| Author | Message | ||
     Dave Ross Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 5866 Registered: 4-1998  |
I draw the line at the Hitler reference; if that's not a personal attack, I don't know what is. Mary's banned from MOL for a week to reflect on proper behavior on a public message board. | ||
| NCJanow(akaLibraryLady) Citizen Username: Librarylady Post Number: 1104 Registered: 5-2001 |
Dave, you are being inconsistant. The Great Strawberry posts a cartoon of our former President Bill Clinton exonerating Hilter and you give it a pass. Mary Rother mentions Hilter in relationship to the Internet's abiltiy to spread untruths and she's banned for a week. Not fair Dave, not fair. NCJ aka LibraryLady On a coffee break..or something like it. | ||
| Dave Ross Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 5871 Registered: 4-1998 |
That post was a cartoon/joke. Mary posted not only the Hitler reference but described Mr. Bell's house. It was an invitation to trouble and I deleted it. ed. to add: I'm going to commute it to a 3-day suspension as first-time offense. | ||
| hariseldon Citizen Username: Hariseldon Post Number: 146 Registered: 5-2001  |
Anyone can look in the local phone book and find Bell's address and phone number. He, himself, has clearly idenitified where he lives.. He and his committe of a few are attempted to delay and/or destroy a service that these two towns so desperately need. A "bark park" would be preferable to you with dogs running all around outside rather than a indoor facility, landscaped with the neighborhood imput? What's the real agenda here, Richard? | ||
| sbenois Citizen Username: Sbenois Post Number: 10482 Registered: 10-2001  |
Dearest Richard Bell, What you fail to appreciate is the fact that the time for "constructive ideas" is long past. I hate to break the news to you, but you are not the center of the universe when it comes to government taking action. What's your agenda Richard Bell? ---> Brought to you by Sbenois Engineering LLC <- Hey, it also wouldn’t look good coming out of a motel with your wife’s best friend saying you were just planning a surprise birthday party for her husband...- Arturo November '03 | ||
| galileo Citizen Username: Galileo Post Number: 121 Registered: 7-2001 |
Perhaps Mr. Bell is a newcomer but I also live not too far from Farrell Field. In years gone by there was an animal shelter there!! It was a really ugly building situated in about the same area as the new site. I don't remember hearing any complaints. | ||
| Dan Shelffo Citizen Username: Openspacer Post Number: 82 Registered: 6-2001 |
Richard Bell’s agenda is to protect his home and his neighborhood. I applaud his efforts. Now that Mr. Bell and his group have challenged city hall the campaign to discredit him and his group has begun. The BOT and its sycophants now say to anyone who will listen that his group is suing the town for personal gain and they are nothing but a bunch of NIMBYS. It is amazing to me how BOT members get elected on a platform of protecting neighborhoods and then marginalize people who want to protect their own as NIMBYS. Here is a quote from Bill Calabeses’ 1991 campaign : 'Whether it's on the west side of South Orange (Kernan's Quarry), the east side of the village (Seton Hall) or the central business district (the Third Street site where ShopRite supermarket wanted to build a store), only we have the record of consistently defending all the village's neighborhoods,' said Calabrese. Where is the neighborhood protection now? The trees in the quarry are all gone, there is a huge tax abatement monstrosity on third street (and we still do not have a grocery in the downtown), SHU is about to build 40 foot long block houses defined as dugouts on Village property with no compensation given to the town and the animal shelter, after ten years of planning, encroaches on a park. As for the lawsuit, when our government is as inept as it appears to be in this case, the citizens have no choice but to seek relief in the courts. I do not blame the people in the neighborhood for the suit. I blame the BOT for making it necessary. The BOT should have made the JAC move the shelter down the hill just a bit so as not to be so close to the swings, tennis courts and ball fields. The BOT has said that they did not realize that the location had shifted. They should have looked at the plans. I am also shocked at the JAC. How can a group that shows so much compassion towards animals and does so much good on their behalf be as callous towards people as to equate protecting ones home with Nazism? As for being a NIMBY, how about not in my town? Why not put the shelter in Maplewood. Maplewood is bigger, probably has more strays than South Orange and the Township Committee as just demonstrated by the proposed police station move that it actively courts citizens input and respectfully listens to their suggestions. | ||
| bobk Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 4021 Registered: 5-2001 |
Why didn't Mr. Bell and company get involved earlier in the process? While they claim not to have been notified of the hearings on the animal shelter, this is unlikely. This was the time to bring up the Open Space issue. At this point JAC, in good faith, has started construction and spent a fair amount of the money they have been raising for the shelter. Will the neighborhood association reimburse them for the costs? | ||
| Silvio Dante Citizen Username: Silviodante Post Number: 8 Registered: 8-2003 |
Danny - Giving $1000 to a political campaign, as Mary/Steve Rother did with Calabrese & Company earlier this year - it looks like maybe that overrules "protecting all neighborhoods" (http://www.elec.state.nj.us/) | ||
| Sylad Citizen Username: Sylad Post Number: 81 Registered: 6-2002 |
For me the bottom line is that the sheleter is needed. It will be good for the entire community. If built as planned it will not effect how the park is currently used, if it is determined that the shelter is on park land, I think that it would be a good use of the land, and for this particular project an exception should be made. I know that it could become a slippery slope as far as building on open space, but I can't think of a better reason to do it. Here is my question...would the park association be working to raise money and develop the land if the shelter project did not happen? I doubt it. If a mistake was made I am sure it was an oversight, an honest mistake. If you asked the people that used the park..THE KIDS.....I am sure they would want to shelter to be built as planned. | ||
| Guesswho Citizen Username: Guesswho Post Number: 85 Registered: 9-2003 |
Silvio, Are you implying that President Calabrese was "Bribed"?Took illegal money to change his vote and opinion? What exactly are you saying ? | ||
| mayhewdrive Citizen Username: Mayhewdrive Post Number: 600 Registered: 5-2001 |
Sylad, You state "It will be good for the entire community". At the meeting Monday night, someone stood before the BOT & essentially said that this project will make our communities more desirable for people to move here. I think both of those statements are a tad overly dramatic. Like I said, I'm fairly indifferent to the project, but can someone help me understand what is the huge appeal to someone looking to move to S.O about having an animal shelter? I honestly don't think it will be a factor one oway or another in people's decision whether or not to move here. Certainly, fixing our "Coming Soon" downtown is a much more important factor. | ||
| Washashore Citizen Username: Washashore Post Number: 115 Registered: 4-2003 |
Mary Rother: The Animal Shelter/JAC/Farrell Field Folk are not an either/or situation: either you like the Trustees and JAC or you don't. One can support JAC and the Animal Shelter, and still be critical of the process followed by the BOT that led to this debacle. As Dan Shelffo said above: "I do not blame the people in the neighborhood for the suit. I blame the BOT for making it necessary." Why is that concept so difficult for you to understand? The need for an animal shelter has been around for at least 15 years. How could the (incompetent) BOT/Village Administrator/Town Attorney not have done, yet again, DUE DILIGENCE to find the same information that Richard Bell found, in the Town Engineer's own files, about the size of the Green Acres Park. And why aren't you, as a tax paying animal lover of the Village, OUTRAGED that yet again incompetence at the Village Administration level has led to yet another travesy, increased payouts to the Twon Attorney, and resulted in lost JAC (volunteer contribution) construction dollars? Again, to quote Mr. Shelffo: "It is amazing to me how BOT members get elected on a platform of protecting neighborhoods and then marginalize people who want to protect their own as NIMBYS. Here is a quote from Bill Calabeses’ 1991 campaign : 'Whether it's on the west side of South Orange (Kernan's Quarry), the east side of the village (Seton Hall) or the central business district (the Third Street site where ShopRite supermarket wanted to build a store), only we have the record of consistently defending all the village's neighborhoods,' said Calabrese. Where is the neighborhood protection now? The trees in the quarry are all gone, there is a huge tax abatement monstrosity on third street (and we still do not have a grocery in the downtown), SHU is about to build 40 foot long block houses defined as dugouts on Village property with no compensation given to the town and the animal shelter, after ten years of planning, encroaches on a park." Perhaps if we all united around common cause to rid the Village of incompetence and mismanagement, instead of seeing each critical issue as only driven by NIMBYs, we would have long ago replaced mismanagement and incompetent leadership with intelligent and compentent leadership. Instead of socking $1,000 for the incumbents in the '05 BOT election, I invite you to funnel that money where it can do some good - into the slate of Challengers who will seek to return South Orange to its residents (at the Nov. 17th BOT meeting, Bill Calabrese said, in response to a question from the audience when it would meet again, that the Redevelopment Committee was "his" committee to call to order or not, as he saw fit. We've had enough of that kind of exclusionary leadership.) Join the cahllengers next time 'round, and help achieve a leadership in which we can all be proud. | ||
| Sylad Citizen Username: Sylad Post Number: 84 Registered: 6-2002 |
I am not sure it will make people want to stay or want to move here, but I do think it will be good. It is shows compassion, and that is good, I would like to have that in my community. | ||
| mayhewdrive Citizen Username: Mayhewdrive Post Number: 601 Registered: 5-2001 |
Sylad, What do you mean that "it shows compassion"? I thought animal shelters collect stray animals & put them to sleep if they are not adopted in a short period of time. Is that not the case? (honestly - no sarcasm intended...I am looking to be educated on this issue) | ||
| sbenois Citizen Username: Sbenois Post Number: 10483 Registered: 10-2001 |
Mary Rother: The Animal Shelter/JAC/Farrell Field Folk are not an either/or situation: either you like the Trustees and JAC or you don't. True. One can support JAC and the Animal Shelter, and still be critical of the process followed by the BOT that led to this debacle. Also true. But if you were being honest about it you'd admit that the BOT and the JAC both went out of their way to inform the public on the shelter issue. But, of course, you're not going to be honest here because you're using this issue as a proxy for your bigger beef. As Dan Shelffo said above: "I do not blame the people in the neighborhood for the suit. I blame the BOT for making it necessary." Why is that concept so difficult for you to understand? Because they had prior notification from the town and chose not to protest or participate, that's why. Further, your use of the word debacle to describe this by the book project is ridiculous. Please check out the News-Record editorial from a few weeks back where the JAC was commended for "doing it right" The need for an animal shelter has been around for at least 15 years. Yes indeed How could the (incompetent) BOT/Village Administrator/Town Attorney not have done, yet again, DUE DILIGENCE to find the same information that Richard Bell found, in the Town Engineer's own files, about the size of the Green Acres Park. The town once again confirmed on Monday evening that the size of the area is not 3.5 acres (as Mr. Bell keeps insisting) but rather 2.2. But why let facts get in the way of the larger political agenda. And why aren't you, as a tax paying animal lover of the Village, OUTRAGED that yet again incompetence at the Village Administration level has led to yet another travesy, increased payouts to the Twon Attorney, and resulted in lost JAC (volunteer contribution) construction dollars? Fair-minded individuals ought to be outraged that a tiny group of late to the party objectors feign cluelessness about plans that are going on across the street from them. Again, to quote Mr. Shelffo: "It is amazing to me how BOT members get elected on a platform of protecting neighborhoods and then marginalize people who want to protect their own as NIMBYS. Here is a quote from Bill Calabeses’ 1991 campaign : 'Whether it's on the west side of South Orange (Kernan's Quarry), the east side of the village (Seton Hall) or the central business district (the Third Street site where ShopRite supermarket wanted to build a store), only we have the record of consistently defending all the village's neighborhoods,' said Calabrese. Where is the neighborhood protection now? The trees in the quarry are all gone, there is a huge tax abatement monstrosity on third street (and we still do not have a grocery in the downtown), SHU is about to build 40 foot long block houses defined as dugouts on Village property with no compensation given to the town and the animal shelter, after ten years of planning, encroaches on a park." Ah, the real issue. You want the BOT out. Stop hiding behind the shelter issue and leave the JAC out of it. You'll get more support. Perhaps if we all united around common cause to rid the Village of incompetence and mismanagement, instead of seeing each critical issue as only driven by NIMBYs, we would have long ago replaced mismanagement and incompetent leadership with intelligent and compentent leadership. Maybe you ought to get the JAC Board to run South Orange. They know what they're doing. They've raised incredible amounts of money through hard work and dedication. They're pretty frugal too. Instead of socking $1,000 for the incumbents in the '05 BOT election, I invite you to funnel that money where it can do some good - into the slate of Challengers who will seek to return South Orange to its residents (at the Nov. 17th BOT meeting, Bill Calabrese said, in response to a question from the audience when it would meet again, that the Redevelopment Committee was "his" committee to call to order or not, as he saw fit. We've had enough of that kind of exclusionary leadership.) Join the cahllengers next time 'round, and help achieve a leadership in which we can all be proud. Good luck with your bigger mission. Leave the JAC alone. Finally to Mary Rother: your Hitler comment was completely outrageous. When the King of All decides to allow your posting rights to be returned, the first thing you ought to do is author a heartfelt apology to Mr. Bell. Nothing that is going on with the shelter, the park, the JAC or your local politics in South Orange should result in the man's house being identified or a veiled comparison to history's most hated figure. ---> Brought to you by Sbenois Engineering LLC <- Hey, it also wouldn’t look good coming out of a motel with your wife’s best friend saying you were just planning a surprise birthday party for her husband...- Arturo November '03 | ||
| NCJanow(akaLibraryLady) Citizen Username: Librarylady Post Number: 1107 Registered: 5-2001 |
Mayhew..I can't reply for the JAC, but I do know that they never, ever, put any animal to sleep (in other words kill 'em.) This is well known in South Orange/Maplewood and in fact, in all of NJ. The JAC enjoys are sterling reputation for compassion, caring and kindness. We are so lucky to have them in our communities. NCJ aka LibraryLady On a coffee break..or something like it. | ||
| Soda Citizen Username: Soda Post Number: 1128 Registered: 5-2001  |
MHD might wanna consider adopting a cat or dog through JAC, as it's fairly evident that a)He hasn't much of a clue about the organization upon which he's piggybacking his whining one-note political screed in this thread, and 2)the warm affection of a pet might actually mellow and humanize the tone of his harangue, not to mention the collateral benefit of getting him away from his computer once in a while, which many of us would appreciate... --Soda | ||
| mayhewdrive Citizen Username: Mayhewdrive Post Number: 602 Registered: 5-2001 |
Soda, At least I am willing to admit when I need educating on an issue. You should try it sometime. If my "one-note political screed" is that our downtown is a disgrace & that SOPAC, Beifus & the Supermarket aren't "Coming Soon" - perhaps you should open your eyes and admit that I am right and be angry too at the constant "Coming Soon" rhetoric that is spewed by your Buddies in Village Hall. Based on your 1128 posts, I think YOU (and all of us) could stand you getting away from your computer for a LONG while!  | ||
| vermontgolfer Citizen Username: Vermontgolfer Post Number: 241 Registered: 12-2002 |
Soda, MHD got you on the posts, almost twice as many as he/she in the same time frame!  |
