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Post Number: 70
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 - 9:40 am: |     |
ANSWERS FROM JERRY RYAN
QUESTIONS FROM RYAN/DELUCA
1. As chair of the CBAC this year, Ms. Leventhal suggested increasing police and fire staffing and police salaries while also keeping tax increases below the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Given increases in insurance and other salary costs at a rate above the CPI, what specific staffing and service cuts would you make in the municipal budget to achieve these seemingly contradictory goals?
quote:Keeping taxes and tax increases as low as possible while delivering quality municipal services is my goal, and it should be the highest priority of any elected official. It is a goal that I and the Township Committee have succeeded at, as evidenced by our town's recognition as one of the Best Places to Live in America. An important part of what makes Maplewood such an attractive place to live and raise a family is the quality of municipal services that the government provides. It is critical that the services that are an important part of the quality of life here in Maplewood are not compromised.
We should be honest with the voters. You simply cannot promise to increase the size of the police and fire departments, provide fair wages, invest in the infrastructure of our community and the facilities needed for public safety, and promise that you will also cut taxes, unless you identify specific changes to staffing and services and discuss exact dollars that will be saved by such cuts.
What you can do, and what I have done, is work to improve services, improve efficiency, and cut costs. Consider that, just in the last few years we have: consolidated the Tax Collector and Chief Financial Officer positions to eliminate headcount; saved $80k in tipping fees by incorporating suggestions from a DPW employee; added headcount to the police department through grants; and improved communications and consolidated mailing costs by producing a quarterly Township Newsletter. These are just some of the specific, tangible results that delivered improved service and improved efficiency to the Maplewood taxpayer.
2. Your literature speaks of the Springfield Avenue Development Project as being "cosmetic changes" yet the work follows the strategy of the Maplewood Economic Development Plan, prepared by a nationally respected planning and development firm. What parts of the Economic Development Plan do you disagree with and what are your alternatives?
quote:The Maplewood Economic Development Plan has been the "plan of record" for the Township's development of Springfield Avenue for several years. Abeles, Phillips, Preiss and Shapiro are a nationally recognized planning firm who brought tremendous expertise to bear, and gave the township several excellent recommendations. I concur with most of them. There are several provisions of the plan that I think are too expensive and should be rejected (for example, the notion of spending several million dollars for the burial of power and telephone lines may have an attractive result but would be entirely too expensive, in my view); however, I think it is an excellent roadmap, and I am pleased that we have been following it.
3. The CBAC recommends that the "jitney pay for itself". It also suggests "raising the cost of the combo, parking permit and/or jitney pass as well as expanding an hour in the evening will make the jitney a break-even service." Furthermore, at a public Township Committee meeting, Mr. Profeta spoke of a jitney fee that would amount to $150 per year.
quote:The Transportation Committee has recommended keeping the jitney fee at half the parking fee to encourage more ridership. Do you support the current policy of the Transportation Committee or are you in favor of the CBAC recommendation to charge higher fees for commuter parking and the jitney?
I believe that viewing the Jitney as some sort of "stand alone" service is foolish and shortsighted. The Jitney is a valuable service to the entire community, not just to the riders of the jitney. Every jitney rider does not take up a parking space at or near the train station. The jitney therefore frees up parking spaces, reduces traffic, and reduces pollution - especially when the jitney riders are aboard our Compressed Natural Gas buses.
It is important to recognize that the Jitney service is an important selling point for neighborhoods in Maplewood. The ability to reach the train station quickly and inexpensively helps to sell our community.
I disagree with Mr. Profeta's suggested change. I disagree with viewing the Jitney as a standalone service that should "pay for itself" or that should be expected to break even.
QUESTIONS FROM LEVENTHAL/PETTIS
1. You claim that the Abeles, Phillips, Preiss and Shapiro report of May 1999 is your "economic development plan." Among its recommendations is the following: "Rather than approaching specific businesses, the Township should launch and aggressively market a program that offers assistance to new businesses looking for vacant or available space in Maplewood, and offers marketing and permitting assistance. Promote the program on the World Wide Web, and through ads and press releases in New Jersey business publications. In addition, information packages should be sent out to regional commercial real estate agencies." It seems that you have disregarded the Abeles suggestion and only dealt with specific businesses, such as KFC. What have you done to aggressively market the comprehensive program recommended by Abeles Phillips?
quote:I'd first like to point out that it's not a "claim"... the Abeles, Phillips, Preiss and Shapiro report IS the Township of Maplewood's Economic Development Plan. The Township Committee and the Planning Board reviewed the plan extensively. Both the Township Committee and the Planning Board have been executing on the plan since 1999. Construction work by the township, ordinance changes by the township and the planning board, and site plan reviews by the Planning Board have all followed the Economic Development Plan.
I would also respectfully suggest that the suggestion that the Township Committee and Planning Board are "disregarding" the plan is incorrect. The Township has invested in the Springfield Avenue Partnership, the Special Improvement District that is made up of businesses on Springfield Avenue. The Partnership and the Township Committee is in fact aggressively pursuing exactly what the plan suggests. There are a number of developments at the intersection of Springfield and Prospect, the first Pedestrian Node to be developed. The first new building to be erected on Springfield Avenue in decades will begin at the corner of Springfield Avenue and Laurel Avenue. These are real tangible results of the improvements that have begun, and the progress that must continue, on Springfield Avenue.
2. To what extent do you think the rapid growth of school expenditures and therefore school taxes has crowded out municipal expenditures? Are there any municipal expenditures that you would have liked the Township to make which were not made because of tax constraints imposed by the growth in school taxes? Are you willing to suggest that the Board of School Estimate give very strong guidance to the Board of Education regarding the maximum school tax increase it would support? If so, why did Vic, as a member of the Board of School Estimate, fail to support the idea of providing the School District with budget targets for guidance in keeping property taxes within acceptable limits, especially after the idea was welcomed by District Superintendent Dr. Horoschak?
quote:I think it is true that the escalating costs of our school system have made the Township Committee even more concerned about controlling costs. Many of the suggestions that have been made by committee members have not been incorporated into the budget; the high level of school taxes has certainly been a factor in that result.
I am in favor of any reasonable and well thought out proposal to improve the budgeting process in the Municipality, the Schools, and the County.
3. Nobody can deny there are serious problems in the Maplewood police force. There has been attrition of over 40% over the past 5 years, and no promotions or meaningful recognition for the past 3 years. How did this situation come about? What can be done to rectify these problems in both the short-term and long-term so as to best ensure the safety of Maplewood and its citizens?
quote:Nobody can deny that we are in the middle of a heated contract negotiation between the Township and the Police force. The Township Committee has met with the PBA, the union representing the Maplewood Police, has discussed their concerns, and has been working to address them. The police have asked for salary increases, schedule changes, equipment upgrades, and facility improvements. The first two items are being negotiated, and myself and some of the other members of the Township Committee are pursuing the last two aggressively.
When it comes to the Police facility, it is Vic DeLuca and Jerry Ryan that have been most aggressive in pursuing and supporting improving the Police Department. Our opponents oppose the move to the Verizon site; hearkening back to an earlier question, it sounds as if they would oppose any extra expenditure to improve the police facility if it would cause any increase above the CPI.
I have always been committed to the Fire and Police Departments in the Township of Maplewood. I have always voted for additional staffing and equipment for both departments, and this past year is no exception.
I have a lot of confidence in the Maplewood Police Department and the job that they do to ensure our safety. Serious crime is down 17% this year, due great part to the work of our Police department. I am also confident that we will be able to reach a reasonable contract settlement with the PBA.
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