t afford and does not have an agreed list of priorities–is buying the senior center, for instance, more important than buying a parking lot for police? Etc.
Rather than coming up with a plan, the town has chosen instead to behave like a compulsive shopper, who can’t walk past a building without wanting to buy it. Nick Lewis, in his questioning, seemed to suggest that perhaps the town could justify purchasing the senior center by postponing other capital expenditures, such as paving the roads. This is not a plan; this is crazy talk. It’s the talk of a shopaholic who is trying to rationalize buying yet another pair of shoes. What’s the town’s next move? It will hold another big meeting, on Feb 3, to discuss the senior center purchase.(Another pair of shoes!)
Numbers may not be the life and soul of Montclair, which we all agree is a special place. But these numbers will destroy us if we’re not careful. And we’re not being careful.
I will offer this. If the town council does go forward with this purchase, I think it will provide the ammunition to go forward with the recall process for these out-of-control spenders. I truly feel that somewhere around 95% of our residents are opposed to this purchase. For the town council to make this purchase against the overwhelming will of its constituents, it should provide enough impetus for many towns folk to sign on the dotted line. Prior to this, I don’t think the majority of the town council has acted as badly as necessary to obtain the required signatures for their recall. And for those who don’t think recalls can happen, look at what happened recently in Wildwood or in the recent election in Massachusetts.
I’m all for that kind of talk stu, but I’d wager 65% of township residents aren’t even aware of the pending purchase.
True, but they will. Especially, when the article appears about a freak who is initiating a Montclair recall process shows up in the New York Times. If the ultralibs in Mass could elect a Repub to fill the seat of a Kennedy, then the ultralibs in Monctclair can be convinced that frivolous spending is a detriment to our community.
When last year’s tax bills went out (with a 7% increase I recall), there was a cover letter from Mayor Fried, who had just been elected. As I recall he made two main points: 1) the spending was beyond his control b/c it was really determined by the recently departed admin/council and last minute surprises from the Board of Ed., and 2) he was looking for greater revenue sharing from the state to control our local taxes.
It is now a year later and Mayor Fried and the Council have not achieved cost controls, rather focussing on bike racks and spending like the senior center. Additionally, the State is now cutting rather than increasing funds to the Municipalities.
At this point, Mayor Fried now OWNS the next round of tax increases…no excuses…no place to hide.
Is there still time to get out in front of the State funding cuts, Board of Ed budget, municipal debt, pension costs, etc? Is anyone (besides Cary) working on this?
The cycle has run full circle. First you blame the prior town council and mayor. Then you blame Trenton. They are going to have to sell tickets to the operating budget meetings later this year. Once Fried reveals the 13% tax increase that will be necessary to make up for the shortfall from Trenton, people are going to finally be up in arms. And Fried was so very proud that this past year’s tax increase was less than the prior years. Go look at how well things went in Plainfield with Dashield. He budgeted a 10% tax increase and 12 layoffs prior to his promotion to town manager here in Montclair. Can’t wait to see his intestinal fortitude when he has to lay off local government workers in Montclair. It will be a much tougher task to perform after we went against the will of the people to purchase a senior center which we can’t afford to staff.
I am convinced there is an ulterior motive for this purchase. If the town needs and wants a center that badly, they should build a case for it first, generate a proposal that includes operating costs, decide whether or not it is affordable and whether or not there are alternatives. Then they need to evaluate the budget they have for a purchase (we know the answer to that one) and then and only then should they go ahead and look for suitable properties.
Someone wants to buy that building and they want to block the purchase. And in addition, they can tell everyone we got a nice senior center at a bargain price, which will sound great until 2 or 3 years from now when our taxes average 25k per household.
Well, this ultralib is already on board! If there is anyone out there who is well informed (with a non partisan agenda) who wants to blog, tweet, build a Facebook page, put pamphlets on cars, etc., etc., reach out to me and I will be happy to conspire/help. There is enough time prior to the February 3 meeting to get people to attend and voice their opposition.
Me: Been in town about a year and a half, smarting from tax increases, not happy about the decision making. So, who do I start hounding to turn this mess around? (I live on Bellegrove and I don’t go quietly.;-)
“If the town needs and wants a center that badly, they should build a case for it first, generate a proposal that includes operating costs, decide whether or not it is affordable and whether or not there are alternatives. Then they need to evaluate the budget they have for a purchase (we know the answer to that one) and then and only then should they go ahead and look for suitable properties.”
Or just look at the creditcard statement and not go into the shoe store in the first place.
laharris55: If this passes, I will seek out your help. I’m sure there will be many more volunteers to help us out as this appears to be a clear cut case of the town council ignoring the demands of the community.
The reason I choose not to try to fight the fight prior to the vote on this is that it is a waste of time. I have done this before and their mind is always made up. It’s like arguing with an official at a sporting event. Does it ever result in an overturned decision?
I’ll provide you with a solid example. Nick Lewis worked very hard on coming up with a solution to the lack of parking spaces available for people who rent in multi-family dwellings in the community. His solution was not well thought out and a ton of residents came to the meeting when the council vote was to be taken. There must have been an hour of complaining residents who were against the resolution at it was designed. Surprisingly, the town council voted it down. Nick Lewis, still voted for it, even against the objections of so many residents.
With the Senior Care facility, outside of Cary and perhaps Rene Baskerville, their mind has been made up. You can get virtually every member in town to sign a petition against it and it still will pass. There is an ulterior motive working here or simply, Montclair is a town that just can’t say “no!”
They’re paid next to nothing….
ROC – For once, I agree with you 100%!
Sadly, I truly believe that a brave local politician who exhibits true fiscal responsibility could go far politically. It’s just a shame that noone around here is willing to try besides Cary.
Mark my words, he and perhaps Renee, will be the only members of the town council to get reelected.
“I truly believe that a brave local politician who exhibits true fiscal responsibility could go far politically.”
I don’t think that’s the ambition or motivation for most local politicians in small towns.
I’m glad Cary is opposed to the senior center. But when last we spoke he was infavor of spending money on a pedestrian mall.
It’s about leaving a mark. I get it.
I don’t think true financial prudence will come back into fashion until we have some real economic hardship – some “shock” to the system.
In that moment of shock will be the time to enact structural reforms.
The pedestrian mall ain’t such a bad thing. The majority of the cost is for repaving a road which will occur anyway as it is a necessity. I’m not saying there will definitely be an even return on investment by sprucing up the South Park neighborhood, but compared to investing in police parking lots, quiet zones and new unneeded schools and senior centers, it’s not a dealbreaker for me. You are too black and white about all of this. Nothing good gets done at the extremes.
“There is an ulterior motive working here or simply,”
Sure there is, vanity. Look these are all local concerned citizens “serving” their town. The do their time on the council and they want to “make a difference”. They paid next to nothing. The all want to leave a mark on the town – do some “good”. 10 Years after they’re in office they can drive by the senior center, or new school, or dog park and say “I did that – DESPITE the rabble of naysaying assh*les!”
Its much harder to point to good fiscal governance and say “you know that financial crisis that DIDN’T happen – I did that”