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Events
Upcoming events:
Click on the links below for a summary of past events:
April 4 - Candidates Forum at Temple Beth El
Thanks again to the neighborhood associations for putting together this event, and getting a good turnout. I have to vote too, and I found the discussion very helpful.
Below, as best I can reconstruct them, are my opening statement, the answers to the five questions that were submitted to us in advance, and my closing statement. I have rearranged the order of the questions to group them by subject. Some questions relate to the PILOTS, essentially tax abatements, for the ShopRite and Beifus sites being voted on Monday.
Thank you for inviting me here tonight. Barbara, Mark and I moved here in 1971, so I could be near Mountain Station. It was a great decision. By many measures, South Orange is stronger now than it has ever been. Unfortunately, while our town government does many things right, it practices a disorderly style of decision making that sometimes produces the wrong result. This has been true for many years, and is not unique to the current Administration or Board. I want to serve you as an advocate of open and orderly government. Easy access to information, broad public participation, and open and thorough debate must be the rule, not the exception. Many of the problems we will be discussing tonight would not arise in an environment of open and orderly government.
What would you do as a village trustee to restore public trust in Board of Trustee decisions and to foster open government as part of that process? My first priority will be the recent vote that reallocated the Village Administrator's salary. It was a glaring example of closed and disorderly government, has severally damaged the public trust, and must be reversed. This isn't about the Village Administrator's job performance. It is about how we conduct our public business. Before voting on any major issue, the board must seek the broadest possible public input; consider all the facts, all the alternatives and all the consequences; and hold an open, civil and thorough debate. On the board, I will fight for open and orderly government, and you must make it clear you will no longer support candidates unless they support open and orderly government.
Many South Orange residents think that combining the village staff positions of business administrator, chief financial officer and treasurer compromises necessary checks and balances in village governance. Do you agree? If not, why not? If so, would you separate the positions? How? The jobs should be separated. Business administrator is a difficult, full time job, and shouldn't be combined with any other job. And, combining the administrator and treasurer does compromise checks and balances. Before the jobs can be separated, we have to reduce the $116,000 salary recently allocated to the position of treasurer. Otherwise, we will wind up with a treasurer and an administrator, each making big salaries. As I said earlier, I will work to reverse the vote that set that $116,000 salary. If necessary, I will support a court challenge. Once the salary for the position of treasurer is reduced, and the annual contract of the administrator expires, John Gross can choose which job he wants to be considered for.
As a village trustee, how would you increase commercial tax ratables or revenues (for example, at the Beifus, ShopRite and Midas sites) and reduce residential property taxes? We are in a fierce competition with other New Jersey communities. About 1,000 redevelopment projects have started since 2000. My emphasis would be on attracting retail businesses, rather than condominiums. We can professionalize the process of seeking out new businesses, and we can put more money behind the effort. In some special cases, we may want to use economic incentives, but only sparingly. Such incentives might be most effective in seeding startups and keeping them here. Remember though, any business people who are interested in locating here, are also going to be looking at neighboring towns. When they come here, we want them to find attractive signs and windows, clean streets and sidewalks, adequate parking and a visible law enforcement presence.
Would you grant PILOTS (payments in lieu of taxes) to development sites such as Beifus, Midas and ShopRite sites? If so, why; if not why not? I don't favor PILOTs as a form of economic incentive. A PILOT is a crude tool, and its economic consequences are hard to predict, especially if they are spread out over 30 years. I don't favor the indiscriminate use of any form of economic incentive. We don't want every business person coming here to expect some sort of direct subsidy. The Beifus project is not unique in any way, and should not be considered for a PILOT. Because a downtown supermarket is so important, New Market is the rare project where a PILOT might be appropriate. But, we must still weigh the cost of the PILOT against the benefit it will bring. If New Market involved a major supermarket chain, it would be easier to evaluate. Since the deal involves a startup operation, without some expert analysis and advice it is impossible to gauge whether we would be getting our money's worth.
What would you do as a village trustee to bring a supermarket to downtown South Orange within a year after you assumed office? The New Market deal may be a done deal by election day. If not a done deal, I would focus on making it work, since it is the only deal on the table. But, I will not vote for New Market unless there is a review by outside experts first. This review should include the PILOT, all other documents and details, and the finances and experience of the proposed operator of the market. If the New Market deal can't be made to work, we must decide as a community how to proceed. Should we continue to seek a showplace to spur downtown growth, or shift the focus to a nice place, I stress nice, to pick up a quart of milk on the way home from the station. Once we reach a consensus, we can hand off the search to a downtown management corporation, a better financed Main Street, or whatever other vehicle we create to search out new businesses.
As you have seen tonight, you are choosing from a group of candidates who are all qualified for the job of trustee. What would I contribute if you elected me? After living here many years, serving on committees and attending many meetings and hearings, I am familiar with the issues. If elected, I will put as much time into the job as it takes. I will keep an open mind. I will listen to you, and try to arrange regular office hours to hear your concerns. I will listen to the concerns of the village president and my fellow trustees, as well. I will work with you and with my fellow office holders to reach consensus, and do what is best for our town. Above all, I will be a tireless advocate for open and orderly government. My commitment to good government is non-negotiable. If South Orange is to remain a vibrant, successful community, easy access to information, broad public participation, and open and thorough debate must be the rule, not the exception.
April 11 - Board of Trustees Meeting at Village Hall During the last two Board of Trustees meetings, we had some open and orderly government, though there were some disappointments as well. We learned a lot about PILOTs (Payments in Lieu of Taxes), and the Beifus and New Market projects. John Gross gets credit for putting a lot of good information on the website, and doing a good job of explaining the PILOTs in a room full of very skeptical people. Ed Matthews also provided useful information. The BOT members added to our knowledge, and did a good job of conducting the meetings. "Civilians", ordinary folks not involved in town politics, showed up to air their concerns. And, we may have the supermarket in place by Thanksgiving. Apparently, no major supermarket operator was interested in opening a gourmet market here. Putting this deal together was hard, and we should give credit where credit is due. While the meetings were a successful educational effort, the vote on the New Market project was probably a foregone conclusion. The Board certainly didn't want the supermarket to slip away, and apparently felt the deal was good enough. I still believe the entire deal should have been reviewed first by outside experts, that we needed more details, that some of the details we received should have been available earlier, and that there should have been more dialogue and debate. Also, many of us are simply baffled by adoption of the Beifus PILOT. Aside from the question of the PILOT itself, will the deal actually produce real activity at the site in a timely fashion? We also got a thoughtful set of recommendations from the Downtown Management Corporation Interim Board on April 11, and there is much I hope will be adopted. However, there is a lot to digest and the Interim Board's goal of adoption by April 25th may not leave enough time for thorough review. With the exception of a relatively few people, most of our 17,000 citizens have no idea what a DMC is. They must be informed and brought into a civil, thorough and open dialogue. I hope the Board of Trustees will acknowledge, in an unequivocal way, the need to engage professional assistance in the redevelopment process, and that the DMC Interim Board will recognize that there are other stakeholders here and that the general public must be brought into the process.
April 12 - Candidates' Night at Baird Community Center
Thanks again to Grassroots Action Supporting Progress for sponsoring this event. Below, are my opening statement, and the answers to the six questions that were submitted to us in advance. Following the questions, are three position papers GRASP asked us to submit in advance of the forum.
Thank you for inviting me to tonight's forum. Barbara, Mark and I arrived here in South Orange in 1971. We have stayed on through some hard times, and are pleased at how well the town is doing today. If South Orange is to remain a vibrant, successful community, open and orderly government must be the rule not the exception. I am running to promote easy access to information, broad public participation, and open and thorough debate. Many of the problems we will be discussing tonight would not have occurred in an environment of open and orderly dialogue. Everyone probably enters public office committed to open and thorough debate. But, in a volunteer part-time government, it is easy to drift into bad habits. The responsibility of the public, and groups like GRASP, is to raise the level of expectations, hold all officeholders to the highest standards, and to keep reminding them that there is a price to pay for closed and disorderly government. My responsibility, if elected, will be to educate, motivate and mobilize. Educate the public on the importance of open and orderly government. Motivate people to come out and participate in their town government on a regular basis. Mobilize the public when there is a particularly serious lapse into closed and disorderly government. To educate, motivate and mobilize, I will use town meetings and hearings, my website, regular office hours, frequent visits to civic groups like yours, calls to the news media, and anything else that works. If I slack off, I expect to hear from you. Thank you again for this opportunity to promote better government.
How have you contributed to the betterment of South Orange? Barbara and I have been here 34 years. We hope we can make it at least 50. We have tried to be good citizens. We have never given up on the town, have talked it up, encouraged people to come and encouraged people to stay. We have supported local merchants. We have regularly attended and supported town events. We have stayed informed about our town. Early on, we became boosters of the public schools, since we had a son going through the system, and continue to work for Board of Education candidates who we feel are committed to quality education. In the eighties, I also served on a Board of Education committee that reviewed the facility needs of the district. Barbara is currently involved in the BOE Strategic Planning Initiative. We have been long time members of our local League of Women Voters chapter. My participation has primarily involved fund raising, and now helping Barbara edit the bulletin. A great organization. Men are welcome. Everyone should join. I've also worked on projects that indirectly benefit South Orange by helping our area. I served on the advisory board for the Turtle Back Zoo. I also worked on an effort, unfortunately not successful, to revive the Newark School of Fine & Industrial Art as a low cost professional art school for Newark high school graduates. In recent years, pro bono legal work has absorbed much of my free time, though I have devoted a substantial amount of time -- more than I ever expected -- on the advisory committee that designed the dugouts in the park.
Which, if any, resolutions and initiatives taken in the past year would you have voted against; how many Board Of Trustees meetings did you attend in the last year? First the recent vote that reallocated the Village Administrator's salary. It was a glaring example of closed and disorderly government, has severely damaged the public trust, and must be reversed. This isn't about the Village Administrator's job performance. It is about how we conduct our public business. Before voting on any major issue, the Board must always seek the broadest possible public input; consider all the facts, all the alternatives and all the consequences; and hold an open, civil and thorough debate. I would also have voted against the two PILOTS for reasons to be discussed later. There were also several instances where resolutions could have been better drafted that I would have supported, but only after redrafting. Over the last year, I have attended at least 14 BOT meetings, several Recreation Committee meetings, a Recreation Advisory Committee meeting and a number of hearings, including the hearing on charter reform and a hearing on the new information plan, a hearing on our open space inventory and a hearing on the river project.
What is your understanding of the specific financial impact and implications for South Orange of the proposed PILOTS for the Beifus and Village Market properties; do you support these PILOTS? I don't favor PILOTS as a form of economic incentive. A PILOT is a crude tool, and its economic consequences are hard to predict, especially if they are spread out over 30 years. I don't favor the indiscriminate use of any form of economic incentive. We don't want every business person coming here to expect some sort of direct subsidy. The Beifus project is not unique in any way, and I would not have voted for the PILOT. We now have a supermarket. We must make it a success. Shop early and often. Because a downtown supermarket is so important, New Market is the rare project where a PILOT might have been appropriate. But, I would have voted against the PILOT last night, as much as we all wanted a market. We must weigh the cost of any PILOT against the benefit it will bring. There was no review by outside experts first. There should have been a review that included the PILOT, all other documents and details, and the finances and experience of the proposed operator of the market. Since there was no expert review, I would have had to vote "no" Monday evening.
How do you view your personal role, and that of the Board, in general, in South Orange-Maplewood school matters? Our schools have long been the backbone of our community. We must keep them strong. As I said earlier, our son Mark went through the public school system, and we have actively worked for Board of Education candidates who favored a strong academic program. In the eighties, I also served on a Board of Education committee that reviewed the facility needs of the district. Barbara is now part of the Strategic Planning Initiative. Education is primarily the responsibility of the Board Of Education, but the town must do all it can do to work with the Board, and to help our schools and students be the best. The Board of Education and the Village already cooperate in many areas. We must continue and expand that cooperation, seeking innovative ways to stretch our tax dollars. In particular, there are needs in our after school programs, not only recreational but academic, that the towns, private organizations, and the BOE can work together to meet. As I have noted, the Village should generally reconsider its policy of granting PILOTS, and particularly its policy of granting them relief from the portion that goes to our schools.
Do you disagree with any of the recommendations recently proposed by the DMC for establishing a South Orange Downtown Management and Redevelopment Corporation? Yes. First and foremost, the recommendation that the proposal be adopted by April 25. We have to be consistent if we believe in open and orderly government. It applies to good ideas as well as bad ideas. With the exception of a relatively few people, most of our 17,000 citizens had no idea what a DMC was until the last few weeks, if then. It is a good report by good people. It will stand up to scrutiny. While it is not a disagreement, I would prefer the community adopt a set of redevelopment guidelines to be given to the DMC in advance, rather than have the DMC go ahead and develop projects then bring them to the community. Finally, whatever downtown redevelopment is done, should be coordinated with what is to be done in our other business districts. This must be clarified.
What role should the Board of Trustees play in advancing the development of the South Orange Performing Arts Center? SOPAC is a building. It is also the non-profit organization formed to own and run the building. First, we should all promote and support the programs at SOPAC. Go early and often. Second, the BOT should acknowledge this is really a town project, and try to realistically project and reflect the costs of running SOPAC in our budgets. Third, we should maintain ownership of the building until SOPAC the organization is able to afford it. SOPAC is best off a tenant until it gets off the ground. It isn't even capable of covering its operating costs at this point, let alone buying a $10,000,000 building. I've been on the Turtle Back Zoo advisory board. It never considered buying the zoo from the county while I was a member.
The following are the three position papers GRASP asked us to submit in advance of the forum.
If South Orange is to remain a vibrant, successful community, easy access to information, broad public participation, and open and thorough debate must be the rule, not the exception. To assure our continuing success, we must rethink the way we conduct our public business. After serving on a committee, attending meetings and hearings and generally observing our village government over the years, it is clear to me that a more open and orderly government is needed. Broader public input, and more open and thorough debate of the issues facing us, will have a real effect on our daily lives. Schools, public safety, the environment, recreation and economic redevelopment all will benefit.
Our town government does many things reasonably well, especially in delivering basic services. The roads are cleared of snow in the winter, and the leaves removed in the fall. There is a large recreation program. The crime problem seems under better control these days. Unfortunately, while our town government does many things right, it has developed a closed and disorderly style of governing that sometimes produces bad results when it moves beyond providing basic services. This isn't a recent phenomenon, tied into our current Board Of Trustees. For example, years ago, confusion surrounded the construction of the pool complex we now enjoy. Poor decisions led to disagreements and litigation.
The recent vote concerning the Village Administrator's salary is a good case study in what I am talking about. It was a glaring example of closed and disorderly government, has severely damaged the public trust, and must be reversed. The vote was designed to help protect John Gross's job. But, this isn't about John's job performance. He seems to be a hard worker. Its about how we conduct our public business. Literally more time has been spent at recent town meetings polishing and reviewing the dumpster ordinance, than was spent debating this vote. Before voting on any major issue, the board must seek the broadest possible public input, and expert opinion where needed; consider all the facts, all the alternatives and all the consequences; and hold an open, civil and thorough debate. None of that was done in this case.
The quality of the people we have been elected over the years has generally been good. Our Village charter is somewhat of a problem, because our Village President is also a legislator. This keeps the rest of the Board from forming independent leadership. Having a volunteer government is also a problem, since most of the trustees have family and business commitments. Non-partisan elections are, I think, a good thing, but we lose some oversight in not having parties. Our local paper doesn't have the resources to act as a watchdog. None of these problems is readily correctable in the short, or, perhaps even in the long run. What we can deal with now are public apathy, low expectations and the lack of Board members who feel this is a major concern.
How do we make open and orderly government a fact and not a slogan? We want to reach a point where our elected officials feel they ignore open and orderly government only at their own risk. If the public consistently elects candidates pledged to open and orderly government, holds their feet to the fire, rejects them at the polls when they deviate from its principles, over time things will change. If elected I will continue to hammer away, promoting open and orderly government within Village Hall, and wherever our citizens congregate. I will use Board meetings and my website as platforms to promote it. I will notify the public, and the newspapers whenever I think the Board is deviating from the principles of open and orderly government.
Information and participation go together because information energizes participation, and participation alone won't accomplish much unless the voters are fully informed. They are also important components of open and orderly government. The more people are watching, the less chance of backsliding.
There is an amazing pool of knowledge and skills here in South Orange. When important decisions are being made on issues that affect us all, we need to tap that pool and have a full exchange of views and ideas. Don't we already tap this pool? Many residents already generously volunteer to serve on boards, authorities and advisory committees, and for our cultural and recreation programs, and we always need more. But, we also need more people at the now sparsely attended public meetings and hearings about important issues like charter change, the information policy and redevelopment where final decisions are made. Our town government can:
Information must be brought to the public. Unless the public knows what is happening, open and orderly government is impossible. They will stay home and might as well. Until there is an adequate information plan, I would be an informal citizens' advocate, doing what I can to make sure the public knows when its input is needed, and I would fight for an innovative information plan. What should a proactive and innovative information plan do?
The draft of the Township of South Orange Village Public Information Plan can be found at www.southorange.org. The e-mail I submitted commenting on the plan can be viewed by using the following link: Information Plan E-mail. Check the plan out, and send the town your own comments and ideas too.
We need a comprehensive, coordinated and realistic master plan for development. Development is not only about the area around the train station. It is also about parks and recreation areas, all our other commercial areas, including the rest of South Orange Avenue, and Irvington Avenue and Valley Street, and is about the number of new residential units we should have. We need a public consensus on what we want South Orange to be like decades into the future. This consensus must then be embodied in a plan that ties together all existing projects, and those in the planning stage. I will be an advocate for a plan that is realistic, respects the character and appearance of our village, and avoids over-sized, aesthetically challenged development.
Remember though, any business people who are interested in locating here, are also going to be looking at neighboring towns. When they come here we want them to find businesses with attractive signs and windows, clean streets and sidewalks, adequate parking and a visible law enforcement presence. Finally, planning will succeed only if it takes place in an environment of open and orderly government, a pro-active information policy, greater participation by the public, and with an eye on its ultimate effect on the school system.
April 13 - Meet the Candidates Night at Seton Hall University Thanks again to the students Village Liaison Committee at Seton Hall University for hosting this Meet the Candidates Night. You did a very nice job. Also, thanks to the many students who shared their concerns with us. Rest assured, we were all listening.
I want to thank the Village Liaison Committee for your invitation tonight and for the work you are doing. Because of the limited time tonight, I can only give you a brief biography, and a hint of my platform. But, I have a website, www.votebelasco.org, and I have some literature here that will give you more information. I am a local attorney and long time resident of South Orange. I am no stranger to the campus, and would estimate that I have spent more than 1000 hours here over the years. One time in particular stands out. On May 21, 1983, the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan received an honorary degree from Seton Hall. But, for me, the main event was my wife, Barbara, receiving her Master's Degree from the W. Paul Stillman School of Business. Over the years, Barbara and I have enjoyed using the recreation center, the book store, the library, attending cultural events and lectures, and regularly participating in the Farinella run. So, we appreciate what a valuable resource Seton Hall is for South Orange. As for my campaign, it is independent, self-financed, and a family project. I am running as an advocate of what I call open and orderly government. I believe that easy access to information, broad public participation, and open and thorough debate should be the rule in town government, not the exception. I believe that before voting on any major issue, the Board of Trustees should seek the broadest possible public input; consider all the facts, all the alternatives and all the consequences; and hold an open, civil and thorough debate. These principles seem simple and obvious, but are sometimes forgotten in the rush to get things done. How would open and orderly government affect you here at Seton Hall? If I am elected, and there is anything in the town pipeline that might affect Seton Hall, or its students, you would learn about it from me, and in plenty of time for you to respond. And, I would work to assure you of an open, civil and thorough consideration of your concerns. There are also some specific ideas I want to discuss with you. We are in a continuing process of commercial redevelopment all over town. We need student input. Our Downtown Redevelopment Corporation will have a Seton Hall representative, but we need as much ongoing student input as possible about the shopping and services you need downtown and elsewhere in South Orange. I would also like to bring events downtown that showcase Seton Hall as a center of learning, and give the public a taste of what is available on this campus. Such events would also serve as an advertisement for South Orange, by highlighting the advantages of living in a college town. A few years ago, my wife helped organize a joint project between the LWV and Seton Hall that brought representatives of the State Department and the Council on Foreign Relations downtown to St. Andrews Church. The event was attended by SHU students and the general public. The location brought in some people who might not have attended if the event had been held here. Perhaps when SOPAC is up and running we can make it a venue for similar projects. In closing there will always be areas of town and gown cooperation, and also occasional differences. The best cure is dialogue, and as a resident of South Orange, I am grateful there is a Village Liaison Committee here.
April 29 - Responses to South Orange Alliance for Redevelopment (SOAR) Questionnaire
We need a comprehensive, coordinated and realistic master plan or set of guidelines for all development in South Orange, whether that development is initiated by the town government, or by the private sector. Development as I would define it, is not only about the area around the train station. It is also about parks and recreation areas, all our other commercial areas, including the rest of South Orange Avenue, and Irvington Avenue and Valley Street. We need a public consensus on what we want South Orange to be like decades into the future. We must reach this consensus through a process that involves the general public as well as our elected officials and experts. This consensus must then be embodied in a master plan or set of guidelines that ties together all existing and future projects. We can't just turn the development work itself over to professionals without these guidelines. I would be an advocate for such a plan that:
The Redevelopment Act is a development tool, which is useful in the appropriate circumstances, and may be appropriate in South Orange in rare instances, but only within the limits of the comprehensive development guidelines discussed above. It should never be used in South Orange to destroy a going business, or tear down someone's home, when the owner of the business or home doesn't want to sell, or to coerce such an owner into selling under threat of a formal condemnation. Even though a particular business isn't everyone's favorite, it may be filling a need and adding to the character of our town. And, if we want economic diversity in South Orange, we must also preserve what little moderate priced housing we still have, so that the people who serve and protect us can also live here. Some of this housing is in areas that might be the targets of aggressive redevelopment. On the other hand, when a property like the Beifus site is effectively abandoned, the Redevelopment Act is a tool, which must be considered. Some commercial development is going to take place in the private sector independently of the Redevelopment Act. Individual owners may choose to develop their own properties, or to sell out to developers on their own. We must be sure that we have all the tools in place to properly guide that development also, including zoning and master plans.
I don't favor the indiscriminate use of any form of economic incentive. We don't want every business person coming here to expect some sort of direct subsidy. In some special cases, we may want to use economic incentives, but only sparingly. Such incentives might be most effective in seeding and keeping startup business here. Through the New Market PILOT and our financing of the SOPAC project, we are effectively seeding two startup businesses, the supermarket and the movie theater. It might be simpler in future cases to just advance rent subsidies. I don't favor PILOTS as a form of economic incentive. A PILOT is a crude tool, and its economic consequences are hard to predict, especially if they are spread out over 30 years. PILOTS cause public confusion and unhappiness. They deprive the school system and county of ratables. They should be a last resort. The Beifus project is not unique in any way, and I would not have voted for that PILOT if I had been on the Board of Trustees. New Market is the rare project where a PILOT might have been appropriate, but even now, we don't have enough information to say whether the deal was worth the PILOT. We must weigh the cost of any PILOT against the benefit it will bring. There was no review of New Market first by outside experts. There should have been a review that included the PILOT, all other documents and details, and the finances and experience of the proposed operator of the market. Since there was no expert review, I would have had to vote no had I been on the Board.
The DMC, as described in the recommendations recently submitted by the Initial Board to the BOT, will be responsible for day to day management of the central business district, and will provide professional expertise in retaining old businesses and recruiting new businesses. Everyone should welcome this without reservation. It is its redevelopment function that will generate the most scrutiny, even though that function is subject to ultimate oversight by the BOT. Past experience suggests that that oversight may be minimal no matter who is then serving on the BOT. I favor giving the DMC redevelopment authority if the DMC is going to operate under a clear set of development guidelines arrived at through the sort of consensus I have described above. Perhaps, the first official task of the fledgling DMC should be to coordinate the community effort to develop these guidelines. As for the details, the Initial Board has given us a solid foundation, but getting the input of the broadest possible range of people now, can only make the DRMC better in the long run. If I were now on the BOT, I would be trying to steer the discussions toward ways to improve the DMC, and away from questions of power. As examples of the kind of constructive open discussion we should be having now, here are a few things that occurred to me in reviewing the recommendations:
I would encourage everyone to look at the recommendations of the initial board and offer any ideas they might have.
Valley Street and Irvington Avenue must each be developed in the context of the comprehensive guidelines discussed above, including maximum community input. Every town needs a Valley Street - a place that makes up in utility and a bit of energy what it lacks in beauty. Unfortunately our Valley Street is also a main road into the heart of the town. Some improvements have already been made. We would all prefer a tree lined boulevard, but that is not possible without the sort of massive makeover that I hope no one wants. However, we should insist that everything that goes up is the best of its class - whether it is an apartment building, a Blimpies, or a Pathmark. As for specific ideas, one comes from the Englewood redevelopment. There is a cluster of stores around the Englewood Shoprite parking lot that might be duplicated on our Pathmark parking lot on a smaller scale, perhaps using the building now for sale on the Pathmark lot. Irvington Avenue development must look to the needs of the local community and the university. We must look for stores that can survive by attracting both Seton Hall students and the rest of town. It has been suggested that an expanded version of the Seton Hall bookstore, with more books and clothing, might be viable on Irvington Avenue by bring in shoppers from the campus and the town as a whole.
May 3 - Responses to South Mountain Peace Action Questionnaire Thanks again for your questionnaire, and the accompanying material. When the President began laying the ground work for the military action in Iraq, I joined those people across the political spectrum who feared that going into Iraq at that point might actually make us less secure, would likely bring grief to our military personnel and could leave the people of Iraq only marginally better off than they were. So, in February of 2003, I joined Barbara and a friend from Germany at the march and rally in New York, hoping that a huge turn out would catch the attention of the President. Barbara and I still have a South Mountain Peace Action “BE ABOUT PEACE” sign on our lawn. The news from Iraq over the last few weeks just reinforces my initial doubts. The bombings continue, as we still seem unable to provide properly armored vehicles for our military, or to protect the Iraqi citizens we came to help. So, if I am elected to the South Orange Board of Trustees, you will find a sympathetic ear in your efforts to pass this prize along to the UN, or for that matter, NATO, or any other group that will take on the responsibility. As to your specific questions:
We are borrowing at the federal level to finance the war and to finance huge tax cuts at the same time. The economy is currently showing signs of slowing down, possibly as a result of the growing deficits. And, our children and grandchildren are going to eventually have to pay off the loans that are financing the war and the tax cuts, perhaps, at the same time they are also having to make up the Social Security short fall. To the extent that the election last November was a referendum on the war, and how we are financing it, the vast majority of the voters in South Orange showed they understand the issues. Fortunately, our Congressional delegation also seems to understand the future economic problems the war and our growing deficits will cause. As a trustee, I can set a good example of fiscal responsibility at the local level, and I can provide support for current and future public officials at all levels who advocate fiscal responsibility. I intend to make communication with my constituents a key part of my service as a trustee, through visits to local groups, my website, and regular office hours. I can use these means of communication not only to learn of my constituents concerns, but also to communicate my concerns to them, including my concerns about the impact of national and state economic policies on the financial health of our community.
The trustees take an oath of office to uphold the Constitutions of New Jersey and the United States. So, protecting first amendment rights and the right to privacy come with the job. As an attorney, I also have a similar responsibility. As a general matter, a good legislator should review every piece of legislation thoroughly, and this includes its impact on the rights of citizens. Interestingly, at several candidates’ forums, questions have been asked about our attitudes toward protecting basic rights, and every candidate for trustee has given a strong and clear signal that he or she respects our fundamental rights. With particular regard to homeland security, the trustees must work to maintain adequate local police protection, and lobby for a fair share of homeland security money. We must also use our platform to lobby against the notion that true security requires sacrificing personal liberties. Anyone who watched the Kean Committee hearings, or read its report, knows that real security comes from our being smarter, more imaginative and better organized. That requires a free and open society.
As noted above, I intend to make communication with my constituents a key part of my service as a trustee, through visits to local groups, my website, and regular office hours. I can use these means of communication to learn of my constituents concerns, and to channel public input into public policy. I would be interested in hearing from all groups in the community to help me do a better job, and want to participate in worthwhile community actives including those organized by South Mountain Peace Action.
Wars, military spending and national security have dominated all our lives. America has been involved in a major hot or cold war every decade of my life. Sometimes we have had no choice, but often we have blundered into war, or failed to take smart steps early on that would have eliminated the need to go to war. I think the fundamental way we must all address these issues, and it isn’t uniquely a responsibility of public officials, is to make sure America has the best educated kids in the world. Not just calculus and computers, but history, politics and the ability to sort out facts from propaganda. We need kids who read newspapers, watch and listen to the news, who can think and reason and who know how to learn from our mistakes. We can start right here in our own communities be supporting our schools. South Orange must work with the Board of Education to make sure our schools and students are the best they can be.
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