Baristanet | Blogs

Africk: Council is Glib About Spending $6M

BY Cary Africk | Wednesday, May 23, 2012 9:06am | COMMENTS (10)

Editor’s Note: Baristanet has corrected the final paragraph of this blog post to reflect the fact that Bob Russo is no longer president of the adjunct professors’ local union at Montclair State University. He was replaced two months ago by Bob Noonan.

As this Council nears the end of its term, some members are determined to push as much through as possible. Both spending, and pet projects such as the “Bike Storage Locker” proposal that the Mayor has been kicking around for years. Under that proposal developers would be required to set aside space — sometimes substantial space — for the storage of bicycles. Locked storage of bicycles. Although no one has asked the developers about the impact such an ordinance would have on them.

Then there’s the spending. Most of it could have waited the five weeks for the new Council. The spending is significant. Tonight, over SIX MILLION DOLLARS of new capital spending was approved! Some towns agonize over spending $20,000. Montclair glibly agrees to six million.

But what some people find infuriating is the inability of “management” to account for where all that money is going! Purchases are lumped together. Descriptions and totals vary depending on the report. And when some citizen seeks an explanation, like Sandy Sorkin did tonight, they are mocked and ridiculed.

Council Murnick did a terrific job of questioning the manager. He also led a discussion into the proposal, from the Manager, that gave increases to the 20 or so employees of the township (out of four hundred) who are the only ones that aren’t covered by union contracts. The manager’s justification was two-fold: a) let’s put together a “merit” program for people not covered under the union contract, or if not, b) it’s been “tradition” to give these people increases equivalent to that of the union, even though we don’t have to so let’s do it. Mind you, some of those people are the highest paid in the Township.

Union contracts are just that, contracts. They provide for increases over the years, as well as changes in benefits and work rules. They apply to everyone in the union.

Employees not under union rules, do not get that “benefit.”

Hopefully, this next Council will bring a measure of accountability to Township affairs, and we’ll be able to track spending.

And to the biggest chunk of our expenses — union payrolls — hopefully this new Council with ~~two union presidents~~ one union president among its membership will be able to help us negotiate a mutually rewarding contractual arrangement.

Steven Goldstein: Garden State Equality Responds to Ravi Sentence

Tuesday, May 22, 2012 8:45am | COMMENTS (38)

Dharun Ravi has been sentenced to 30 days in jail. We have been public in taking a position of balance: We opposed throwing the book at Dharun Ravi. We have spoken out against giving him the maximum sentence of 10 years in jail and against deporting him. That would have been vengeance beyond punishment and beyond sending a message to the rest of society. Continue Reading

Pat Kenschaft: How I Became a Gardener

BY Pat Kenschaft | Friday, May 18, 2012 2:59pm | COMMENTS (14)

When we moved into our current home in the summer of 1975, my husband suffered terribly from allergies, so it was clear I would have to maintain the property. A decade earlier I had seen a woman mowing a lawn for the first time, so I was liberated enough to undertake this new activity.

I asked a neighbor what was involved in caring for a lawn. ”It depends how good you want it to be,” was his quick answer.

Rich Rockwell: The Photography of Charles Warren Eaton

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 11:00am | COMMENTS (4)

I didn’t exactly discover the photographs of Charles Warren Eaton – they discovered me. A colleague in the Historical Society of Bloomfield showed me a photo from a collection of photographs taken by Eaton. I didn’t know much about him at the time, but since then, I’ve gotten to know him, his art and his photography.

Eaton moved to Bloomfield from New York City in 1887 to live a quieter life in a bucolic setting (yes, Bloomfield was bucolic in 1887). He lived on Monroe Place until his death in 1937. His paintings are in a number of museums around the country, and locally, one of his paintings, “The Strip of Pines” is in the Montclair Art Museum. ”The Strip of Pines” is the quintessential pine tree painting for which Eaton became known as “the Pine Tree Painter.” He is considered a “tonalist” for his limited color scale and delicate effects of light. His intimate landscapes, usually at sunset, evoke a spiritual beauty. He studied with and was friends with another local artist, George Inness, and sometimes painted with Inness in his studio near the current location of Mountainside Hospital. Continue Reading

Dr. Stacey Vitiello: Why Breast Density Matters

Monday, May 14, 2012 12:45pm | COMMENTS (5)

As a breast imaging radiologist at Montclair Breast Center, fellowship trained at Yale, with over 12 years of experience practicing in my field, I can tell you based on voluminous evidence in the scientific literature as well as from clinical experience that if you have dense breast tissue (determined from a mammogram, not from physical exam), the odds of finding a cancer on your mammogram are about equal to a coin toss.

Kelly Conklin: Why Christie’s Veto of the Health Benefit Exchange Act was Wrong

Friday, May 11, 2012 11:59am | COMMENTS (46)

If Gov. Chris Christie had not vetoed the New Jersey Health Benefit Exchange Act, New Jersey would have had one of the best health insurance exchanges in the country. For small business owners like me, who provide health insurance to their employees, the exchanges are the single most important change enacted under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the health insurance reform legislation passed by Congress two years ago.

Jay Livingston: Sendak and Childhood

BY Jay Livingston | Wednesday, May 09, 2012 2:45pm | COMMENTS (3)

(Editors’ Note: Jay Livingston heads the Sociology Department at Montclair State University. He blogs at Montclair SocioBlog.)

All happy childhoods are alike. Each happy childhood is unhappy in its own way. Or maybe not. But just as people differ in how they view their own childhoods, cultures too vary in their dominant image of childhood.

I’ve posted before that in American movies children are often morally superior to adults – wiser, more competent, and more honest. They are also untainted by the complexities and troubles of the adult world.

That’s not the way Maurice Sendak saw it. Those monsters in Where the Wild Things Are were based on his own aunts and uncles. Continue Reading

Martin Schwartz: The Issues Behind the Election

BY Martin Schwartz | Monday, May 07, 2012 7:38pm | COMMENTS (20)

The spin machines have kicked their final ads into high gear. The postman has the last negative mailer at your door and the internet punches are slamming heads every minute. With professionals running at least two of the three slate campaigns, many consider this council race the most professional election that Montclair has yet to see.

Here’s the real story.

Selma Avdicevic: Let’s Get to Work

Monday, May 07, 2012 10:15am | COMMENTS (44)

Let me start by saying: I love this town.

The reason I am running for the 2nd Ward Councilor is because I want to see a better future for this town and all its residents, and this is how.

Sean Spiller: Montclair Election Still About The People

Sunday, May 06, 2012 9:20am | COMMENTS (11)

This election was before and still must be about the needs of the residents we hope to represent.

It is important to clearly spell out our priorities.

To start, I will not jeopardize the safety of the residents I hope to represent or the protection of their property.

There has been talk about the closure of our Fire Station Three on Harrison Avenue bordering the third and fourth wards. Instead, I believe we need to put saving lives, homes and memories at the top of our list.

Further, while we hear from some camps who support cut-at-any-cost policies, those I meet going door-to-door or attending events share the same desire I do: To see Montclair continue to be a place of great diversity with tremendous excitement, pride, and potential for future growth.

Having benefited from the diversity of a mixed family, I was drawn to and understand the need to preserve Montclair’s great mix of human elements. We must do more than just attract and keep this mix; we must provide the services that all Montclair residents depend on. Continue Reading