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Dave
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 5, 2001 - 9:50 am: |     |
(thanks to Joancrystal for the question)
Apart from real property tax reform, what do you see as the three major issues presently affecting the township? What programs would you suggest to address them? |
Admin
| | Posted on Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 7:03 am: | |
DAVID HUEMER:
Three of Maplewood's challenges are:
1) How to increase the commercial/industrial tax base to relieve the residential tax burden.
We should make it easier for the hundreds of local, home based business owners to grow their businesses in Maplewood. We could create a database to match these companies with available resources and use it to attract new businesses to our existing commercial and industrial buildings. I support the newly revamped Economic Development Advisory Committee and would give them the agenda item to focus efforts on business development. I support the recently created Special Improvement District (SID) on Springfield Avenue.
2) How to keep long-time Maplewood residents in Maplewood
One problem faced by many of our seniors is the lack of affordable housing. Maplewood should be a viable lifelong community. Our senior residents, who make up about 14% of our population, should not have to leave the town they love when they're ready to leave the home they raised their families in. There are long waiting lists at all affordable senior housing sites in Maplewood. Our current Master Plan is seventeen years old and needs revising. Any such revision should include affordable housing for seniors.
3) How to improve the lives of our youth
Over a quarter of our population is under the age of eighteen. Maplewood has 7100 children under the age of 18, roughly 1700 more than it did ten years ago. Facilities and staff to provide or expand recreational opportunities to meet the needs of increased number of children have not kept pace with the increased population. Since these programs can easily pay for themselves, they will not increase our tax burden. |
Admin
| | Posted on Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 7:06 am: | |
SCOTT KISCH:
a. Economic Development/Springfield Ave: Maplewood will never attract major, major commercial ratables. There is only so much space and/or opportunities to demolish/remediate old industrial sites. But I believe we can do enough to help hold the line on our dependence on personal property taxes. For the abandoned sites, particularly in the Burnet/Newark Way corridor, I would prefer one of three things; clean commercial business, recreational/youth facilities or open space.
b. Openness in Government: I would relate this to the later question about "diversity of opinion" on the township committee. I would move to bring in an outside review of our budget and management practices. It could be a state agency review, or a private consultant. Private consultant does not only imply individual, but could be a group of the scale of an Arthur Andersen-type group that has an expertise in municipal management. I would also propose that the TC publish agenda items for the closed-door executive session that takes place before the actual TC meeting.
c. Open & Inclusive Community: I am proud of the way Maplewood has evolved since I was born here in 1965. I would support measures not only to preserve our reputation as an open community, but measures to enhance it as well. I made a specific proposal to the Community Coalition a few weeks ago that would give us a baseline as to how we're doing and what we could do better. (By the way, I support providing public funding to the Coalition). I would enlist the Coalition to prepare an "Annual Report on the Health and Social Well-Being of the Community." Or something like that. This would cover -- and track -- neighborhood-by-neighborhood issues, the overall spirit of the community (a survey?), issues involving bias crimes, GLBT rights, real estate discrimination, child welfare, environmental, police-community relations and other items that reflect who we are as a community. I could imagine that the reval, and its effect on the community, would become part of this yearâs edition. |
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