| Author | Message | ||
     Larry David Citizen Username: Larry_david Post Number: 23 Registered: 4-2005 |
Alan, is it true your house is for sale? Are you trying to ruin the Village before you leave? Can you please explain how you could ignore a trustee who has been on the board with you for 6 years? It's obvious you were not a supporter of Trustee Devaris. Here we have an outstanding architect yet you didn't put him on the planning and zoning committee. What did Stacey and Terriann promise you for their appointments? Can you tell us, when you and Bill met and planned the new assignments? Is that legal? Can you please tell me how you could recommend Art Taylor acting Village President when he can't get to a meeting on time and when he is there he's snoring? I and I'm sure a lot of other South Orange residents (let's hope it's the majority) don't want to see you run again. | ||
| Eliot Spitzer Supporter Username: Doublea Post Number: 1103 Registered: 3-2003 |
I was sorry to see him run last time. | ||
| MHD Citizen Username: Mayhewdrive Post Number: 2459 Registered: 5-2001  |
Art Taylor as "Acting Village President"???? God help us all. Sounds like a slap in the face to Mark Rosner & his seniority on the BOT (after Rosen) | ||
| Dave Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 6402 Registered: 4-1997  |
I think Alan Rosen is a dedicated trustee and that the question asked here is beneath the real Larry David, so I will answer for Trustee Rosen: "What the freak is wrong with you?!” | ||
| SoOrLady Citizen Username: Soorlady Post Number: 2160 Registered: 9-2003 |
Sounds to me like Mark is being punished for going "outside the party line" and publicly supporting Jeff. | ||
| singlemalt Supporter Username: Singlemalt Post Number: 1009 Registered: 12-2001  |
No - I think it has more to do with voting against the Gross contract. | ||
| susan1014 Supporter Username: Susan1014 Post Number: 617 Registered: 3-2002 |
Both of the above, plus the possibility that he might be convinced to run for village president next time around. That's my guess. | ||
| Sheena Collum SHU Citizen Username: Sheena_collum Post Number: 97 Registered: 4-2005  |
Okay some of these comments really weren't all that necessary. So my question to Trustee Rosen (who I happen to like) is as follows: With whom did you meet with? When did your meeting take place? Who did you contact to finalize your recommendations? What was your basis for judgement for your rec.? Is it true that some assignments were discussed with some trustees and not others. How, in your opinion, can this be fixed? | ||
| bets Supporter Username: Bets Post Number: 1487 Registered: 6-2001  |
Dave, to be fair to Deidre's and Terriann's unusually spelled names and my lifelong dedication to getting it right, it's A-l-l-a-n Rosen (two "l"s). And he clearly aligned himself solidly with Bill's Vision tonight. | ||
| bets Supporter Username: Bets Post Number: 1488 Registered: 6-2001 |
See, Sheena? We're already past the O. Gross contract and outraged at the committee appointments. Let's not forget those issues ALREADY facing the village that were publicly addressed by the newly elected trustees during the campaign. Not to say we shouldn't ensure fair and equitable committee assignments and all, but we should be asking our newly composed representatives what their plans are regarding the issues raised during the election. Good to see you, Brian, and Kristen* tonight. Let's get together soon. Bets * Edited to correct name - Sorry  | ||
| Sheena Collum SHU Citizen Username: Sheena_collum Post Number: 98 Registered: 4-2005 |
Bets you rock my socks! We def. need to get together! But I'm officially on record as saying "I agree with the Gross contract". Could have been brought about in a different manner. But it serves a greater good of S.O. to have him as our admin. and I've learned to respect him more. I've been pretty critical of him for quite some time and I'm not even cutting him slack. When it comes down to it, he's done his job & beyond and he's saving taxpayers a lot of money by taking on the CHALLENGE of holding all positions... So that's my formulated opinion. I try and be fair and balanced (fox news, eh? oh kidding...) | ||
| bets Supporter Username: Bets Post Number: 1490 Registered: 6-2001 |
As admin, sure. Not Treasurer or Chief Financial Officer. The resolution passed moving 80 percent of his salary to his "CFO/Treasurer/whatever!" hat is a travesty that is only made worse by the rumor of his impending marriage to a recent, former trustee*. Sorry, need new blood. Someone who can do the job without a lifetime guarantee of health benefits (which O. Gross already holds and which cannot be redressed), a gas-guzzliing emissions farting SUV paid for in total by the Village, and paid stipends for the other positions. As I stated here (http://www.southorangevillage.com/cgi-bin/show.cgi?tpc=66989&post=384037#POST384 037), this conflict has progressed too long and Mr. John O. Gross should fulfill the remainder of his 5-year contract as VILLAGE ADMINISTRATOR, not Treasurer. It's well documented in the archives if you care to search under various permutations of the job descriptions and constrict it to SOS:MOL. *When there is smoke, Sheena, there is fire. The appearance of conflict should be enough to ask John O. Gross to seek employment elsewhere. If he is so darn qualified, it shouldn't be a problem, correct? | ||
| Sheena Collum SHU Citizen Username: Sheena_collum Post Number: 100 Registered: 4-2005 |
Aww Bets, hate being on the other side of the fence but we can "agree to disagree" while still having respect for each other's opinion... Unless there has been a gross violation of misconduct (no pun intended) which no one has proved, I'm willing to go with the possible conflict because anything and everything can be a "conflict of interest" if you want it to be. Bottom line - still no one can prove that John himself has done something or has had skewed judgement with an issue that would need to separate all three positions, anyone care to prove me wrong? *When there is smoke, Bets, there won't be a fire if people don't throw some gas on it. He is darn qualified and I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem for him to go anywhere in Jersey. However - what good is that for S.O.? (Bets - respond in the JG thread if you see fit... we got off topic, lol) Later chica | ||
| bets Supporter Username: Bets Post Number: 1492 Registered: 6-2001 |
<threaddrift> continuance: The JG thread will be archived soon in the Election Specific topic. I wonder whether you seriously reviewed and considered the past South Orange Specific archives from the '03 and '01 elections, as well as the summer '03 discussion regarding JOG's 5-year contract with incentives galore. If nothing else, John O. Gross is a stopgap in the administration of this village. If you notice, he is listed as the contact for virtually (no pun intended) every village department. If you carefully review the archives and refer (link) to specific discussions (same ol' usernames in all of them!), I would love to hear your well-written, always pragmatic reasoning. If necessary, I will forward private-lines from those eras to you with your explicit agreement to full confidentiality of said PLs. I've been here a long time. I missed the first 10 years of Calabrese's vision, but I've seen the damage done and been personal witness to the past 8 years. It's not pretty. </threaddrift> And wow, what a thread drift! Perhaps someone can open a topic on this if they feel further discussion is warranted. | ||
| User58 Citizen Username: User58 Post Number: 171 Registered: 8-2004 |
Mark Rosner for president in 2007. It is time to start getting serious about this situation. Unless you want Rosen or taylor to become president in 07 I strongly suggest everyone in support of Mr. Rosner start to talk him up. Mr Pogany you make a great pizza but please your voter turn out says it all. I ask you also to support Mark Rosner in 07! Last night meeting was a joke! Two years will come sooner than you think and it is now time to start the campaign to replace- Taylor, Rosen and Calabrese! | ||
| Two Sense Citizen Username: Twosense Post Number: 135 Registered: 7-2004 |
Alternate theory of what's really happening here: Only trustees and politicos with double consonants are favored by the machine. IN FAVOR: biLL calabrese aLLan rosen stacey jeNNings teRRiaNN mOOre-abrams john groSS ed maTThews dave breSSon OUT OF FAVOR: mark rosner eric devaris art taylor (just doesn't know it yet) | ||
| Allan J Rosen Citizen Username: Allanrosen Post Number: 164 Registered: 4-2003 |
Sheena: The best way to handle committee assignments, in my opinion, is for the entire Board to sit down and indicate what their preferences are, stir it all together, and come out with some kind of collective solution. This is time-consuming,and might make for a bit of a mud-wrestling contest, but at least it would guarantee that everyone would be heard. Not everyone can be satisfied, but it would be a better way to proceed. Ideally this meeting should take place before the reorganization meeting. And I feel it should take place publically. For example, it was apparent last night that three of the Trustees, Mark, Eric, and Stacey, would have been interested in chairing the Planning and Zoning Committee. Appointments are not necessarily immutable. There are plenty of precedents where Trustees have changed committee assignments and even Chairmanships in the middle of a year. Also one should remember that committees only make recommendations. The entire Board collectiely makes decisions, and all Trustees can affect the outcome of those decisions regardless of what committees they sit on. Bill called me, told me what his recommendations for committee assignments would be, and asked me to make recommendations on the other liaisonships. That is what I did. I made recommendations, not final decisions. The recommendations were based on traditional relationships(eg., Recreation Board liaisons coming from the Recreation Committee, CBAC from Finance, Legal related positions from Legal). I also attempted to make sure that Eric would have a reasonable number of assignments. All these recommendations were up for discussion. So were Bill's recommendations for committee dhairs and composition. Clearly he did not please everyone. As many people know it would have been my preference to continue to chair Public Safety. but I also know that noone on the Board now has the experience and knowledge that I have on the Budget. This is a somewhat thankless position since I am a fiscal conservative and do not feel comfortable with the somewhat frr-spending tendencies of the Board-as-a-whole. Larry David: Yes, it is true that home is for sale. I intend to stay in South Orange, and it is somewhat impractical to live in a 5-bedroom house all by myself. As I indicated above the Committee recommendations were made by Bill and not by me. I will be happy to answer any legitimate questions you may have. | ||
| Allan J Rosen Citizen Username: Allanrosen Post Number: 165 Registered: 4-2003 |
Larry David: Forgot to answer. It was also Bill, not I, who proposed Art as Acting President. Arthur replaces me. And in the school of when-did-you-stop- beatin-your-wife, Arthur is a dedicated, intelligent, and articulate Trustee who contibutes a hell of a lot to the Board. I supported Bill's recommendation which was up for discussion before the whole Board, who,I believe, all supported it. | ||
| Daniel I. Goldberg Citizen Username: Dig Post Number: 111 Registered: 8-2004 |
Allan: You are a longtime Trustee, with years of valuable experience and insight. If the best way to make committee assignments involves discussion and public input, then why didn't you tell Bill that? This is the political gamesmanship that we are tired of. It just drives me crazy that this continues to take place in the public eye, without any sense of wrongdoing. Additionally, you state that Bill offered recommendations, and that you then made recommendations. Were they a mirror of one another? Unfortunately, it certainly sounds like they were. Regardless of where our Trustees stand on issues, we want them to be free-thinkers. We don't want them to rubber-stamp that which is offered by up by Bill or Art, or anybody else. Even if we sometimes disagree with our Trustees, we value their opinions, and would far rather see them independently arrive at the same decision as that offered by Bill or Art, or anybody else, than simply following them on such matters. | ||
| MHD Citizen Username: Mayhewdrive Post Number: 2460 Registered: 5-2001 |
Allan, Are you suggesting Mark is not dedicated, educated and articulate? Doesn't seniority count for anything? |
