| Author |
Message |
    
Dave
| | Posted on Thursday, May 9, 2002 - 9:03 am: |     |
From WJCavin: "Do any of the candidates support letting certain items go to referendum for the township to vote on? For example, the budget. " |
Artchristensen
| | Posted on Saturday, May 11, 2002 - 3:11 pm: | |
Yes. Why not? |
Fredprofeta
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 - 4:12 pm: | |
Do any of the candidates support letting certain items go to referendum for the township to vote on? For example, the budget.
I assume that his question concerns the municipal budget, as a public referendum in Maplewood/South Orange on the school budget is prohibited by state law.
There would be no need for this question if the effective role of the Citizens' Budget Advisory Committee had not been extinguished. For at least 20 years prior to 1993 (or thereabouts), the CBAC started the budget process. In the fall, CBAC members would interview Maplewood's department heads and assess the importance of their monetary requests in light of available financial resources. The CBAC's recommendations were then passed on to the Township Committee, which only thereafter undertook to draft a budget. The CBAC then commented on the draft.
Within the last 10 years, the role of the CBAC was progressively diminished. It was asked to report only after the Township Committee had drafted a budget. This inhibited CBAC interest, and membership significantly declined. However, in 2001, the CBAC was fairly critical of the budget, finding fault, for example with the lack of grant writing resources and with excessive bonding. The suggestions of the CBAC were not implemented by the Township Committee, and in 2002 the CBAC was told not to report at all - this after the subcommittee heads had done considerable work.
Public referenda can be very useful when specific, well-defined issues are presented. I have less faith in referenda when the "issue" is as complex and multi-faceted as a municipal budget. Most residents would not have the time to become sufficiently informed on the details of line items, and my concern is that they would tend to rubber-stamp the proposals of the Township Committee. This could provide a mandate to elected officials, which they would not deserve. On the other hand, if a hostile public rejected an entire budget as an act of protest, essential services could be dangerously compromised.
I favor referenda on discrete issues and, most importantly, want to bring about a restoration of the influence of the CBAC. |
Iangrodman
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 12:25 pm: | |
Do any of the candidates support letting certain items go to referendum for the township to vote on? For example, the budget.
Certain issues should be decided by public referendum, but I do not believe that the budget is one of them. (We cannot, pursuant to state law, vote on the school budget, as funding for our schools comes from the residents of two separate towns. We are, accordingly, required to have a Board of School Estimate). If the Citizens' Budget Advisory Committee were utilized in the manner that it was intended, citizens would have direct and substantial input into budgeting decisions. Unfortunately, their role has been greatly diminished in recent years. (This year, the township committee passed the budget before some of the subcommittees of the CBAC had received all of the documentation necessary to make recommendations and decisions).
I believe that major policy initiatives, large capital outlays, and significant bonding initiatives could be put to public referendums. |
|