Summation of the May 2ed meeting of the town council

Next meeting May 16th

The mayor was absent from this meeting

As one would expect the meeting was dominated by discussion of the defeated school budgets. From the "attitude" of council members I think it can be safely assumed that none were among the 11 vote "majority" who voted against both budgets (regional and local). There was a lot of "there's no mandate" talk regarding the need to make cuts in the budgets. Surprisingly, when past budgets have passed by a similarly slim margin there is no talk about how there's no mandate "not" to cut the budget. These Republicans probably think it's just swell that "our" barely elected president thinks he has a mandate to kill people on a no less marginal electoral endorsement.

The local (grammar schools) budget was discussed first . The council representatives negotiating with the school board reported that an agreement has been reached on a 1% budget cut equaling $72,000. It was stated that 85 percent of the 8 million-dollar budget consists of salary and benefits. By Contract, teachers salaries are slated to increase some 13% over the next three years. There was lots of "they are running a tight ship" and respect "our educators" kind of rhetoric.

On the regional budget (high-schools) there has been no decision regarding recommended cuts or percentages. The council representatives claimed that details regarding negotiations cannot be discussed publicly.

There was a protracted public comment section in which very divergent points of view were expressed. In conversation soliciting an answer to the question "why the budgets were defeated?" things like low voter turnout... fallout ...and people being "ticked off" about the half a million dollar tennis courts were mentioned. When a person from the public brought up excessive administrative costs, councilmembers basically expressed no opinion. Also brought up a couple of times was the school board's "scare tactic" strategy of using very visible staff cuts to make budget cutting look draconian. The Council replied that they can only "recommend" specific cuts but that the school board has the final say in where cuts will be made. [I'm not convinced that that's entirely- legally - true]. One member of the public expressed hope that the council wouldn't just "roll over" to the "protecting each other's jobs" school board racket. Another member of the public expressed a desire that we listen to what "the educators say". The most eloquent remarks [in my opinion] expressed the simple truth that $500,000 for tennis courts "is fluff".... ["the educators" in charge of the vital subject of "hitting fuzzy ball enlightenment" no doubt disagree.]

The discussion eventually wandered into a conversation about "voter apathy" and low voter turnout. There was the suggestion that we need more signs to get out the vote.... a more sensible suggestion came from the evil and corrupt Borough administrator who pointed out the simple truth that off-season, single issue elections, are a corrupt contrivance of special-interest-- like in this case the teachers' union.

Another school related issue dominated discussion. The other "Not Washington Township" members of the regional school district are actively trying to find a way to fix, or break out of, the Regional School District... and have requested that the Borough chip in to finance a feasibility study. The underlying problem is a perception of tax inequity-- the poorer foke of Washington Township only pay an average of $9,000 per student and the richer foke of the Mendham's and Chester's pay an average of $20,000 . The obvious implication of all this hoopla is that rich people don't think poor people should be entitled to an equally well financed public education --in other words let "their" kids eat cake.

In my opinion-- An argument about the validity of taxing the roof over a person's head (regardless of their lifestyle, income or child producing history) as a way to finance social services is a discussion worth having-- but this futile fight against progressive taxation, and in effect, effort to impose class segregation, is kind of ugly and stupid. The real irony is that it was Washington Township that provided the largest percentage of voters defeating the budget. Funny how ignorant poor people can understand that $500,000 tennis courts aren't going to get us much, smarter, more productive, young citizen bang for our education bucks.

Anyway, generally speaking, the council sees little need for redundant study and seemed generally convinced that disillusionment of the regional district now is a bullet not worth biting. There was a lot of talk about how "above-average" the school system is and a almost hysterical fear that it would be harmed. [I would point out that the school system should be "well" above average considering the well above average wealth, culture and intelligence, of the overall community. Realistically, our school system isn't trying to turn pigs' ears into diamonds it's just trying to prevent gold from devolving into lead. ...and frankly by that standard we are not getting our $42 million worth.]

Councilperson Barbara Stanton (an attorney) suggested that the study should be expanded to include study of legal remedies citing a possible 14th Amendment claim "taxation without representation". I would speculate that attorney Stanton was a lousy lawyer-- we voluntarily created the regional school district-- that may have been a mistake, but we can't pretend "we" didn't make it. The Constitution doesn't provide any "stupidity without consequences" guarantee.

There no doubt will be extensive future discussions regarding district disillusionment. Basically we have a contract that's both legally difficult and very expensive to break-- what the "progressive taxation" haters seek are "negotiating tools" to extort the (majority) town of Washington Township to play by our rules rather than to do what is rationally in their own narrow best interest. In the end, I don't think there's much chance they're going to find any such tools and there will be just a lot of valuable discussion time squandered on this hypocritical pointless peripheral mush.

Sorry, I digress, at the meeting a member of the public made the point that it would be best if the council did not vote on the issue of supporting the study-- especially if they were going to vote no-- as it would send a very bad signal and likely accomplished nothing but to impower Washington Township in the negotiations. The council sensibly agreed and did not vote on the issue.

There are quite a few ordnances that went through the process of final passage-- storm water, dumping, pet waste, bonds etc.

Of the ordinances introduced a couple provoke some discussion. A council member claimed that some of the salary ranges in the salary ordinance were too low. The maximum salary of a couple of positions was increased another $5,000

Another ordinance, the "ordinance ordinance" was effectively described by the Borough attorney as pointless, as it changes nothing. The intent of the ordinance was to expedite the initial "reading by title" and save some meeting time wasted on redundant and kind of inane procedure.

Among the discussion items was the need for the council to make a decision regarding going with weekly or monthly bulk trash pickup. Going to monthly pickup would save some $31,000. Most councilmembers expressed the opinion that the public appreciates and wants the better service of weekly pickup. Expressed was the opinion that the town looks better without the piles of junk [the counter argument that there are laws against putting junk out to soon was made also]. Councilman Haverkost implied that "garbage pickers" are some kind of "laughable" citizen subclass and that it would be "good" to keep them from performing their great evil of recycling garbage. The council voted 4 to 1 to go with weekly pickup... the holdout was Barbara Stanton who thought it might be a good idea to use the savings to provide the additional service of leaf and brush pickup/disposal. [as one of the garbage picking subclass I of course wish they would have saved the $31,000]

There was some discussion regarding the 100th anniversary of the disillusionment of Mendham into the Mendhams. The concern was expressed that events must be coordinated soon for the "very special" anniversary. Apparently there are some funding strategies the "open government" officials are keeping "under wraps".

On the agenda (and of interest to me) but not discussed publicly... was the council's decision on paying $1,000 out of council discretionary funds for the Snedaker portrait. (which I would attempt- and I think competently provide-- for the cost of materials)

Councilman Haverkost raised a couple of issues. The first being the problem of a manure pile located in close proximity to India brook just above the sewage plant. It was pointed out that this could be an environmental concern, and it might negatively affect water quality readings used to evaluate the performance of the sewage plant. The administrator remarked that an inspector is scheduled to investigate.

The other issue raised was some "bogus" street sign by the police station immoralizing some police officers. Mr. Haverkost pointed out that you usually have to die to have a street named after you and that it's inappropriate for anyone to think they have the authority to name streets -- he pointed out that they " had their laugh" and that the sign should be taken down.
Of course the cop on the council thought it was all just laughable harmless cop fun and games. [I guess they have to do something with their time when there aren't any vorizon trucks available to serve and protect] [Township police are pictured but Borough cops have been doing the same thing]

permanent link: May 2ed meeting, InMendhm 5/02/05

Summation of the April 18th meeting of the town council

Next meeting May 2

A couple of kind of boring "issues" dominated discussion. Brought up a couple of times during the meeting was the "problem" of the Borough baseball fields not exactly meeting offical Little League standards. A representative from the league was basically pleading for town cooperation in the upgrading of the facilities. The Little League wasn't explicitly asking for money or at least not a specific dollar amount but apparently are in need of some help (supervision) from the Public Works Department to accomplish the improvements they would like to make. Their was lots of General talk about scoreboards paid for by display ad sponsorship, removable fencing etc. The council seemed inclined to be supportive of providing whatever cooperation is needed with the caveat that there is little room in the budget for any extra spending beyond what is in the budget ($20,000 for maintenance?) It was stated that there are approximately some 800 kids who participate in Little League from the Mendhams.... It was stated that we should do this for "our kids" -- You would think the 50 million dollars a year spent on schools would have fulfilled "our" obligations to "our" kids.

The other over discussed issue was final passage of the "put things back the way they were" ordinance regarding Wilson Street parking. Even though it was already a credibly established fact that Wilson Street is not the narrowest street in town or even a narrow street (by relative comparison)-- through the brilliant leadership of Barbara Stanton (who made a trite little patronizing speech about what a "hard decision" it was and her commitment to good and open government) the public safety committee "again established" through measurement and experimentation that there is no public safety impediment to both of the side street parking. Of course some residents of the street who have enjoyed pushing parking related to use of the meeting hall on to other streets expressed some disappointment at rejecting hasty false assumptions and rewriting the ordinance to be compatible with the rational universe.

A member of the public raised the option of converting the meeting hall into a private residence and rebuilding a meeting facility someplace like the ball fields. The suggestion was kind of laughed off but if you consider how much money might be raised by selling the lot and current building-- it does seem reasonable that it would be more than enough money to raise a new building on more accessible property the town already owns.

The mayor also pointed out that hilltop school provides excellent meeting facilities that can be provided at a modest cost-- it was also stated that the new library is planned to include a meeting room.

Explaining the title of this post a cliche naggy old Lady wearing her age on her sleeve (starts every sentence with I'm 84 years old) gratuitously bitched at the residents of Wilson's Street for doing something as outrageous as trying to improve the livability of their own neighborhood. (between "our" kids and "our" seniors it seems there ain't much room for "our" just-trying-to-eke-out-a-life citizens.

final passage of the ordinance was unanimous

The important issue that wasn't discussed much was introduction of the Municipal budget. The tax rate will increase 5% or $166 per 100,000 in assessed value. It was stated that the budget can be viewed at the Phoenix House-- Why not on the town website? I'm not in the mood to pay much for the document so if they don't have it in an electronic form (on one of the computers they paid some $50,000 for over the past three years) you may not be able to view it here either. What stood out in the brief oral rundown was $ 27,000 for police/fire pensions and 19,000 for workman's comp. As anticipated a portion of the $50,000 federal homeland Security pork is going to be used as a first installment to a capital reserve fund. (When we are going to borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars this year, this "surplus fund" seems like a great way to steal from Peter to give to Peter.)

In other budget related news, an ordinance was introduced allowing the town to increase the CAP from 2.5% to 3.5%. This has to do with state requirements that basically limit municipal budget increases. The town is taking advantage of the old system that allowed a town to "bank" unused increase allowances and to use that "banked permission to increase" in some other fiscal year. From next year forward towns won't be allowed to save their increase allowance-- and what they don't use, they will loose.

Their was some discussion regarding Vorizon installing new fiber-optic lines to provide broadband and streaming video. It was implied that Vorizon would be offering some sort of service competitive with cable television. The mayor and council members seemed concerned regarding "local control" issues-- like the appearance of visible hardware infrastructure and the franchise fee. Patriot media pays kind of a small franchise fee (under $5,000) to be our exclusive cable provider. (probably not coincidental to this issue I have received a couple of calls from sales representatives from Patriot media trying to talk me into upgrading. Their offering one of those too good to be true kind of deals --free upgrade to digital and three free months of broadband just for trying the service (no commitment strings attached) I was frankly tempted... but I am mad at the Internet for allowing itself to become the Spamernet, and cable television just plain sucks... I told the sales rep that maybe Patriot media should do something to improve the quality of the content they're re-selling. That maybe they should invest the minor amount of money required for them to produce some "real" local content. For the cost of a used video camera and a couple of hours of an employees time they could record council meetings and other interesting local events-- they already have the unused channel space --so it would virtually cost them next to nothing to provide this unique, valuable, and maybe even entertaining "public/customer service" .... if they would provide a free public access channel I could at least provide inmendham.com produced sock puppet reenactments)

A minor issue, briefly mentioned, was the fact that the town hasn't yet found a portrait painter to do the portrait of Mr. Snedaker. It was originally planned that the Snedaker tribute would take place a the same time as the May 15th[?] dedication of the reconditioned -million dollar- Phoenix House.(Coincidentally I do know an artist who would volunteer for the project... but it's likely the town would just steal his work and sign their name to it... So I guess it's a good thing he is "coincidentally" as unlikely a candidate for the commission as I am.)

permanent link: April 18th meeting, InMendhm 4/18/05

Summation of the April 4th meeting of the town council

Next meeting April 18th

The meeting was dominated by budget presentation and discussion. The West Morris Regional High School District budget for 2005-6 will be $42,840,000 a 2.7% increase that somehow translates into a 4.3 % tax increase[?]. There will be an election April 19th where the budget can be approved or disapproved. If disapproved or rejected the regional town governments will suggest specific budget cuts that the schoolboard will be semi-obligated to accept. An expenditure it would appear likely to be cut if the voters do the right thing and reject the budget is a $500,000 white elephant expense on five or six tennis courts to be built at Mendham high-school. As the budget includes $2,376,000 for yearly debt service-- talk about how the tennis courts are to be paid out of existing capital reserves (accrued surplus) seemed kind of silly. Apparently the school board maintains two reserve accounts that together contain more than $6 million. The excuse for previously overtaxing to create this "gross" surplus was stated to be to create a pay-as-you-go system-- if you're going to "borrow" $36 million for expansion isn't the pay-as-you-go cat out of the bag and being eaten somewhere in China? It seems apparent that the reserve is only created so as to create the illusion of extra money and in tern a justification for wasting the money on silly expenditures. I think in the real world creating capital reserve accounts when you have unpaid debt is something less than a zero sum game.

[Sorry about the excessive amount of commentary but this is a very irritating summary to write. I had hoped I could just provide a link to the WMRHSD website to provide budget details... unfortunately and OUTRAGEOUSLY considering there's an election one week from now-- the website is currently "under construction" and provides no budget details. I would scan the information provided in the "mailing" that went out last week but it so horribly formated that I'm not willing to make the extra effort TO DO THEIR STINKING JOB when they're getting paid a small fortune. In real practical fact it might take a reasonably competent technology person maybe 30 minutes to convert the raw data files used to publish the mailing, into web presentable information. Of course I would volunteer the time, but no one's asking for my help or accepting my offer.... but even if it was reasonable that they had to pay for the service when they have 2500 students[?] that might benefit from the "learning experience" of doing the work, how can they not find the money to provide this basic service to the tax paying public in a $42 million budget? ]

Ironically when it was time to discuss the Town budget, the "brilliant" idea of creating a capital reserve account dominated discussion. If I heard correctly the town will be paying some $400,000 in debt service next year. It seems to me more logical that the town should retire or prevent that "credit card" debt before attempting to slush up any fake surplus reserve. The proposed budget is not yet available to the public but the preliminary indication is that there will be a 3.5% increase or some $181. per $100,000 of assessed property value. If the $50,000 the town apparently WILL be getting in federal "homeland security" pork is put toward tax reduction next year's increase will be $150 per 100,000 . From the tone of the council it seems more likely that at least part of the $50,000 will be used as initial contribution to a "capital reserve fund" and not for tax/DEBT reduction.

There were a half-dozen or so ordnances introduced... most related to state requirements regarding better maintenance of the storm sewer system. It was mostly common-sense stuff like don't litter, cleanup after dog, and don't throw junk in the street.

Next on the agenda was discussion of the $45,000 in grant money from the state the towns will receive towards the upgrading of the MASH (Senior Citizen) van. The new van is proposed to be a 12 passenger -- stand-up entry-- modern conveyance that will cost some $70,000. It seems probable that the two Mendhams will split the burden of making up the difference.

Briefly discussed was the need to put the fire department issue of the leadership living locally back on the agenda.

There was also very brief mention of the DPW truck issue. Apparently the administrator issued a memo that resolves the issue... but no details were mentioned... I will endeavor to secure a copy of the memo to find out what the resolution is.

There was some discussion of the multimillion-dollar library merger. The town will likely be investing another $35,000 in this project that is generally described as only having a 50/50 chance of surviving regulatory obstacles. It was reported that the library was aggressively working on fund-raisers but no details regarding the success of those fund-raisers were provided. An issue also raised was the possibility of paying lobbyists to attempt to influence the state legislature on our behalf.

There was more talk regarding COAH funds (affordable housing). Generally, there's general uncertainty regarding how high-school expansion and expansion at Daytop will affect fund balances and obligations. There was vague mention of some perhaps intriguing properties available for reclamation.

A member of the public requested clarification regarding the dumping of brush and such. It was stated that last year's resolution is still in effect and nonresident contractors will be excluded from using the public dumping facilities.

A member of the public also inquired regarding the results of the "poll" regarding the issue of "a skateboard park". Councilman Haverkost reported the poll results were generally 75% favorable regarding providing such a facility, he also intimated that popularity may change depending on whos-backyard, and how much it costs. [these childish polls (ie. new library, skateboard park. etc.) have no credibility as an actual representation of public support and really shouldn't have any relevancy in a logical decisionmaking process.]

permanent link: April 4th meeting, InMendhm 4/4/05

Summation of the March 21st meeting of the town council

Next meeting April 4th

The consent agenda was approved but there was brief discussion regarding a couple of items. The mayor referenced some problem regarding a banner request that was apparently not honored because the request had expired or was more than a year old. it was established that banner requests can be made a year in advance and that more attention will be paid to avoid misunderstanding and oversight.

A council member requested that a reference to a "jet pack" be corrected to "jet vac". This 200 thousand to $400,000 storm sewer maintenance vehicle was referenced a couple of times during the meeting. New state laws require enhanced maintenance of storm sewers and there has been the "suggestion" that the town has some requirement to acquire use of this machine-- apparently used to blowout or clean storm sewer feed lines. The town is apparently looking into the possibility of leasing the equipment vs making the out-right purchase. There was also the suggestion that the law can be satisfied using human personnel to physically clean the drains.

There were a number of ordinances passed:

5-05 is some zoning ordinance that cover such issues as requirements to keep livestock, fences, sheds, tennis courts, etc. The council passed the ordinance without any discussion.

[I read it over once, and found it a bit convoluted and confusing. Instead of defining some general principles and guidelines of "good and safe neighborly conduct" the ordinance establishes a bunch of arbitrary rules that in many circumstances probably aren't a practical or useful imposition. The town ought to allow people to make "reasonable" (not unsafe or an eyesore) modifications to their property without having to satisfy unnecessary bureaucracy. Every resident should have a liberal right to beautify, or make more useful, their property with the simple understanding that the town council or zoning board would have the authority to declare some "improvements" unneighborly, inconsiderate, and destructive to overall quality of life in the Borough of Mendham. This presumed guilty until bureaucratically approved and permitted-- law by legalese-- doesn't feel very American.]

There was rather extensive discussion regarding the Wilson Street parking ordinance. There were a few "what if" questions that seemed pretty pointless as there are many streets in Mendham narrower than Wilson street that would obviously fail similar "what if" scrutiny. There also was some talk about expanding the Garabrant center parking lot and a resident of the street made a public comment regarding concern that children were going to get run over and that the road is used like a race track. The ordinance, re-allowing both side of the street parking on Wilson Street will be up for final approval April 18th .

Another simple ordinance that actually did run-aground [voted down] on some pretty irrelevant complexity was ordinance 7-05 that would permit a minority of the head officials of the fire department to live outside of town, but still within a 10 mi. radius. As the fire department is all volunteer this doesn't seem an unreasonable latitude to offer to help facilitate cohesive, best qualified, leadership. The council got into concerns regarding the command vehicle "staying in town"... the vehicle was actually purchased by the fire department and the town only pays for registration and insurance. There was a lot of "what if" scrutiny that really didn't seem relevant to the practical reality that many highly experienced volunteers can't afford to live in the Borough of Mendham.

The last ordinance addressed was ordinance 3-05 that establishes fees for basic access to basic public information. Here is a transcript of the proceedings beginning with the reading of a note I sent to the council.

[GM note] -- Regarding ordinance 3-05 (fees): If the ordinance is not withdrawn for revision... please address these questions in the "comment" period provided before final passage.

What is the justification for charging hard-copy fees for digitized "copies" that require no printer, no paper, no ink, no envelope, and no postage?

And how do you justify the $5 charge for a copy of a CD?

Was any effort made to evaluate/approximate actual costs?

Gary Mosher Ironia Rd

[other public comment]

[Ex-Councilman Dolan] --The cost of doing this is not just paper (mumble, mumbal) it's digging the records out, reproducing it, getting it back to the person.... the fees are justified.

[the mayor]-- thank-you.

Anyone else.

I'm going to ask the Attorney to respond to his comments as well.

[The council attorney] -- As far as.... we are not charging hard copy fees in order to provide a digitized copy... we are actually having to scan these pages in order to produce a digitized copy and the fee is for the time and the equipment involved in scanning into making a digitized copy.... if it's already a digital copy there is no charge. and as far as the $5 charge for a copy of a CD that is the charge that was recommended in a model ordinance provided by the jiff[?] and the mealis[?] as part of the settlement brought for Municipal Court discovery costs. $5 is considered to be a reasonable fee that reflects the cost of the CD plus the work involved in producing that CD so those are both defensible, justifiable costs

[the mayor]-- thank-you I will close the public portion of the meeting....

[Councilman PBA Witczak ] -- I just want to clarify what Paula has said, it's an employee of the Borough, that employee draws a salary, that employee is covered by health benefits, that employee has certain employee benefits under our policies... there was time and labor involved.

[ In my opinion the town has chosen a course of conduct that in-traps them in a cage made of ugly undeniable truth. They have rejected my claims, without fulfilling their responsibility to exercise reasonably informed judgment. They have maliciously, with petty intent, violated their oath to the Constitution. Relevant state law states--

"The actual cost of duplicating the record shall be the cost of materials and supplies used to make a copy of the record, but shall not include the cost of labor or other overhead expenses associated with making the copy."

Clearly indicating a legislative intent that basic (First Amendment necessary) "free" (open) access not be unnecessarily converted into a "pay to play" privilege only available to the wealthy elite.

Clearly councilmen who make laws, without being bothered to read relevant existing laws, can't in my opinion be described as responsible public servants. The fact that pending litigation, has not provoked council members to be diligently thorough and accurate to insure themselves against a claim of repeated and therefore intentional (liable) recklessness-- indicates they are only guided by illegal pettiness and not constitutional principle.

Additional laws of the United States have also been violated by the Borough of Mendham relevant to the passage of this ordinance-- but I will save those arguments for court. Just as an FYI I have made the offer to produce free copies (for any sincere Borough resident) of any documents or CDs I acquire from the Borough of Mendham. The $120 a year or $10 a month I now, under Law, have to pay to receive JUST the information relevant to the production of this summation is now the largest expense of producing this website. The "utility bill" for hosting this site on the Internet is about $110 a year. Obviously at these prices I could go broke very fast trying to provide this public service and the exercise of my First Amendment rights.] -- more

The next item discussed was the 2006 budget. There might be something like an eight point increase in the tax rate (very large by historical standards) As the school is proposing an 8% increase in their budget this would add another couple of points to the tax rate. The re-evaluation, storm sewers, and the discontinuation of the $50,000 Home Land Security Federal Pork Subsidy were some of the items cited as responsible for the "uncontrollable" budget inbalance. It is apparently a suggestion of the auditors that the blunt impact of the increase be softened by dipping into the million dollar "surplus" that is held over year to year as insurance against emergency expenditures and delinquent collection of tax receipts.

The mayor suggested using the overpriced $5,000 newsletter (The Mendham Missionary... I mean Messenger) to explain to the public how it is not the council's waste of money on overpriced jerks and junk ... but someone else's fault the budget is unbalanced.

There was a brief discussion of the for-profit "sports camp" razed at the previous meeting. It was reported that insurance cost would be approximately $5 per participant or between 2000 and $2,500 per year. The council seemed agreeable that the costs should be passed on as part of the registration fee. Not addressed, was the issue of this private for-profit organization using public school property.

There was kind of redundant conversation regarding COAH funds (low-income housing subsidy). The new information provided was the fact that there is now $149,000 .00 currently in the fund. There was general agreement to take another couple of weeks to consider options. One of the options under consideration is a proposal to use some $40,000 to upgrade some already federally subsidized senior housing.

the mayor made these comments regarding "the truck".

[Mayor Kraft] -- I have one more item and I would like public works or... personnel... actually or somewhere between the two.... We have the Superintendent of Public Works who is driving a very expensive truck as a personal vehicle back and forth to work... I would like to know why!... it's not being used for snow plowing.... it's not being used for anything other than coming back and forth from work... as far as I have been told. I would like to know more... if I'm wrong I would like to be [mumble mumble] corrected[?]..... if that's the case I would like to know why? [end quote]

The $100,000.00 Borough Administrator... and the rest of the town council had nothing to say on the subject. --MORE

permanent link: March 21 meeting, InMendhm 3/21/05

Summation of the March 7th meeting of the Borough Town Council

Next Meeting March 21st

The consent agenda (banner approvals & club drinking permits) was approved without comment

There was a presentation by the vice-president of the contracting company that is overseeing the $2.5 million improvements to the sewage facility. The purpose of the presentation was to outline the progress of the construction and explain reasons for a requested increase in the contract price. The cost overrun exceeds $100,000 and it was cited that an underestimation of the cost of on-site inspections regarding equipment and materials was responsible. Apparently there was a major oversight in the drafting of the original contracts that did not account for concrete testing. To avoid the catastrophic costs that would likely be incurred if concrete was found (later) to be of inadequate quality-- samples of each load of concrete is poured into a test cylinder and tested for pressure strength.

Although the mayor and council members were satisfied that the overall construction project has gone very well, there was general agreement that overruns of this magnitude must be avoided in the future. The mayor cited a need for greater department consultation before contracts are drafted.

A revision of the fee ordinance regarding Public Records was reintroduced. The council members approved this first reading without discussion. [

I again will be writing the council in opposition to this ordinance. Among the fees established is a $5 charge for a copy of a CD -- On my computer, that is made of used parts, I approximate I could make some $150 an hour if I could find enough fool's willing to pay me $5 to copy CDs of generally low data density. Blank CDs are literally almost a dime a dozen, and as the computer literate know, clicking a couple of software buttons isn't exactly hard labor.

Another blatantly excessive (well beyond actual cost) fee is for scanning paper documents. The borough is attempting to charge the maximum permitable fee for paper to paper copies... for copies that require, no paper, no ink, no printer, no postage. Obviously the town council is made up of regressive, technically illiterate, flat-earth morons who just don't care about the environment or the constitutional principle of fair and equal access.

In a related event, I and hopefully this website are to be featured in a soon to be published Daily record article regarding the Government Records Council and the law they are embodied to enforce the Open Public Records Act. ]

The contract for the fire department emergency scene monitoring system was approved without much discussion.

The council also approved elevating probationary police officer Parrillo to permanent status. (includes a salary increase)

It was reported from the recreation committee that a problem has been discovered regarding some sports camps that are apparently managed financially through the Borough but the Borough retains no portion of the fees and is likely incuring an insurance liability. As I could understand the situation apparently some coaches from the high-school are running a for-profit "sports camp business" using the high school facilities and the town's secretaries and insurance. Councilmen Lawrence Haverkost defended the camps as a "necessary program" but did appreciate that some arrangement must be made formalizing and legalizing the borough's involvement. Providing for background checks, and insurance coverage were the major points discussed. It was pointed out that if the town sets the precedent of subsidizing insurance costs for a for-profit organization, other nonprofit organizations like Little League are going to expect equal treatment.

The Council briefly discussed a proposal by the Pastime Club to replace the scoreboard at pastime field. The Club will incur the $3,000 cost of the new scoreboard with the understanding that the town will provide for operation and maintenance. The council seemed generally agreeable to the proposal.

There was discussion regarding celebration of the 100 year anniversary of the petty squabbles over water rights that led to the dissolving of Mendham into two towns. It was suggested that there needs to be communication and cooperation between committees which led to the proposal that a "ad hoc" committee be formed. As "ad hoc" committees have been used in the past to insulate decision making from public inspection, or consultation, or consent... this writer finds this a disturbing proposition.

There was talk about the town financing the publishing of a book, documenting history and the break-up celebration itself. No doubt this "history" will be written, and published, without all interested citizens having an opportunity to even suggest "fact checking" edits.

The council members seemed of the impression that this book publishing adventure would be a profitable enterprise. [of course they may not be anticipating that I will be attempting to publish every page of it prior to publication and certainly will publish it here (under fair use copyright) after publication.]

As anticipated... the public safety committee suggested that an ordinance be drawn re-allowing all side of the street parking on Wilson Street.

There was a brief mention of the "resource officer" in connection with the high-school. later in the meeting it was explained that the resource officer will be some sort of police officer that will have directing traffic as part of his/her duties. This should solve the longstanding complaint the Borough has had with the circumstance of its officers being used to mitigate high-school specific traffic problems.

Councilperson Barbara Stanton proposed some underage drinking ordinance. The council seemed agreeable to applying some ordinance being used in some other town to give police officers more power to prosecute underage drinkers. This sounds like the kind of law that will make more rebels, than it will convert or prevent.

There was a brief mention that the head of the Public Works Department should be in town during snowfalls.

There was rather extensive discussion regarding the fact that there was some deficiencies found in a recent inspection of the Mendham Area Senior Housing (MASH). The Mayor pointed out that the housing was built in 1980 and that no less than a dozen units need the bathrooms and kitchens upgraded. It was stated that the deficiencies are not severe enough for there to be any legal requirement to do any rehabilitation. It was the mayor's suggestion that perhaps COHA [?] funds could be used to subsidize the repairs. The downside of this approach would be the town would not receive "rehabilitation credits" and depleting the coha funds would reduce the town's options regarding other assisted housing projects.

The mayor and council "thanked" for her "service" the student representative from the high-school (Kristen Badal) who has been attending council meetings over the past year.... and the new student representative was introduced.

During the public comment portion of the meeting the fire chief complained that he has not been consulted regarding any of the construction plans for the high-school. The mayor pointed out that the Board of Education is generally cooperative regarding consultations, but also pointed out that the schoolboard has virtual autonomy as long as they meet code requirements.

Near the conclusion of the meeting there was some controversy regarding some unsigned vouchers with particular reference to "special funds" allocated to the first-aid squad. Apparently when the first-aid squad separated from the fire department provision was not made to reallocate the minor "reward for service money" paid to the volunteers of the fire department and first-aid squad. Previously the group's received a total of $4,500-- after the split the fire department still received the $4,500 and a separate $1,500 "increase" for the first-aid squad was never officially approved through resolution. The council seemed agreeable to the increase and formal approval will likely happen at a subsequent meeting.

General note: The recording of the meeting was very garbled --some voices too loud others inaudible-- I guess $7,000 doesn't buy as much of a tape recorder as it used to.

permanent link: March 7 meeting, InMendhm 3/07/05

Summation of the February 22nd meeting of the town council

The meeting didn't contain much discussion, or provide much information, beyond the agenda outline. Unfortunately, the audio quality was pretty poor-- a lot of amplified background sounds of paper rustling and such. Apparently a $7,000 recording system isn't much good if you don't properly position microphones.

The first issue of substance discussed was the fact that Charles Topping is resigning his position with the Morris County Historical Society (health/family reasons) and It is desirable that Mendham have a representative on the board. The town will be seeking a suitable volunteer who will be required to have some experience or expertise relevant to historical preservation.

There was a slight alteration of process to accommodate the need to invoke an emergency funding gimmick that will allow the town to proceed with the finalization of a contract (to be paid over five years) for the state mandated, town wide, real-estate re-evaluation. Last year's contract that couldn't be finalized was for $163,000... the new contract quotes a total price of $183,000. to be paid over five years.

It wasn't really discussed, just approved... The town will be paying some $28 an hour for a temporary replacement for a secretary who will be out on maternity leave.

There was some brief remarks regarding the "rapid notification system". The county provides a service that basically can dial every phone number in town and play a recorded message. Emergency notifications (ie. boil water, duck and cover...etc) are free but the town would have to pay 16¢ per phone number dialed to broadcast a non-emergency message (ie. don't take any wooden nickels). Councilperson Barbara Stanton inquired regarding the possibility of using the service to broadcast school closing information as the current chain calling system has broken links do to a lack of volunteers. The mayor suggested that the school should contact the county directly from more information. [ Consistent with the council's hear, speak, and THINK no value in exploiting the efficiencies of modern technology there was no mention of using the I-n-t-e-r-n-e-t as a mechanism for efficient information distribution.]

There was some discussion regarding the suggestion that the town reinstitute a bidding system for the recycling contract. Currently the town pays the county to pick up recyclables and there seems to be the general perception that we're paying too much for too little service.

A council member made some vague reference to some problem regarding snow removal. No details provided.

There was some mention of some negotiations with the high-school regarding "resource officers". ???

The issue of parking on Wilson and Gunther streets during meetings of the senior citizens group was again referenced after being off the radar for a couple of months. Measurements have been made and the streets are more than physically wide enough to accommodate parking on both of the sides of the street. Apparently a past problem regarding a concern that emergency vehicles would not be able to access the roads if parking were allowed on both sides of the street-- was more a matter of perception than reality. It seems likely a new ordinance will be passed re-allowing both-side of the street parking.... maybe with some provision that car's parked more than 4 ft. from the curb will be impounded until the driver can prove they can operate their vehicle without being a public menace.

Apparently, now that the Shared Services Committee has accomplish their mission to avert even any public discussion of the possibility of merging the police forces- interest in serving on the committee has dissolved... Apparently the Hir Fuehrer of the committee, and others, feel they have accomplished their "public service" to subvert the Constitution and are too busy working on other unAmerican plots to be bothered trying to maintain the pretense that the Shared Services Committee was anything but a sham created to hide the truth that the police union actually owns this towns government.

The mayor made mention of some problem relaied to him regarding a blind couple and the problem of their guide dog leading them onto the road because sidewalks are impassable due to snow. The mayor explained that sidewalk shoveling ordnances were abolished because of poor compliance. There was the suggestion that the "mash" van that is used to assists seniors could be made available to help out in this circumstance. [ It is a pretty sad commentary regarding the character of this town that this problem couldn't be fixed without action of the town council]

Members of the council have been invited to serve as dignitaries at some sort of retarded buffoon redneck festival... I think it was called something like the county St. Patrick's Day Parade... don't forget your smoke bombs.

After an executive session break, the council return to open session already engaged in discussion regarding participation in the state affordable housing program. Apparently the town receives grant money based on some equation that considers such things as employment created. The town also contributes money to a fund based on a tax assessment on new construction. The town has the broad requirement to use the money to provide low-income housing-- it can either subsidize rents or it can buy a house and resell it to a qualified applicant.. At one point in the discussion the mayor referenced that council members should be on the lookout for homes that have fallen into disrepair and are in need of rehabilitation. The hard-to-hate Councilman Haverkost joked "like Gary Moshers Place"-- the joke was received with a few seconds of dead silence... but I laughed.
sound clip : gm0502.wav 150k

permanent link: Feb 7 meeting, InMendhm 2/07/05

Feb 7 meeting, InMendhm 2/07/05
Jan 17 meeting, InMendhm 1/17/05
Rome is Burning
Dec.20 meeting, InMendhm 12/20/04
Dec. 6 meeting, InMendhm 12/06/04
Nov. 15 meeting, InMendhm 11/15/04
Nov. 1st meeting, InMendhm 11/1/04
Oct. 18th meeting, InMendhm 10/18/04
Oct. 4th meeting, InMendhm 10/4/04
Sept 20th meeting, InMendhm 9/20/04
Sept 7th meeting, InMendhm 9/7/04
August 16TH meeting, InMendhm 8/16/04
August 2ed meeting, InMendhm 8/02/04
...Millions On A Book Museum
...July 19th meeting, InMendhm 7/19/04
...9 on the maximum possible disaster scale
Sharing Isn't A Sin, InMendhm 7/6/04
...Apparently the plan is to soak 'big contributors" 6/21/04
...the Borough administrator mentioned a videotape 6/7/04
...I'm fighting an impulse to do some "bird flipping"
...you think maybe it is "posterous"
...The May 17th meeting
...willing to wager a few toes and a finger or two
...the May 3rd meeting
... It's still too big and ugly
...have to live in a free country to do that
...Summation of the April 19th town council meeting
...April 5th town council meeting
...Just a couple of last-minute
...March 15th meeting
...I would sue these jerks... if I wasn't already
...those of us who survive will live like giant cockroaches
...March 1st town council meeting
...February 17th town council meeting
...my constitutional right to get electrocuted
...this Mendham-Gate iceberg
...the duplicity of both town governments
...national beat up on town administrators month
...the harsh physics of bureaucrat/porkie aerodynamics
...dysfunctional local manifestation of tyrannical Government
...this sites dismal search engine profile
...It's too bad this isn't the 21st century
...we surely do deserve to go directly to Hell
Summation of the December 15th meeting
... just put on a long brown coat, and a set of antlers
.... we won't have any more of those ex-homicidal maniacs volunteering
December 1st & November 17th meeting
...complaint with the United States Department of Justice
...the maniacally evil Borough Council
...a discredit to the community
Summary of the October 20th & November 3rd meeting
...the town is guilty of in practical fact stealing
...October 6th meeting of the Mendham Borough Town Council
...It was all black with a yellow band right behind its head
...The borough administrator is, in a word, "crazy"
September 15th meeting of the Town Council
...Teach Audi of Mendham a Little Respect.
...leave [or elect] weasels to watch the worm cans
...a-$0.50 smoke bomb-molehill
..August 18th meeting
...maybe it was just "bucket lag"
...Borough has gotten pretty thoroughly soaked
...a willingness to risk being arrested as a suspected terrorist
...some interesting general information and the bonus of
...the business of yard stinkification
...the "S.S . Zappum", a vessel of no doubt historic adventure
... treat them like dirt, and
... a quality of ugly perfection
... dysfunction is, in fact, by deliberate design