The FCC just finished a major overview report on local media and journalism.
The key finding shows exactly what we’ve seen here in Montclair. And it’s largely the reason why the Township was able to continue on a financial downward spiral without residents really understanding the direction we were heading from excessive spending and debt.
This new FCC report shows that for the past 5 years, local and state government ‘Accountability Reporting’ (in-depth journalism) has been greatly diminished around the country. It points out counterintuitively, that this comes just as all of the new media and blogging outlets went on-line with potentially greater opportunities for local journalism and resident communications.
The results: while U.S. state and local taxes have risen an average of 20% over the last few years — there are less real journalists questioning where those monies are going and why. And with “thinner” journalism and less in-depth local coverage from say traditional newspaper outlets — remaining reporters have to had to rely more more on politician press releases and official positions from the same governmental sources spending their resident’s money.
Not enough qualified people are looking behind the curtain today to find the real story behind the story — even with more media outlets presenting local information and reports.
In Montclair, this lack of real investigative local reporting has clearly had a direct impact on why we were able to blindly build up a $130 million dollar debt between 2000-2008. We bonded virtually everything in site during that time without residents grasping the long term implications.
It’s how we creeped into massive, double-digit tax increases each year during that period from both school system and municipal budget inflation. It’s why the new school construction, that was first falsely announced as being 90% paid for from non-local taxpayer revenues (which no one checked), continued on track without a real analysis for the long term financial implications – once it was clear Montclair residents themselves had to pick-up the majority tab.
The fact, we only have this historical fiscal information now through 2008 during the last two town Councils, because residents themselves got together and did the work. The data available comes from the Citizens Committee for Montclair (CCM) who have had to pull teeth from Montclair’s administration today just to find out what really went on.
Our local town government itself has no real internal financial feedback mechanism for self-analysis to monitor spending long-term. And the bureaucracy is of course self-perpetuating and resists just this kind of constant review.
Consequently, Montclair really needs help today from our local media. We need them to step up to the plate. Residents have to be shown the tax ramifications from our political decisions. We all need help with clarity – understanding the devil in the details for what may seem like the right thing to do — but is really not.
Those b@stards! I hate journalists. They sit around all day griping about how their entire field is imploding, layouts galore, ad revenue down, circulation down, news-gathering organizations once thought to be impregnable institutions circling the rim of the toilet bowl, how people with 20 plus years of experience are being replaced by 21 year olds making a quarter their salaries… And these self-absorbed a$$holes can’t even be bothered to probe the inner working of local government. It’s unbelievable!
Come on, you pansies. Pop your Zoloft and step up to the plate!
Love the headline, btw.
Well, here’s your problem:
“The FCC just finished a major overview report on local media and journalism.”
How much did the report cost? I’d say that step one is stop wasting money.
We don’t need investigative reporting to tell us what the ramifications of too much debt are. We see that in our tax bill each year. Want lower taxes? Elect politicians who won’t raise your taxes! THEN figure out how BEST to spend what common resources we have.
It takes no special training, or the 4th estate to tell us that borrowing for everything is a bad idea.
All the reporting in the world won’t change the fact that here in Montclair the electorate likes big government. They like the left-progressive view that government should “make our lives better” – should entertain us – should beautify streets – should provide doggie parks – subsidized swimming – lavish benefits for politically allied union members.
Until you change that perception of the function of government, nothing else will change, no matter how many pie charts the Montclair Times publishes.
Liberal progressive fiscal spending is unsustainable. Like the law of gravity, the “discipline” of the pocketbook will eventually reassert itself.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/22/usa-pensions-idUSN1E75L15520110622
p.s.
And if you read that Reuters story please don’t miss the fact that while municipalities in the US will have to increase taxes and average of $1400 per household per year for 30 years to meet public employee pension obligations, the New Jersey figure is $2,475 per household per year.
Put another way, taxes will need to go up approx., $17 per year for 30 years to pay for these pensions.
oops.
Put another way, taxes will need to go up approx., 17% per year for 30 years to pay for these pensions.
and on the national level? What do you do when debt is out of control and set to “swamp” the economy?
Why, borrow more, of course!
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/22/usa-debt-idUSN1E75L0GC20110622
(I continue to hate the use of the word “suck.” I find it offensive, reductive and unnecessary. Moreover, it’s old and tired.)
I do hope though that my taxes go to pay for a study on the subject.
In Montclair, this lack of real investigative local reporting has clearly had a direct impact on why we were able to blindly build up a $130 million dollar debt between 2000-2008. We bonded virtually everything in site during that time without residents grasping the long term implications.
And that’s journalism’s fault? I don’t think so. The Montclair Times, for one, reports on almost every bond the council approves. In terms of large-scale projects, like the Quiet Zone, there are dozens and dozens of stories, and every one mentions that the money is being borrowed.
I do agree that in-depth journalism is lacking here. But it’s pretty silly for Martin Schwartz to say it’s some local reporter’s fault that the council borrows money.
I won’t even respond to ROC’s silliness about the country facing so much debt (no kidding, Sherlock, it’s called the worst economy since the Great Depression — do you expect debt to be small?) , except to say if he’d advocate reversing Bush’s (now Obama’s) tax cuts and ending the three or four wars we’re fighting without paying for them, I’d take him more seriously.
I’ll add here that, if it’s so deplorable that the council has been borrowing and borrowing for years, why is it Martin Schwartz and the CCM have only come forward recently?
Oh, there’s a municipal election in 2012? Nevermind then.
Blaming the media for our current fiscal nightmare and the incompetence of our elected officials is silly.
I forget who said it but “we get the government we deserve.”
When you continue to put in office free spending ideologues.. this is what you get. No one should be surprised. It is our own fault.
Some of us have been bitching for the past 9 nine years about our debt. Unfortunately, we MUST have our Quiet Zone at any cost. Even if it means closing libraries and limiting pre-k scholarships. Most towns rent portable classrooms when there are temporary increases in the school age population. In Montclair, we build schools in anticipation of an increase in the school age population. What a surprise, the increase never occurred. That will be $35 million please! Who knew that the recession would curtail our town’s population to the lowest on record since 1920. Obviously not the appointed members of our BOE.
Schwartz is kidding, right?
I do hope that all and sundry will remember that I was the first to comment on the authentically local issue of slow news days on Baristanet. Which according to Schwartz above should probably not ever occur.
Though I’d also suggest that if the Baristas are running this one above with a straight face, it is yet again an exceptionally slow news day. (And who is Martin Schwartz anyway?)
“Journalism,” of course, either the special kind practiced on Baristanet on any other kind, has absolutely nothing to do with rising taxes. It’s amazing, however slow a news day it in fact is, that the Baristas did in actuality run Schwartz’s stunningly wrongheaded plaint.
I am not familiar with the group, the Citizens Committee for Montclair. Is this a newly formed group? What do they do?
The only grass-roots citizens group that I am familiar with, is the Concerned Citizens of Montclair.
Sloppy, Sloppy Mr. Schwartz….check your writing and your facts!!!!!
“Liberal progressive fiscal spending is unsustainable”
—but conservative fiscal policies like cutting taxes while dramatically ramping up defense spending and LOSING $18 billion dollars in Iraq is what will turn the country around?
BOTH Republicans and Democrats are responsible for the fiscal mess we are in.
I’m glad to see that cathar referred to Baristanet as special, it took a long time to make that realization but I’m sure everyone is happy that you did.
When did I ever refer to Baristanet as “special,” johnleesandiego? Today or any other day? It’s hardly that under any set of circumstances. Gushy, badly edited and often badly written, yes. But even those offenses against the sort of journalistic reality Martin Schwrtz seems to be urging hardly make it “special.” Hardly even perfoce authentically local.
What might be rather special today, however, is your curious take on reading comprehension.
What, and where, is this “quiet zone”? I assume that we are already “nuclear free,” like Hoboken. This idiocy is getting painful.
What am I missing here? The local media (Baristanet) is complaining that the local media has failed to expose the fiscal irresponsibility of the town officials. Is the pot calling the pot black?
cathar – in the last paragraph of your 3:28 comment you wrote ““Journalism,” of course, either the special kind practiced on Baristanet on any other kind.” which is now there for everyone to behold! Like us, you think Baristanet is special! (and if you don’t think so why do you spend so much time here)
Morbid curiosity? Boredom? General ennui?
BOTH Republicans and Democrats are responsible for the fiscal mess we are in.
Except it was a Democratic president (Clinton) who gave us surpluses, and a Republican one (Bush, Jr.) who blew it all on tax cuts and unfunded wars. But who cares ’bout facts? Better to say “a pox on both their houses” and let people know how independent-minded you are.
Perhaps you simply can’t recognize irony of the most mordant kind when you read it, johnlee. That must be it.
And why do you spend so much time of late here, if it comes to that? I assure ya, I no longer spend even half as much as I did back in Baristanet’s semi-halcyon (in retrospect, anyway) days.
Oh wait, I remember, they run your photos! I hope this provides you with a career boost, since even I like some of them.
OMG cathar likes me ! I can now die a happy man !
Where do you get the factoid that U.S. state and local taxes have risen an average of 20% over the last few years — that seems bogus to me.
Journalistic Clarifications:
For the record..this was my Op Ed…Baristanet’s created headline.
My headline was: ‘Local Accountability’
And thanks for pointing out the typo error Mr/Ms.cantmakethisstuffup
Concerned Citizens of Montclair is correct for the CCM. I didn’t change it from my earlier draft. Sloppy is correct.
I’m in agreement with what Martin has written.
We hope that the “media” will step in not only to do the “story,” but also to educate the public on topics that are crucial to the public understanding of what is going on. They often fail.
There are times when I’ll send an email to a reporter and say “there’s a story here” and most often they’ll not follow up. I do not expect what I have to say to be taken at face value, but I’ll give the media a map of the issue. Still no follow up. And I’ve done this for perhaps a dozen years.
And things seem to be getting worse as time goes by.
And I do think Montclair seems to “get it wrong” too often.
Here’s an example of what I mean.
Changes have been made to public employees pension and health plans. While the media gives us a blow by blow of the sides in the controversy, there is NO MENTION of what the changes ARE. We are told public employees will pay MORE. OK, How much more? There is no meaningful information. Not from any of the media.
Media spokespersons say that there isn’t enough money to do “real” reporting or “real” research. Perhaps we need another model. Such models include spot.us, a “community funded” news outlet who says:
Spot.Us is an open source project to pioneer “community powered reporting.” Through Spot.Us the public can commission and participate with journalists to do reporting on important and perhaps overlooked topics. Contributions are tax deductible and we partner with news organizations to distribute content under appropriate licenses.
Maybe this is the future?
hey nick:
“Better to say “a pox on both their houses” and let people know how independent-minded you are”
—always easier to belittle the person, i know. but if you are somehow implying this is a one party problem, then i’m not at all worried about how you try to paint me. folks will see your comment for what it is.
The bottom line is the debt in this town is too high on a lengthly list of measures. Many citizens were angry at the increase in debt over the years, but those in the leadership positions, didn’t care to focus on the financial picture and kept issuing more debt, driving the balance up beyond what is reasonable. CCM has a petition of 1,000 people asking for 0% increase on the municipal level (a.k.a. more financial restraint). How many more people does it take to get the point across that citizens of Montclair want better fiscal control?
If CCM wants to run a slate, I’ll back them with my $$$$. The fiscal transparency provided by CCM completely blows away anything the town, under its current leaders, has put forth. Have you seen surrounding town’s financial information on their websites compared with Montclair’s. Check out Glen Ridge to start. There is tremendous room for improvement.
So NICK, why do you keep accusing CCM or other groups of being politically motivated in establishing themselves, like it is a bad thing? Even if they were established for political reasons, WE NEED FISCAL RESTRAINT AND LEADERS THAT ARE GOING TO STOP WITH THE INSANITY! This group of Town Councilors greatly let the citizens down by not taking enough action and approving a budget with over a 5% increase compared with the Board of Ed’s reduction and the County’s .07% increase. Shame on them.
sohobound,
Guess how much Glen Ridge’s municipal budget increased this year? .01%!
Yet Fried finds Montclair’s 5.3% a number we can live with.
Agreed, soho. Who do I write the check out to?
Who cares if people from CCM, Martin Schwartz or anyone for that matter run for political office nickcharles, you don’t have to vote for any of them if you don’t think they are up to the task. I will look at all of the candidates and make a decision on who I think has the capacity, knowledge and financial experience to get Montclair out of the huge mess we are in. That’s hoping the State doesn’t come in and take over first.
Soho and Howard,
Agree next slate is critical. I’m interested in supporting candidates who fully understand and appreciate Montclair’s most pressing problems. Candidates with strategic vision, a pragmatic plan for change, and an absolute commitment to getting things done. We need a government where the incentives for employees are aligned with these goals. We need a government – starting with a Town Manager – that is committed to serving the residents of Montclair, instead of a group that is afraid to face the real, difficult truths of our situation. We need a Town Manager who has the intellectual horsepower to grasp the issues, develop goals and objectives for departments, and motivate employees to support a new business model. And who has the guts to fire people who can’t or won’t adapt to an efficient, transparent, goal-oriented workplace.
I’ve listened to presentations from OBAC. They seem smart, pragmatic, and dedicated to helping our town. I’d love to support one or more members of this task force. They’ve done a lot of the legwork and seem to have a thorough understanding of our problems. Plus, their solutions seemed logical and workable.
I keep mentioning what I think the CCM’s intentions are because I think they are insincere.
As for all the tax talk around here, especially dazedandconfused’s belief that the the state will “come in and take over” because of the town’s 1.6% tax hike (hilarious), I’m not quite sure what people here expect. The last year of the prior council’s term, they hiked taxes some huge amount. Fried and his folks took over, hiked them less last year and lesser still this year. Meanwhile, the Board of Ed., which is now stacked with Fried cronies, have cut even more, which has more of an impact on everyone’s taxes than the council does. Did everyone expect Fried and the rest to cut taxes by 20% in three years? More? I think the mayor is a total boob, but I don’t know what else you guys want. Taxes are going up a measly 1.6%.
Correct me if I’m wrong, Nick. Weren’t Grill and Lombard, the driving forces behind the reduced BOE budget, appointed by the previous mayor? And didn’t Fried decide to replace Grill at a critical point in the implementation of the budget? And wasn’t our Municipal tax increase last year around 10%? And while we were in this financial crisis, didn’t the mayor and his “cronies” want to pay for a senior/community center and a parking lot for the police?
That’s why I expect more.
Nickcharles,
Why do you assume people are only interested in running for office , just because they’ve only recently become vocal about how change? I know I only became aware of the problems with our government when I read about the TC’s efforts to buy a senior center for $3.5M. Before that, I just complained and worried about our ever-escalating taxes. And kept hoping they wouldn’t ALWAYS go up. I know — shame on me. I agree. But since then, I’ve been paying attention and educating myself. I have no interest in running for office. I have no political agenda, either Dem or Rep. I am just very, very concerned about our inefficient, poorly run government and am seeing the effect its having on our community. People are leaving. People are choosing other town’s because they are worried we can’t face our problems. I think it’s fabulous that the BOE dug in and started doing the hard work needed to become a more modern and efficient organization.
Our town isn’t facing its problems. Our municipal taxes could be going DOWN if we made smarter choices and adopted reforms to work toward efficient, goal-oriented management. Marc Dashield seems to think his options are raise taxes or cut services. And he masks his lack of work by talking about the overall tax increase — he seems to think it’s fine for our schools to make cuts. But he doesn’t live in town or send his kids to school here, so he is making a rational choice for his own personal circumstances, isn’t he? And he isn’t compensated for cutting municipal costs while maintaining or even improving services. So why would he make difficult decisions that would make life at the office uncomfortable? So much easier to just go the the TC and say “I’ve done the best I can. We’re working very hard! We don’t want to jeopardize public safety, do we?”. And the ruling interests on the TC say, “good job Marc! We feel bad for your very hard job. The previous TC caused all see problems. Really, there’s nothing we can do”.
I don’t think you can assume you’re the only person here with a pure heart. Many here are paying attention. We’ve just reached a different conclusion than you have.
Are MTC taxes going up 1.6% or 5+%?
Bebop,
The school budget makes up 58% of the ‘overall’ Montclair budget, and then Essex County makes up around 21% (not sure of exact %). The County portion and the Montclair municipal portion are roughly the same size.
So the school budget actually came in with a DECREASE. I believe it ended up around negative (-1.4%). The county came in with a less than 1% increase. (I believe .7%).
The Montclair municipal budget came in with a more than 5% INCREASE.
Because the schools make up the majority of our overall budget, the overall tax increase is 1.6%. If our town had actually made real changes, our taxes could have gone DOWN this year.
Instead, they’re masking their ineptitude by hiding behind the changes made by the schools.
Domo arigato Jinx-san.
This discussion is exactly the kind of high end criticial thinking and analysis we need. When enough residents get it, those in power have a much harder time making illogical and knee jerk decisions.
However, the paradigm goes off when the local media do not really report the positioning and details properly, or just cover the issue too superficially — without context. That’s my point. We saw a good bit of this under the previous two Councils with many fiscal and operating mishaps slipping by under the radar – even when many residents were up in arms.
It appears there is a much more engaged citizenry today about town government — given the underlying $ concerns.
jinx,
Right on with your analysis.
Things like the Senior Center were nuts. The project stopped dead in its tracks one council meeting when Dashield said “by the way, the town has no money.”
Suddenly figuring things out is scary, but it happens to us ALL the time. The budget has to be passed because we forgot to put in an expense for the assessment? Can you think of anything more talked about then the assessment, yet we FORGOT to put it in the budget?
The work of the BOE in cutting the budget was terrific, and from my vantage point the effort was led by Shirley Grill and Shelley Lombard, both Remsen appointees. Whatever else people want to say about Shirley she has the wherewithal to make difficult decisions. And she sticks to her principles. And now she is gone. Will the BOE again be willing to face difficult decisions?
I was going to write a long diatribe about how the problem is that the citizens don’t care and have not been effective in selecting our government and holding that government accountable.
Then it dawned on me that no one seems to actually care. Or take any effective action (“effective” being the key word).
Cary must be drinking some memory loss cool aid today.
Under the 2004 to 2008 Remsen Boards of Educations…there was massive budget inflation. Any calls for transparency and accountability..improved performance etc. by parents was met then with arrogance…resistance..and dismal at that time
It was only after the resulting frustration turned into an elect-a-board referendum coupled with market financial pressures….that the system began responding to resident concerns. In effect, the elect-a-board folks lost the battle…but ultimately won the war to effectuate change.
Consequently, external resident political pressures are what really forced the fiscal turn-around at the BOE.