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1. Balance in Government. The
current 4-1 breakdown between the Republicans and Democrats prohibits
the discussion, of important issues in public. Decisions to bond for
large-scale projects or land purchases require 4 votes to adopt. It
gives the majority the ability to pass ordinances and introduce
resolutions with little to no discussion. It prohibits the minority
party from having a real seat at the table to reduce the likelihood of
biased decision-making that benefits the party and not the people.
Keeping balance between political parties is something that resonates
with voters and should be emphasized.
2. Sewerage
Authority.
Committeeman Byrnes introduced an ordinance to eliminate salaries and
health benefits for the Sewerage Authority. The Republicans
initially blocked this effort citing legal concerns, and then
introduced their own ordinance that effectively does the same
things. The Democratic Party needs to remind voters that the
7
Commissioners who received these benefits are die-hard Republicans with
impeccable Republican credentials in this Town. The Township
spent over $100,000 per year to provide these “party perks”
to these individuals. The Democrats led the charge to stop
this
practice. There are newspapers articles that will confirm
that we
initiated these changes.
3.
Project Mismanagement.
a. Art Center.
The Republican-controlled Committee voter for and oversaw the
construction of this facility that now runs at a deficit every year of
$300,000 before counting the bonding debt. It was constructed
with no business plan and was built on contaminated property.
The
Democrats discovered the contamination and made it public.
Through our efforts, the Engineer was forced to go and obtain a Letter
of No Further Action from the DEP years after this problem should have
been discovered.
b. Shadow Lake.
The Republicans rushed a vote on this dredging project to curry favor
with the Shadow Lake vote. With an estimated price tag of near $4.0M,
the Republican approved the bonding for this project over the objection
of Patrick Short, the lone Democrat on the Committee at the
time.
We now know that the plans for the project were done poorly.
The
dredging spoils at the bottom of the Lake contain arsenic.
Nevertheless, our Township Engineers proposed creating a massive pile
of arsenic-laden material on open space land located at the Stevenson
Park. Not surprisingly, the DEP refused to approve this plan
and
the Township must now contemplate spending millions more to truck these
materials out of the site.
4. Open
Government.
The Democrats co-sponsored in 2008 a resolution aimed at improving the
transparency of our government and its operations. Despite a
chilly response from the Republicans who threw up barriers to the idea
of posting all resolutions and ordinances on the Township’s
website prior to meetings, the Democrats persisted and obtained
unanimous approval for the resolution. The Democrats also
voted
against an ordinance introduced by the Mayor to place restrictions on
videotaping at Township meetings. Although only one or two
residents have ever appeared at meetings to videotape, this resolution
was aimed at making government more opaque, rather than
transparent.
5.
Problem Solvers Not Politicians. The Democrats
are problem solvers not politicians. We have focused on how
to improve government. We have created a Strategic Planning
Committee to create a Strategic Plan for this large Township.
We have initiated the effort to create an Implementation Committee for
the recently completed Recreation Master Plan. We have twice
proposed the creation of a Finance Committee, which most municipalities
rely upon, but the Republicans have consistently thwarted this
effort. We have made line item recommendations to reduce
spending and have consistently called for the budget process to start
in July, rather than in January when the appropriated funds start to be
spent. These are practical, common sense measures that needed
to be done. Unfortunately, such efforts move power away from
the Republican Party and into the hands of the elected officials and
the citizens. More important, through the use of committees,
the work of the Township Committee is augmented and the Township
Committee’s ability to focus on specific issues accentuated.
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