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C'mon let's write some better laws!
Mendham:
Town Stuff:
C'mon let's write some better laws!
     By 06. 06. on Saturday, December 30, 2006 - 10:22 pm: |
The mayor and town council have the free ability to put referendums or initiatives on election ballots. Unfortunately, they rarely exercise this authority...Why? ... Plane corrupt Fear of public interest and scrutiny?
Unlike like petitions, and media gauges of public opinion, ballot questions (fairly phrased) are the only practically reliable way to measure popular (voter) opinion.... and someone (I guess that would have to be me) should challenge the council to permit public participation, through referendum, in the making of significant public policy decisions.
InMendham.com Propositions:
InMendham.com Proposition #1:
The Borough and Township of Mendham were split into two separate towns over 100 years ago--over a now long irrelevant dispute. There is logical, and statistical, reason to believe that greater efficiencies in the provision of services can be achieved through reconstitution, or consolidation, of the town governments. Would it be your command, that your local government officials thoroughly analyze, publicly debate, and fairly consider such a consolidation. [YES] [NO]- comment
InMendham.com Proposition #2:
Residents of Mendham Borough are carrying some $20 million in public debt (inclusive of the Borough portion of the $40 million debt carried by the regional high school). The interest that must be paid on this debt approaches $1 million annually, which approaches one quarter of the municipal budget (excluding school funding). Clearly this is substantial lost revenue, and the unpaid principal presents a future risk to the economic welfare of the community, especially if there is a downturn in the national economy. WOULD it be your command, that your local government officials thoroughly analyze, publicly debate, and fairly consider making budgetary allocation for the reasonably expedient "paying down" of local government debt.
[YES] [NO] - comment
InMendham.com Proposition #3:
Providing for an open, publicly accessible government, was the cornerstone of our forefathers vision of a "we the people" democracy. Although state and federal legislation has been passed with the stated intent to make public information more accessible, many public interest, and public access, advocates believe the laws are poorly written, poorly enforced, and too easily subverted by corrupt purpose. WOULD it be your command, that your local government officials thoroughly analyze, publicly debate, and fairly consider passing a local ordinance providing for more liberal, "free" access to public interest information held by government, to provide "we the people" the government accountability necessary to prevent acts of corrupt purpose.
[YES] [NO] - comment
InMendham.com Proposition #4:
Deer overpopulation represents a substantial health threat and imposes substantial economic costs. Local governments have loosely united, with state cooperation, to deal with the problem through facilitating and subsidizing recreational hunting (specifically bowhunting). There's no evidence that this approach has led to any significant reduction in overall deer population, and some argue it is therefore a pointless cruelty. Would it be your command, that your local government officials thoroughly analyze, publicly debate, and fairly consider working with other regional municipalities, and the state government, to find, and implement, a more immediate, effective, humane, and sustainable/permanent solution to the problem.[YES] [NO] - comment
InMendham.com Proposition #5:
The provision of a public education through high-school accounts for more than 70 percent of your property tax burden. Considering the substantial expense, and the unexploited efficiencies of technology. Would it be your command, that your local government officials thoroughly analyze, publicly debate, and fairly consider, using its authority to move the education bureaucracy into the 21st century, by encouraging greater exploitation of the potential of video [cable] and Internet Technology as an educational tool [YES] [NO] - comment
InMendham.com Proposition #6:
For years the governments of Mendham Borough and Mendham Township, have been working towards the creation of a merged Library of the Mendhams. Although it is expected that there will be substantial private contribution to the costs of construction and operation, it is proposed that some $3 million of public resources will offset construction costs, and an annual increase of some $250,000 (in excess of the public funds now supporting the individual libraries) is to be provided for annual operational costs. It should also be noted that there are some issues of controversy regarding the proposed location of the library, and the implications of development incentives exchanged to procure property for the library. WOULD it be your command, that your local government officials thoroughly analyze, publicly debate, and fairly consider discontinuing any further investment in this planned EXPANSION of the public's responsibility to subsidize public library services. [YES] [NO] - comment |
| By 07. 157... on Saturday, June 21, 2008 - 7:02 pm: |
| one day when I was walking past the Santa Monica public library which has big floor length windows I noticed a lot of homeless, disheveled, and sickly looking mostly bearded men sitting on the chairs and tables mostly sleeping and looking frazzled. Seriously, a good fifeteen. So just thinking ahead, isn't it just better to have little local librarys in some makeshift space with volunteers running them for a tiny budget. They could buy in bulk certain materials and collections, but then build out what the locals want, donations encouraged. Brookside had a great one going on for a time that wasn't crowded, the ladies manning it were friendly, and there were a lot of interesting donated books reflecting the local culture which means books from Audobon to civil engineering to english literature to biology. Lots of paperbacks too for anyone to borrow and read. Even dime store stuff. I say keep the librarys under local control on shoe string budgets and make them fun to volunteer in. That is community. |
| By 07. 1... on Friday, November 27, 2009 - 8:58 pm: |
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