| Author |
Message |
    
User58
Citizen
Username: User58
Post Number: 226
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2005 - 3:32 pm: | 
|
I wish I had that house I personally do not know anyone who pays that amount. |
User58
Citizen
Username: User58
Post Number: 227
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2005 - 3:37 pm: |
|
holy smoke sheena you opened up a big one here!!!
If Seton Hall had to pay takes I think it would be roughly 1.5 million to 2 million per year. Hopefully the msgr. does not get wind of what you started here.
|
Sheena Collum SHU
Citizen
Username: Sheena_collum
Post Number: 130
Registered: 4-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2005 - 3:43 pm: |
|
Okay, some of you misconstrued my statements. I was simply saying that community members should get involved with crime prevention by being on the lookout for suspicious behavior... Yes property taxes are high but unless you want them higher, there's only so much SOPD can do...
User- you make it sound like I asked you to police yourself. All I brought up was supplemental things citizens can do to lower the crime rate.
e-roberts - sorry you feel all students do is get drunk... SHU has PILOTS on all off campus property they own but this issue has already been discussed on another thread.
taylor M - what makes you think that hasn't already been brought up from students? Don't make assumptions because I agree with you... |
User58
Citizen
Username: User58
Post Number: 228
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2005 - 4:18 pm: |
|
So now you are an authority on our taxes and on the police and their abilities. So unless we want them higher we better be on the lookout for crime that is the solution to keeping taxes where they are? |
Sheena Collum SHU
Citizen
Username: Sheena_collum
Post Number: 131
Registered: 4-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2005 - 4:27 pm: |
|
User,
Quite frankly, I think you're trying to pick a fight and I'm not sure why...
Let me reiterate again - I understand that the taxes in S.O. are very high and there are a lot of competing interests. SOPD has been fantastic but there are limits on any type of people power (that really can't be refuted). I would think, that if everyone wanted a bigger police force - it would have to come from taxes which I'm sure no one wants to increase. My only suggestion was that there are other programs that have been successful in other communities that have helped deter crime such as the neighborhood watch. It makes for a more united community against people who choose to violate the citizens in S.O. I'm not sure why people are taking that as an attack and I apologize if anyone took that the wrong way...
|
User58
Citizen
Username: User58
Post Number: 229
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2005 - 4:51 pm: |
|
I am not trying to pick a fight. But you make statements that I can not fugure out if you are making based on facts. LIKE-
Yes property taxes are high but unless you want them higher, there's only so much SOPD can do...
which says to me that unless I want crime I must pay more taxes to increase the police dept.
|
Dave
Supporter
Username: Dave
Post Number: 6555
Registered: 4-1997
| | Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2005 - 5:02 pm: |
|
What it should say to you is that with limited resources, you can choose to be a part of the solution that keeps taxes stable and neighborhoods safe.
|
Two Sense
Citizen
Username: Twosense
Post Number: 178
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2005 - 5:04 pm: |
|
There are 796K people in Essex County, 589K of which are adults and, based on 2001 national surveys, 24.5% of which are Catholic (although probably higher in Essex County). Why not simply have the Archdiocese ask each of the 144K members of its parishes in this county to kick-in a measely $1/year (less than 2 cents a week) to pay for two additional S.O. police officers on behalf of its flagship university?
Everyone would be happy and it may even result in saving lives in South Orange. |
mjc
Citizen
Username: Mjc
Post Number: 619
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2005 - 5:08 pm: |
|
thanks Dave |
Sheena Collum SHU
Citizen
Username: Sheena_collum
Post Number: 132
Registered: 4-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2005 - 5:25 pm: |
|
Thanks Dave! I guess I'm too verbose for my own good...  |
Old and Gray
Citizen
Username: Pastmyprime
Post Number: 112
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2005 - 5:56 pm: |
|
neighborhood watch in South Orange:
Watching your car get stolen and then calling the police two hours later.
This is an argument that has a lot of different issues.
I would love to see more cops hired, but I cannot imagine us getting more then a few guys or gals hired due to tax issues.
What about shifting manpower or adjusting schedules? Many towns work 12 hour shifts now...Allowing for more officers assigned to the 2 shifts as opposed to the 3 shifts common to an 8 hour work day. Only issue here is there is built in OT or hour adjustments needed to keep the hours the officers work at the same level as whatever they work now.
My beef with poeple in this town is you cannot attack the police for doing their jobs. If they are on Valley street stopping motorists for click it or ticket campaign you should be happy that our police actually take motorist safety serious and get involved in other things then just driving around and responding to calls. How many times have you been down town in Newark and watch little kids bounce around the back seat or sitting up front with mom. It is a testement to our police that they still consider quality of life and traffic safety issues a priority(somewhat).
You cannot attack the police for sitting in lots...they are out in the public and you don't know why they are there. They could be directed to be there for crime deterence, they could be doing paperwork, they(if more then two) could be meeting to share information or discuss work too. Like one officer I spoke with one night while outside the train station said, "At this hour I'm just hopping everyone gets off the train and to their car safely."
The police officers office is the township, and if they are out in public view thats a good thing. Would you rather them run inside their building to do paperwork or to meet to discuss their job? I would rather they stay out in the field and within eye shot of criminals and citizens.
Walking posts would be nice to see, but they waste manpower, and who's going to pay for it. Maybe the bars need to pay for walking posts down town on big bar nights Thursday through Saturday. Maybe we could try to locate more grant money for specific assignments like the click it or ticket, dwi patrols, walking posts, like Ace said. Maybe NJ transit Police can do more to police Sloan Street and their station and its common crime laden lot now that South Orange is a eastern hub for suburban Midtown direct trains?
SHU needs to ante up as well. I am sick of hearing how they do so much for this town and South Orange would crumble without the students.
Anyone know how much SHU gives to the city of Newark?...maybe we need to borrow Sharpe James for a day to shake down the University for a few handouts. If SHU wants police to respond to its campus, maybe they can pay to have an officer on campus during daytime and evening hours, to maintain our officers within the Village? You cannot boost about how large and how populated the campus is and then not consider the public safety issues that can cause.
I think the town needs to accept some blame by allowing development of property and new residences without accounting for the public safety issue that more residences, more commuters, and more students plays on our police and fire departments. Hiring an extra cop every couple of years would have seen the tax increases moderate? Now we scream hire 10 cops...and we all know thats not feasable and isn't the answer.
You have to play with what you have. Creative budgeting is important. Maybe SHU can assist the town with searching out and applying for grants? |
SO Refugee
Citizen
Username: So_refugee
Post Number: 434
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2005 - 9:02 pm: |
|
The development of new property/new residences should have added funds to the village coffers; therefore, officers could/should have been added without increasing taxes on existing property.
Maybe we can have officers patrolling the downtown area on Segways so that they can cover more area, more often...the benefits of a foot patrol without all of its limitations.
I assume everyone with a gripe will attend the next BOT meeting to air their complaints. |
Ace789nj
Citizen
Username: Ace789nj
Post Number: 45
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2005 - 11:29 pm: |
|
Very well said O & G !! |
Daniel I. Goldberg
Citizen
Username: Dig
Post Number: 123
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Friday, June 3, 2005 - 12:22 am: |
|
I agree that SHU needs to play a role in paying for the services it receives both directly and indirectly from the Town, but the attacks on Sheena are unjustified. Regardless of whether SHU steps up to the plate, her suggestion was excellent. A community watch program could not only help with crime prevention, but also build a stronger community.
In terms of the Police, I would like to see more of a visible presence in the Village at night that is timed to coincide with the arrival of trains at the station. On this note, am I imagining things or did somebody say that the Policy substation at the train station has been closed. If so, I think that is a mistake. |
Dave
Supporter
Username: Dave
Post Number: 6561
Registered: 4-1997
| | Posted on Friday, June 3, 2005 - 12:31 am: |
|
The establishment of the Parking Authority took some low-end tasks away from police, but also made them less visible and less likely to be out of their vehicles. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 7239
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Friday, June 3, 2005 - 8:43 am: |
|
So the two arguments are:
=-=-
1. I pay enough taxes, so I want the police to do a better job with the current budget. If they worked smarter, they could do that. In other words, work smarter, not more expensiver.
2. They are already as smart as they can be, and service can't improve without increasing the budget. Just because you don't know what they do and how they do it doesn't mean they're doing a bad job.
=-=-
Perhaps some sort of reasonable middle ground position exists. It's always possible to figure out how to do a better job, but expectations should be reasonable if resources are limited.
|
User58
Citizen
Username: User58
Post Number: 230
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Friday, June 3, 2005 - 9:31 am: |
|
or #3 we are blowing this out of proportion and the crime level in south orange is not a problem.
I for one feel the police are doing an excellent job. On the few occasions that I needed them in the past 20 years they responded quickly. |
User58
Citizen
Username: User58
Post Number: 231
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Friday, June 3, 2005 - 9:35 am: |
|
If seton hall students are being mugged and harassed on the way back to the school why dosen't seton hall hire security to patrol? What happened to the seton hall van that used to shuttle students to and from the town? |
Brett Weir
Citizen
Username: Brett_weir
Post Number: 649
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Friday, June 3, 2005 - 11:00 am: |
|
Two Sense- So crime is merely a "Catholic" problem? Since when? Seton Hall is a Catholic University, but it is also financially independent of the Archdiocese of Newark. We don't support it or benefit from it any more than the non-Catholic does (believe me, at tuition time nobody asked me if I was Catholic so I could receive my discount). I believe that SHU should devote resources to our public safety (they say that they do), but attaching a premium to every Catholic parisioner in the county is excessive and arbitrary. |
Sheena Collum SHU
Citizen
Username: Sheena_collum
Post Number: 134
Registered: 4-2005
| | Posted on Friday, June 3, 2005 - 11:34 am: |
|
User - We have Public Safety on campus 24/7. And they patrol at night but they don't patrol outside the gate. When a student is mugged, it's important to let the SOPD know because it means that individual is still in the community. |
Two Sense
Citizen
Username: Twosense
Post Number: 181
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Friday, June 3, 2005 - 11:37 am: |
|
Come on, it's only a buck a head -- one scratch off lottery ticket or less than one SB Frappacino every 4 years! More philanthropic than "excessive and arbitrary".
P.S. While maybe SHU is financially independent, it's linked in every other conceivable way. |
Neen
Citizen
Username: Neen
Post Number: 129
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Friday, June 3, 2005 - 3:09 pm: |
|
As for the parking authority, it is not clear that the administrator running the office does much of anything. |
Brett Weir
Citizen
Username: Brett_weir
Post Number: 650
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Friday, June 3, 2005 - 6:52 pm: |
|
A "buck a head" on top of the millions we already pay in property taxes, simply for being Catholic? Gee you're a real friggin' sport! |
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page