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davec
Citizen
Username: Davec
Post Number: 52
Registered: 2-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, October 24, 2002 - 3:35 pm: | 
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This should probably go under the soapbox, since it is more or a rant than anything else.
I am constantly amazed at the amount of time it takes to get things completed in South Orange and the lack of accountability.
I really think our local government should put out a "quarterly project report" A simple report that should have each project the town is "working" on, the date the project was started, current task, elapsed days since last action on the project, and the person responsible for ensuring that the current task gets done.
I actually would love to have the work environment that seems to exist (from the outside looking in) on the project management side of our local leadership.
There are no real deadlines. You can double or triple the amount of time any task takes without concern.
You don't really have to account for where/how the money on your project is being spent. Just have one lumpsum that covers everything.
You have guranteed venture capital every year, regardless of your past performance.
You have built in scapegoats (the previous administration)
The major risk to being fired only comes at election time or gross negative publicity.
You work for a monopoly and there is just no incentive for innovation.
"If it ain't broke too bad, don't fix it" seems to be the mission statement you work under.
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mayhewdrive
Citizen
Username: Mayhewdrive
Post Number: 102
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, October 24, 2002 - 6:43 pm: |
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DaveC,
I couldn't agree with you more. As a Project Manager, by profession myself, such lack of accountability would be unheard of. I have clients screaming when things delay by one day.
Just off the top of my head, some of the big fiascos for South Orange:
Arts Center - scheduled start date TBD, scheduled end date TBD for at least the past 4 years
Supermarket - was scheduled for completion Fall 2002, now scheduled for completion Spring 2004
Beifus site - vacant for over 4 years, scheduled to go before the Planning Board next week, start date TBD, end date TBD
Remaining stores west of Sloan Street - ???
Ironically, the 3rd street housing project got preliminary & final site approval in a single night, was built in less than 18 months, but has a horribly low occupancy rate.
Now, the Village is attempting to similarly "fast-track" the Quarry project.
Let's hope the election in 2003 provides some change. |
mrosner
Citizen
Username: Mrosner
Post Number: 109
Registered: 4-2002
| | Posted on Friday, October 25, 2002 - 10:29 am: |
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DaveC, Mayhewdrive: I certainly do agree with some of what you say. It is very frustrating when a project does not get started or finished in a timely manner. I wish there were real deadlines.
There are many reasons for some of the delays, not that I like any of them. The arts center has an arts board and they will vote on when the actual construction will start (there are three village trustees on the art board, the village president and six other people).
There is no real good reason that I know of for the delay from the developer of the supermarket and what has held the project up. I can assure you that I (and the village) have not impeded the process in anyway. The developer had been working on the plans and ran into roadblocks that had nothing to do with the village. Rather than point fingers, I just want to see them get before the planning board and get the project started.
The 3rd street project was not approved in one night. It was several months and I think the low occupancy has more to do with the downturn in the economy than anything else.
As for fast-tracking the quarry? I moved to S. Orange in 1985 and the quarry development was being discussed then. In fact it was being discussed in the 1960's too. There was not one trustee in favor of the proposed plan from a couple of years ago. There have been numerous meetings before the planning board and there are still more scheduled. The number of units has been reduced by two-thirds. They are for sale instead of rentals. Those were the two main objectives considering that the property-owner and developer have a legal right to be allowed to build something on their property. This has been anything but fast-tracked. And I have not pressured anyone to make any decision about this proposal (and I do not think any trustee has). I have said if it was legally possible to keep the space undeveloped that would be great, if not, let's minimize the amount of units that get built and maximize what taxes the village can get. And even though you might be surprised at this, there are residents who want to see something built on the quarry site, there are people who want to see something built there.
I have never blamed (not even a hint) the previous administration for anything. I have blamed various employees (no, I cannot name them) for not working diligently to meet the trustees wishes.
We do account for every dime that is spent. The budget process is open and the village has a citizens' budget advisory board that meets regularly with the village administrator.
We meet twice a month and we all give reports and ask questions and take questions from anyone who comes to the meetings and wants to ask or make a statement. And the number of people who show up is dreadfully few and usually it is the same people from meeting to meeting.
I have asked over and over for more people to come to the meeting, for more people to volunteer to be on committees, etc.
I have gone out of my way to be accesible to anyone that e-mails (markrosner@earthlink.net) or writes me. I get numerous questions from fellow commuters and I think they will all say that I have answered every question that they have had or have discussed every issue possible from every point of view.
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davec
Citizen
Username: Davec
Post Number: 54
Registered: 2-2002
| | Posted on Friday, October 25, 2002 - 12:04 pm: |
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Mark,
With respect to the village administration, I would have to say you are extraordinary. A significant population visits this site, yet it appears that you are the only one who is communicative, open to suggestion and responsive here.
I think it is unfair to place all of these issues on your doorstep. Surely there are others who should be held accountable. It seems to me that your primary function on this board has been more of a liason than ownership of the actual issue.
I think that the village admin should be doing more than just "not impeding" progress. It should either be incenting progress or dis-incenting delays.
As far as asking people to join committees, I am not sure what that accomplishes. You are familiar from this site with what our concerns are. We elect our administration into paid positions because we expect them to represent us professionally. The medium used to capture those concerns should be irrelevant.
As far as the accounting, I know that the News Record does not have a stellar reporting reputation, however their report on the green acres project indicates that a plan to use $1.25MM had been created and would not be available to the public until after it was submitted. This is not, in my mind, good accounting.
I would feel much better about our administration if the rest exhibited the same level of commitment and accessibility you do.
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mrosner
Citizen
Username: Mrosner
Post Number: 111
Registered: 4-2002
| | Posted on Friday, October 25, 2002 - 12:21 pm: |
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davec: I thank you for your comments and appreciate them.
Actually the village trustees do not get paid (really, not one penny). We are supposed to direct the paid employees with what we think should be done and they are expected to perform. Obviously, it does not always work that way.
The reason to have more people volunteer to be on committees is that it brings more people into the process instead of the same few that seem to be on every committee.
The News-Record.... well the less said about their reporting, the better.
I was not at the green acres meeting nor am I on that committee. From what I understand, there will be public input and changes can easily be made to the requests even after it is submitted.
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mayhewdrive
Citizen
Username: Mayhewdrive
Post Number: 103
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, October 25, 2002 - 1:19 pm: |
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Mark,
My comments about the quarry being "fast-tracked" are due to very recent comments I have heard were made by an elected official, about being anxious to getting the quarry issue done at the Planning Board so they can make room for the Supermarket on the agenda. While, I hate to see the Supermarket delayed even further, the quarry issue is so sensitive and important to so many people that it is very short-sighted to try to "rush" it along.
While it is possible there may be some "people who want to see something built there", I'm sure you will agree they are a very small minority. Witness the Open Space Trust Fund election from several years ago, where us residents voted to tax ourselves by a margin of more than 3 to 1. Also, witness the Green Acres meeting last week, where it was virtually unanimous that any money obtained for property acquisition should be used for the quarry.
Speaking of the Green Acres meeting, it is really outrageous to realize that it has been about 18 months since we "received" $1.25 million, but that we waited for the week prior to the final deadline (Nov 1) to have a public meeting & to submit our plan. Like you said, changes can easily be made to the plan once submitted. So, isn't it common sense that we should have submitted a plan with ANYTHING on it (Quarry, Orange Lawn, Bill's house....ANYTHING!) just for the sake of securing our money & giving us access to $1.25 million. Submit a plan, secure the money & worry about the details of the plan later. Waiting until the last minute almost put the money at risk & lost us almost 18 months of access to the money that could have already been spent & potentially replenished with a new application (if we spend the money, we become eligible to apply & obtain more).
Let me be clear that I don't blame you specifically for these issues, Mark. I do commend your courage to post & respond here. However, I'm sure you can understand my (& my neighbors) frustration at what seems like a constant battle with bureaucracy. |
mrosner
Citizen
Username: Mrosner
Post Number: 112
Registered: 4-2002
| | Posted on Friday, October 25, 2002 - 2:22 pm: |
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I do agree that the open space meeting should have been held way back when. From what I understand they were waiting for the recreation master plan to be done first. That was not done in a timely manner by the winning bidder and held up the process.
I had suggested that the planning board have a special meeting to review the supermarket, but I can only suggest that. The planning board does not report to the board of trustees.
I appreciate your comments and hope you keep posting and pushing. Just remember, I do share a lot of the same frustrations and it does not have to be an us-vs them battle. |
wnb
Citizen
Username: Wnb
Post Number: 11
Registered: 8-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 9:34 am: |
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If you think those large projects take a long time, have a look a the Tichenor-Garfield-Prospect intersection. Getting so used to those orange barricades I almost don't see 'em anymore. At least the intersection is safer than it used to be, but Sal has great plans on the drawing board and I'm getting more and more afraid they'll never see the light of day due to economic conditions. In the meantime, we have the barricades. I guess there are not enough squeaky wheels up in the Village Colonials section of town. It's especially sad because this was a locally controversial topic -- and all the parties involved have come together as neighbors and genuinely worked through most of the issues that were of concern to them. The spririt of community and working together was very strong. The resulting finished project could be something the entire neighborhood could take pride in as a result. But instead we have the barricades.
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mrosner
Citizen
Username: Mrosner
Post Number: 113
Registered: 4-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 9:59 am: |
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Actually, after the test period was over, it was voted on last winter to go ahead to make it permanent.
Because the project is small there were no contractors that wanted to bid on the project. The village engineer (Sal) resent out and we have an acceptable bid. I am still hoping it gets done in November, but it might not be until the spring (they can not do cement work when it is too cold). It really had nothing to do with the number of squeaky wheels especially since I see two of the people who came to all the meetings almost every day on the train (and they ask me all the time).
It is just part of the frustrations of the bidding process that every municipality has to go through which although it might assure that the lowest qualified bidder gets the job (instead of some politician's relative), it does slow up the process.
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wnb
Citizen
Username: Wnb
Post Number: 12
Registered: 8-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, October 31, 2002 - 9:44 am: |
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Mark,
It is fantastic to hear this update and especially enlightening to understand the process and challenges faced in getting something like this done. Thank you for the update!
I'll throw out a 'positive' too -- kudos on finally getting a crosswalk painted on 3rd by the rescue squad building. It was sorely needed!
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