Hollie Reddington and Heather McCutcheon are two of the voices for the Concerned Citizens of Montclair. They covered last night’s town council meeting for Baristanet as citizen journalists.
Buried in the middle of the town council agenda, and well over two hours into last night’s meeting, the 2011 budget finally came up for discussion.
At around 11 p.m. — just one hour before the state-mandated requirement for Montclair to have formally introduced the 2011 budget — Town Manager Marc Dashield explained to the town council that the municipal budget would result in a 4.3% increase to the municipal portion of property taxes. The BOE’s budget, showing a 1.4% decline, is the bright spot in the budget. By contrast, the county budget is going up 2.5% and the municipal budget is going up 4.3%. Overall, that will mean a 1.3% increase in property taxes for Montclair. The 4.3% municipal increase is still well above the 0% “challenge” initiated by the Concerned Citizens of Montclair.
Marc Dashield did not provide any slides or materials to explain how the municipal budget went from a previously estimated 7% increase in the municipal portion of property taxes down to 4.3%. We think it has to do with the fact that town revenues came in higher than expected. But, we don’t have any documentation to back this up. Only if you were at the meeting or watching on Channel 34 at 11 p.m. last night, would you know this. So, were there any additional efficiencies or cost cutting measures taken to get “down” to this 4.3% increase? We don’t know. Were any of the cost cutting ideas that were put on the computer at the March 8th town council meeting implemented? Who knows? So much for transparency.
One other interesting item came up last night, which has to do with a 3.5% expenditure cap. Marc Dashield introduced the cap, which he says the town is way under, but it is an accounting mechanism to put funds aside to be spent at some point in the future. Again, no documentation to walk council members or the public through an explanation of what this means. Was the Operating Budget Advisory Committee asked to review this issue? Does this mean the 4.3% is really 7% in disguise? Again, so much for transparency.
Have questions for us? Want a CCM shoulder to cry on? We’re ready to field them and chat here on Baristanet.
Sounds about right, no facts or figures from Mr. Dashield, no data to examine or compare. Sounds like the status quo, nothing has changed at Town Hall.
We changed councils. We changed managers. Why is the outcome unchanged?
…Andrew
Have no fear…We will be restoring funding to the library and the pre-k, just like we did last year. These funding restorations will undoubtedly bring the municipal tax increase back up to where they were originally projected to be. Additionally, home values are beginning to double dip (thanks to the end of the poorly designed home-buyers tax credit which simply moved demand forward) most likely prompting another round of property tax appeals and lower amounts of local revenue. Mark my words…this 4.3% increase to the municipal portion of our taxes will be back to 7% by the time this town council is finished deliberating.
I don’t know which is more disheartening, this thread or this morning’s snow.
Is having reporting done by ‘citizen journalists’ like having a blog within a blog? Is it considered sub-contracting?
Should I be concerned CCM doesn’t know what a CAP bank is?
Isn’t a flat muni budget impossible after last week’s deal with the unions?
PS: Andrew, to answer your question, we didn’t change the voters.
ipsofacto,
No, it is not impossible to get to a muni flat budget. CCM has been and continues to challenge the Town Council and Town Manager to work towards a 0% increase. Some suggestions would be to collect on revenues seemingly due to the Town, make efficiencies in operations, follow through on the recommendations that OBAC made at the Town Council meeting on March 8th.
There is no need for you to be concerned about CCM’s understanding of the CAP bank, we know and understand what a CAP bank is. What we are unsure of is… Do all the Council Members understand what a CAP bank is? AND, do the citizens of Montclair understand what a CAP bank is?
Ipso,
For someone who seems to indicate that you have some insight, why does your post not offer anything but negative knocks on a grass roots group looking to make our government more accountable? The issue is not whether or not the CCM knows what a CAP bank is, but does the Mayor or anyone whose job it is in town and get’s paid to know what it is does. How would a flat tax now be impossible due to the renegotiated contract? If you don’t like this “blog within a blog” why do post here?
An interesting tidbit, our Parks & Rec. department is still manually run. If you go onto other Towns websites (Verona, Glen Ridge, Bloomfield, Maplewood) you are able to sign up for Town sponsored sports directly on their websites. In Montclair, you must drive to 205 Claremont Ave, fill out a form and write a check. Does this seem efficient? Is this convenient for Township residents? Is this process keeping up with the times? This process, which is time consuming was one of the reasons given at the Budget Hearings as to why the Parks & Rec department could not make any cuts to staff. A citizen asked why our Town did not have the software that other towns have in order to be more efficient. The Parks & Rec. Director then said that Montclair did indeed have the software and we have had it for 3 years. Is this Montclairs answer to efficiency?
CCM,
Then explain what is a CAP bank should be part of your article… as it is part of your mission. You didn’t do that. You should have waited 24 hrs and collected follow-up information to make a complete report that would have better served your target audience. This is not your strength, but I would have like to have seen a better effort.
Getaclue,
I post here because I like to complain and this is better than reality tv. I’m also generally bitter because my Giants suck and the Big East is getting killed in the Tournament.
Walleroo, the snow is temporary. The tax hike is permanent and will be compounded again next year when the same council pats itself on the back for doing such a great job! Please CCM stay on them. Make them squirm. Make them hit a zero increase or at least present a budget with a zero increase so we can see how dire that is. And why oh why do we still pay a staff of people to collect parking meter money !!!!!! Get rid of the MPA!
ipsofacto,
The CAP Bank is part of the article because it is another exapmle of the lack of transparency with the budget and overall budget process. Some Council Members were confused as were citizens in the audience. We feel our report is complete, sorry you feel otherwise.
Another debate with you would be your perception of what is great reality tv. We feel the best reality show on tv are the Town Council meetings in Montclair. Come on now, you can be on our side with that one.
From NorthJersey.com -
“There were several reasons why Montclair’s budget came out rosier than originally predicted, according to Dashield, responding to the surprised reaction of 2nd Ward Councilman Cary Africk. The councilman asked for a precise explanation on why the budget was $600,000 less than the governor’s 2 percent cap.
“So a month ago we were up the creek without a paddle, but we found the paddle?” Africk said.
Dashield explained that the council had taken measures to get the budget in line’
……….
“”So basically, if we wanted to spend money, hypothetically …, you’re saying we could spend another $600,000?” Africk asked.
“Hypothetically, you could,” Dashield said.
“And we would be below the levy cap?” Africk said. “Get those library people back.”
Is Cary looking to somehow get the $600,000 back into this budget? Has he closed his eyes to trying for a zero increase budget?
“A citizen asked why our Town did not have the software that other towns have in order to be more efficient. The Parks & Rec. Director then said that Montclair did indeed have the software and we have had it for 3 years. Is this Montclairs answer to efficiency?”
Now where have I heard this before? Oh right, didn’t the BOE purchase expensive GPS software, yet still manually draws all the bus routes by hand because no one has been trained to use it?
Why does our municipal staff not make better efforts to become more efficient, both to save money, and provide better service to the residents? And if for some reason we don’t actually have the desire to make things better, than why on earth are we blowing money on fancy toys that we aren’t going to use?
Grrrrrrrr!
njgator,
Your questions are excellent. There are SO many “why’s” and it is difficult to understand the rationale behind decisions that are made. Why defund the library? Marc Dashield mentioned last night that the Town has again laid off 3 employees from public works, why public works? Why not from other departments that have excess staff? Could it be because with less staff in public works, the citizens would suffer and we would want to Town to stop the cuts? Would the citizens see the effects of cuts if Parks & Rec used the software that they own and lay off a person from that department? Why does Montclair have 165 Municipal employees making over $100,000 a year? Do you think the 3 employees laid off from Public Works are each making over $100,000.00 a year? Let’s remember too that 100,00.00 is JUST salary and doesn’t include healthcare and benefits, the #1 expense in the budget. Let’s remember that “we” the citizens of Montclair still don’t have clear picture of the cuts that have been made. Cary Africk has been quoted saying the meeting last night was “a bizarre trip” it was indeed. It should also be noted that Councilor Baskerville has been echoing what we are taking about for a while now.
Howard,
We don’t believe that Cary was looking to put $600,00.00 back in the budget. Cary was asking questions because we feel he was as perplexed at the rest of us with Marc’s presentation. It was a real head scratcher.
Ok, I’ll admit I don’t know what the heck is a CAP bank??
Councilor Baskerville is the only one asking the right questions from the council. She and Murnick are passable, Cary talks a good game, but talk is cheap. They all need to DEMAND transparency from the Township Manager. They are elected to represent the citizens of this town , and they are not getting the information needed to make these important decisions about our town finances. It’s bad enough that the Council is not privy to the information, but totally unacceptable that they are not DEMANDING to get the info.
p.s. speaking of fancy toys, I vote that we cooperatively buy a Pothole Machine with a few nearby towns, to increase our street maintenance efficiency. Not Clifton, they’re so big and we’d never get to use it. (sorry Cathar.)
Oh, and a leaf-vacuum truck too.
If Montclair Soccer can have online registration, then there’s absolutely no reason Parcs & Rec shouldn’t have it too!
No CCM – Of course the laid off members of Public Works were not the ones making over 100k/year. We laid off the newest members of the department. And now the ones that are left are the ones making more money and are older. Haven’t we just been told that putting the older guys on the trucks means more injuries and sick time? And didn’t the Council just have to vote on authorizing about 20k to have someone else clean up some parks because public works doesn’t have the staff to do anything except collect trash? I am also assuming (correct me if I am wrong) that this department is repped by the Union that chose layoffs over salary concessions. So there will be even fewer staff members in this group?
The town really needs to investigate the feasibility of outsourcing this service.
Murnick wants to sell the Wildwood property to put toward the operating budget. Any sale of town assets should go directly against our debt. How will we ever get rid of the debt if we only pay the interest?
But Howard, paying off the debt would require cutting the budget and/or raising taxes. What are the odds that a majority of this council will actually act like a financial grownup?
Debt service payments are already at about 17% of the overall municipal budget while we’re still essentially paying the minimum due on a lot of our debt. Pretty scary stuff.
Oh, my head hurts. It’s spinning. Why oh why do I live here!
I watched the meeting last and have never seen such a full agenda. I could not help wondering if the reason the budget was presented at 11:00pm was nothing more than a stall tactic from the Town Manager? The presentation from the Town Planner regarding the parking was so painful to watch. To think that Dick Grabowsky pays 500,00.00 in taxes is unreal, the Mayor was down right rude to him. It is a very troubling situation. And by the way, why is Pinnacle developing the DCH property. Isn’t the Sienna a nightmare? I saw the Sienna and Pinncale one evening recently on “Shame on You” by Arnold Diaz. There are constant leaks and mold problems. I am sure no one will ever be able to sell there, sad. I guess the relationship between Montclair and Pinnacle will be just another one of those mysterys in Montclair.
I think I heard somewhere that around 50 of the over 100k (salary only – good point, above) are fire and police. Instead of laying off the ‘new guys at the back of the room, who we don’t want to lose’, as the fire chief said in his budget plea, why don’t we get rid of several of the highly paid supervisors/assistant chiefs/extra layers of management. Has anyone done a true assessment (unbiased) to see if maybe we’re top-heavy?
The town’s management does not have a plan to reduce its debt load, just like it doesn’t really have a plan to reduce expenses and streamline operations. Bob Beneke, the consultant that Marc Dashield asked to speak about the town’s debt at the March 8th Town Council meeting, said that Montclair’s debt levels are fine. Mr. Beneke gets paid when Montclair issues debt, so his take on Montclair’s debt levels is not surprising.
It is unnerving to know that a Town Councilor is suggesting that assets be sold to pay the town’s bills. Any private company that was run this way, would certainly not be considered as financially sound.
So until there is a plan by the town management to either reduce debt, reduce expenses or dare we say, reduce both, interest expense will continue to eat up $12MM or more annually of our tax dollars and our taxes will continue to rise.
I could not agree more Roscoe, that must be why we have some many employees making over $100,00.00. I can’t believe that you can’t sign up for sports on-line. That is ridiculous, you can sign up for lacrosse but of coarse that program isn’t run by the town. Why isn’t the Town Manager demanding that the software be used? Just another example of the fleecing of Montclair.
Roscoe,
Due to the way I understand union contracts to work, its the most recent hires that are the first to get fired. So, the young grunts that actually work get laid off first while the older union workers collect ever higher salaries and retirement benefits.
Some of the older employees I understand get longevity bonuses every year on the anniversary of their hires. Can you imagine getting a bonus just because you were hired.
This seems like the type of union deal that benefits only the union members, not the customers/taxpayers. Are we going to use a professional negotiator next time around to try to strike a deal that is fair to both union members AND taxpayers? If we are top-heavy but can’t lay off people at the level that needs to go, then how do we fix this problem?
As the auto industry found out too late, the unions have to work with management on shared goals, not ‘who can screw the other side’.
Demotion. Although I suspect that the demoted chiefs would have bumping rights into the position of more junior indians.
Also, since surrounding towns don’t have close to as many 100k employees (while Hoboken has same or more fire/police – can’t remember number), how have they solved or avoided this problem?
Demotions must happen, we can no longer afford to placate the Unions. Montclair is broke, we cannot continue to raise taxes to pay for debt, healthcare and pensions.
Roscoe feeling despair.
Every town has solved problems Roscoe but Montclair!!
Have we at least denied overtime for fire, police, and other town employees? Paying time and a half adds salt to the wound. Are employees near retirement allowed to pad their salaries to bump up their pensions? Is someone mandating and watching this?
They’re watching it, Jinx. They’re just not doing anything about it.
Only 4.3%? Jeez bunch of cheepskates in Montclair. If you don’t hit 10%–the children will suffer–can no one think of the children?
Perhaps y’alls better sign up for some medical kush to treat the mental anguish.
Get A Clue- Your point is well taken that the entire Town Council should be DEMANDING transparency. If the Town Council does not get what it has asked for, the council should institute consequences. At the end of the day, the citizens will point their fingers at the Town Council for not doing their job. They are the ones with the ultimate authority to demand information, make decisions and institute consequences for any job not done appropriately. Why didn’t the Town Council tell Marc Dashield that he was only going to get a budget of $68MM and that as manager, he would have to make it work?
Town Council, be the leaders you were elected to be. It doesn’t matter if one town councilor says, “I have been asking for that for years”. That doesn’t make it ok. It is the responsibility of the entire town council to work together to get the job done. Any thing short of that is failure.
roscoe, njgator, jinx & dazed. We agree that the Town needs to better negotiate for the citizens of Montclair. It is sad when the “powers that be” feel it acceptable to lay off the guys that collect the garbage and care for the parks. These are cuts that directly affect the citizens of Montclair. The same as defunding the library and not making cuts in the dozen or so other areas where cuts can be made, these cuts would not directly the citizens and could potentially benefit the citiznes. A great example is using the software that the Town owns for Parks & Rec so people can sign up and pay for sports online.
CCM,
Sounds like you are advocating specific areas to cut and not cut. Thought you left that to OBAC?
As to Council viewing, who is your favorite character to watch?
Kay,
A CAP bank is basically a “rainy day” mechanism that allows governments to exceed mandated budget limits in future fiscal periods by getting credit for spending under budget in a prior fiscal period. Think of it as a type of overdraft protection like you may have on your checking account.
ipsofacto, who cares who is recommending the cuts, OBAC or CCM? At the end of the day recommendations are being made.
Can I be forward enough to tell you who my favorite character is? It is Nick Lewis. Sometimes he puts his head down and closes his eyes. My dad used to do that, he claimed he wasn’t sleeping, just resting his eyes, yeah right. I bet I know who yours is, Katherine, right? She likes to use “big words” when she speaks, which isn’t often.
I am a little discouraged these days. Everytime I read something, it talks about getting rid of the top paid senior people. I guess that’s what they get for all of their years of service. Same going on in the schools with the aides. They want to get rid of the people that have been there 20 or more years because they aren’t efficiant anymore, right?
To all thoes people…thanks for you service and dedication, but don’t let the door hit ya on the way out!
D&C,
My only point was that CCM said they wouldn’t do this, but they are. I’m actually happy they are.
Nick Lewis has to be everyone’s favorite. They should just leave the camera on him. He at his best in when others are speaking.
qby33,
You make an excellent observation. For the record, I never advocated targeting those with seniority. One of the many intangibles is the institutional knowledge they contribute. This is my main issue with CCM – they are too focused on cutting costs as a goal in itself and not on what Montclair government should be 1/3/5 years from now. If they get their way, then these employee with yos (regardless of what they’re making) will be gone, the Township Mgr gone and certainly all of the Council. In the for profit world, this would be crazy.
Forgive me if I’m not weeping because the Concerned Citizens of Montclair will have to pay a whopping 1.3% increase on the property tax bill for their Upper Montclair mansions. Boo freaking hoo. I guess they can afford one less cup of coffee per month this year. What a g-d shame.
This whole Montclair budget argument is the Tea Party movement writ small. All their rhetoric is, “We don’t have any more money! We need lower taxes” — and what they really mean is, “My personal investments are down 12% this year! I need to make it up somehow!”
nick, I was wondering what to do with myself for the next few days. You’ve solved that problem!
I will sit back and watch the tsunami of s@@#$ that will roll your way!
Come on Nick that’s not fair. There are lifestyles to maintain. The wealthy didn’t get wealthy by paying taxes.
You must’ve gotten into the kush tonight cuz your head’s all crooked thinking about taxing the monied class.
I’m livid, Nick, LIVID! With this increase, we will now not be able to afford the concierge level at the resort in Bermuda.
Oh stuff it TUD!
I’ll take care of the luggage just like last year, as long as you once again let me sleep under the upturned lifeboat.
Only if you can successfully post a link here, friend.
My grand-daughter Niamh will be here next week. She can give me the tutorial, in return for my letting her drive the car on the wrong side of the road.
I’ll get back to you.
Wait a minute those Tea Party people are rich? I thought they were all working class people who couldn’t spell let alone manage a portfolio.
Funny exchange Tud and Croi. A morning smile with my coffee!
Nick, I support CCM and I can afford the whopping 1.3% tax increase but I don’t want to pay any amount in a tax increase. Why should the library suffer, the BOE is suffering and what has the Town done to cut? I am tired of being “ripped off” by the taxes. For me it’s all about perceived value,if it’s worth it I’ll pay.
It is sad when the “powers that be” feel it acceptable to lay off the guys that collect the garbage and care for the parks. These are cuts that directly affect the citizens of Montclair. The same as defunding the library…
I can see why you were reluctant to get specific, CCM. Go after the fat cats making $100k–that’s your plan? Please.
Walleroo,
“It is sad when the “powers that be” feel it acceptable to lay off the guys that collect the garbage and care for the parks. These are cuts that directly affect the citizens of Montclair. The same as defunding the library…”
We don’t see from the quote above where we have recommended the Town should lay off the “fat cats” – we are trying to let the citizens understand that we don’t understand the rationale the Town is using for cuts and layoffs. When Steve Wood gave his Budget presentation, he spoke about the continued layoffs within his group. He noted that when he needs to make cuts, he must cut from the bottom. Most of these guys Steve explained have multiple liscenses to operatete the various vehicles in town and they also ride the garbage trucks. In other words, they do do a variety of tasks. When these guys get laid off, they need to pull the older guys out of other duties and put them on the trucks to collect garbage, bulky pick up etc. The older guys are getting injured on the job and going out on disability (our disability claims have skyrocked in Montclair, making it impossible to change insurance carriers, that is a whole other conversation) when they go out on disability the Town is again short staffed. There was a resolution on Tuesday asking for money to outsource the parks maintenance this summer because we are too short staffed to care for them. See where we are going with this? We continue to question the logic of the cuts. There are many departments that we are sure could loose a person here of there yet,there are departments that could merge. The Town needs to re think how they are doing business. CCM asked the Town Manager and Town Council to look at new ways to maintain vital government services while dramatically slowing the growth in governement spending.
Nick, our taxes have gone up 20% in the past 3 years and they were high to begin with. I have what would be considered an entry level house here and I think if this council as well as previous ones had managed finances better we wouldn’t even be having this discussion because if they can do it now, they certainly could have done it then.
Not everyone in Montclair is wealthy enough to continue to pay huge increases. But that shouldn’t be the argument anyway. The town’s finances appear to be a mess, and I’m glad there’s someone actively seeking transparency and an honest discussion about make smarter decisions. When the council thought it wanted to buy a senior center and take over a parking lot via eminent domain while we’re in the midst of a fiscal meltdown – and decided to build a new school so now we can close another one or two – it was an eye opener.
jersey, a 1.3% tax increase is not a “huge increase.” it’s smaller than last year’s which was smaller than the year before that. that’s the direction you want to go in, right?
i’m not sure what you mean by “entry level” house, but if you pay $15,000 in taxes, this increase will be…16 bucks a month. and with this you still get the same police force, same number of firefighters, you don’t have to close your two libraries — sounds pretty good to me. other cities are genuinely suffering. montclair just has to do without its arts council.
as for the town council, i’m not clear why anyone thought the town’s finances would be well managed by a bike advocate, an out-of-work artist, a school doctor, a retired cop, and a professional gambler.
Nick – Sorry to hear your take on CCM. The mansion-dwellers in all four wards of Montclair can afford a 1.3% tax increase or a 10% tax increase….its a non-issue.
The financial impact of property taxes is much larger on middle and lower economic citizens than mansion- dwellers. Property taxes are a larger percentage of the household budget in a middle class family than in a mansion-dweller’s household budget.
We believe that CCM is comprised of citizens from varied social and economic situations. Not only are CCM members concerned about the impact of high property taxes on their house values, but they are tired of the inefficient and costly manner in which this town is run.
Baristas – This gets my vote for featured post!
“as for the town council, i’m not clear why anyone thought the town’s finances would be well managed by a bike advocate, an out-of-work artist, a school doctor, a retired cop, and a professional gambler.”
I don’t work for the town, so I can’t know definitively where we should make cuts. However, since salaries and benefits are our largest expenses and are growing at a faster rate than inflation, it makes sense to evaluate our staffing across departments. In the private sector, companies cut lower level employees when they can automate processes to provide the same service with fewer people. They cut higher-level people when they can combine departments and move to a more highly leveraged model. Ideally, a company is able to evaluate their needs on an ongoing basis to adjust to changing conditions.
Why can’t we do the same? If our union contracts prevent us from managing some departments effectively – forcing us into a LIFO situation with employees, for example – maybe those departments are good candidates for outsourcing. The private sector uses outsourcing for non-strategic functions and it’s a model that does save money. If the parks department is forced to fire people with the skills/licenses they need and then put people on trucks who aren’t suitable for the work and end up injuring themselves, this seems like a reasonable candidate for outsourcing. We keep the experienced people we need to manage the outsourcing company and then the company makes sure they have the appropriate people to do the work.
It seems reasonable to ask if our police and fire departments are top-heavy. I remember someone saying we have about 45 employees in public safety who make $100k+. Other towns have far, far fewer. Are we too top-heavy in police and fire? We talk about total numbers in police and in the budget meetings they made the point several times that they have fewer people than they’ve had in past years. But maybe that’s not actually the right metric. Let’s ask the question. How we then deal with it is a separate issue. Perhaps just through attrition. But move forward knowing the model we want to move to, don’t just re-fill the position.
Why, CCM, would you advocate retaining the garbage workers? Because it provides a benefit to residents? That reasoning is jejune. Of course they provide a benefit–they collect the garbage, because that is their job. Nobody would advocate sacking the garbage collectors and letting the trash pile up. The question is, is that something the town should retain staff for?
I also have never understood why anyone in their right mind would think that keeping a branch of the library open one day a week–in one of the wealthier neighborhoods, no less–is a good use of limited resources. I know I’m an outlier here, especially now that volunteers have stepped up, to great acclaim, to staff it. (This is a laudable effort, and I hate to be negative about a display of community togetherness, but I am skeptical that this is going to work in the long term; more likely it’s a way to keep the branch open until the smoke clears and the town can creep back into its former role. Maybe I’m just a cynical bastard.) As of a few months ago, the downtown library (which, by the way, is spectacular and which my family and I have made frequent use of over the years, and continue to) would close on Mondays while, presumably, the staff went down to Bellevue to open that branch for the day. How is that not absurd?
I suspect that the school district is top heavy. But I couldn’t care less whether or not administrators are paid 100k or 50k or 200k. Bringing up the 100k figure just stokes the envy, and it’s redolent of the Republican cry of “elitism” that has become so tiresome. It may be good politics on the national level, but I doubt it’s going to play here in Montclair.
The better question is, how can we move towards a rational, efficient system for education? My guess (and it’s really just that) is that we could sack 3/4 of administrators and delegate much of those responsibilities to teachers (though perhaps that’s naive, and in any case it’s probably inconceivable considering current mindsets). But shouldn’t the teachers, as much as possible, be calling the shots? They are the people who count, where the rubber meets the road. Let’s pay them the 100k, and up.
I am the first to admit that I don’t know education; other than being a parent, I’m an outsider. I am probably wrong for a thousand reasons. But what would be great is for CCM–or somebody, anybody–to gather up some facts, wisdom and insight and come out with a clarifying vision. Right now I don’t see it anywhere.
Roscoe,
You lay out the consolidation approach very well if that is what the model calls for. I would add three points.
First, Montclair utilizes a lot of permanent volunteers on its boards and committees. As a matter of fact, we need to figure out how to utilize more volunteers, more productively, for the benefit of the Township function. This will require a hybrid of the approach you speak of.
Second, the right sizing might mean making police & fire slightly bigger, not smaller. I would aggressively court Glen Ridge with a full public safety package of police, fire & ambulance (absorb MVAU into Fire). I would continue to invest in equipment and training to make all three’s level of skill/service unsurpassed in the State – but no a la carte. We would assume their police personnel for 2 years at our rate level. GR would provide any satellite facilities free during that same period as well as current equipment. Give them a better opt-out clause.
Third, include both the BOE operational plan and the municipal plan in an overall master plan. The BOE is part of the Government and we need to, once and for all, figure out who should handle what operations. E.g. either give all playing fields to the town or all parks to the BOE. BOE should administer the schedule of ALL Parks & Rec activities.
I personally think all land & structures should be maintained by the Township, but don’t know enough about legal basis, etc, etc.
Walleroo for Mayor! Can I carry your briefcase?
Cary
(Sorry for the rant.)
Cary, don’t hold your breath. I’ve been asking our furry friend to take over for a while now, but he never did. (He also made me some empty campaign promises, but I long since forgave him for that and would still vote for him today!)
Dear little Roo, no apologies necessary. Nicely put.
Ipso facto,
I agree 100% with all three points.
The is much professional IT technology talent and start-up entrepreneurship among the hyper-vocal contributors to baristnet.com. Ease up on blogging for business prospects and start doing.
Stop wining and start suggesting to consult for FREE to share your expertise as knowledge based volunteers. Collectively you can successfully update Montclair’s Park and Recreation Department software by creating a “barn-raising” type of effort that would initiative and implement upgrades to Parks & Recs online functionality that is missing per earlier post by concernedcitizensofmontclair | March 23, 2011 @ 12:42 pm and other posters.
Native talent can provide an excellent volunteer labor pool to build the missing activities calendar, registration, scheduling, and fee collection applications. Perhaps there is a way to re-use / borrow a business design from either the First Night Montclair or Adult School of Montclair websites.
Optionally, you can even work with the Montclair High School to extend this “barn-raising” idea. A co-operative arrangement could engage student interns from the MHS computer courses and mentor them in your expertise – the practical skills of the System Development Life Cycle (analyze requirements, design aps, code, test, train, rollout) in a real-world business opportunity (Project management, Customer Relationship Management).
Stop bitching – take action, lead and mentor from your experience, and be part of the solution!!
ipso for deputy mayor!
In a couple of hours we’re going to have a complete slate for 2012!
Cary
Magic specs,
I went to a council meeting in the fall where at least 6 people stood up and offered their services (for free). I think the current issue is that the town manager doesn’t seem to be open to assistance.
Agreed Roscoe,
My wife’s suggestions to the town to reassess all properties fell on deaf ears since the days Joe Hartnett was still around. This would have saved the town countless millions.
It’s hard to stop bitching when our local leaders have earplugs in. In other news, we will have bike lockers everywhere. Let’s celebrate!
Magicspecs – I volunteered for several committees. It’s not as easy to volunteer here as you would think. It’s more like a political appointment.
The financial impact of property taxes is much larger on middle and lower economic citizens than mansion- dwellers.
OK fine. So if taxes rise 1.3% for someone who pays $6,000 annually — and that’s far below the average in Montclair — that’s still only an extra $6 a month. I’m sure there are people who can’t afford that, for various reasons like unemployment. But for most people in Montclair, I’ll bet an extra $6 a month is not that big a deal. So instead of lambasting town officials for not having a 0% increase, how about celebrating that you only have a 1.3% increase and you still get to keep your police force, your firefighters, and your TWO libraries?
Also, if the CCM people aren’t doing all this just so they can run for council in 2012, I’ll eat my computer.
I’m going to make good on that promise one of these days, Kay.