Here ‘tis, m’dear, April just popped into the picture. With Easter early this year, we can now settle into a slight, ever sooo small, respite before the big summer slog through all the things we do around these parts. April is a time to get things organized as we move toward the warmer weather and things that have to do with summer.
In our little corner of the universe, that means the City Council will be holed up in its chambers perusing the budget document Herroner announced two weeks ago. In fact, tonight at the Actors Colony in the Harriett North Room, the annual budget public hearing is gonna take place. There might be a few wry commints from the public concerning the jump in taxes. That always brings a few people out. I guess the city is gonna hike taxes about 1.79 mills, so everyone will hafta pay 36.60 mills before the levies for the fire districks are put into the mix.
Whether there is gonna be a hue and cry, one never knows. In years past, rises in taxes were shunned by the political class, and, to a certain extent, that shunning didn’t help the city’s situation. This year’s spending plan is just short o’ $10 million over last year.
But getting back to the council members. After the meeting, the real work starts for them, and it’s gonna be interesting how the newer members take to the schedule. Usually, the council opens the meeting with a quorum, talks things over, but really gits into the nitty gritty later in the month. In order to make sure they can do things, that foist meeting ain’t adjourned, it’s suspended. That means effen they only have a few people attending the original quorum stands. It’s a sleight of hand as regards Roberts Rules of Order, but ‘tis used by many bodies when these things come around.
This is the most tedious time for the council – and things could get tedious as the regular twice monthly confabs. Like I said, it’ll be interesting to see how the new members take to the system. It’s a lotta work in a very short time, and has exhausted many a member. April ain’t liked by many a former council member because of past budget discussions.
As far as the budget itself, I guess the biggest thing to be noted is that the Bored of Ed is getting a $2 million increase in the proposal, and it is the foist one in a while. What with inflation the way it is, and the fack that some things were done with one-time funds, I guess it was to be expected that there was gonna be an eventual increase.
Cobina ain’t ever been one to equate dollars with quality of education. Look at the big cities around us. They spend more per pupil than most places, and I wouldn’t call the results a large success.
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Sammy Bluejay looked over the budget plan, and sez he’s gonna make sure he perches himself outside the fire districk meetings in the First Taxation and West Shore Districts. They hafta set their budgets, and do so this month – unless the package is challenged in a referendum. We ain’t had many o’ those in God’s Li’l Acre in a long time. There was a time when it seems there was one or two – or in the years that Allingtown was independent, three a year. Those fire districk meeting used to be quite the show for those looking for one.
Like at the city level, the fire districts haven’t been the bar brawls that they were some years. In fact, I hesitate to bring it up, but the “C” word hasn’t been used in a longtime, either. Though, the Municipal Accountability Review Board likes to mention it each year, the matter is perty much on the back burner.
Consolidation of the city’s departments had its last go-round when the city charter was amended about a decade ago to allow the city to even talk about and allow for discussion. That is how the Allingtown Fire Department was dissolved and came under the umbrella of the city.
But since that happened, there ain’t been too much discussion about t’other departments coming into the fold. And, quite frankly, unless something happens that changes minds, Cobina don’t think it’ll be a matter for discussion anytime in the near future.
Unlike Allingtown, which was established by state law, the other districks are under home-rule legislation, and the hurdles that hafta be jumped for the city to git involved in one department would take a while, maybe years. And, there don’t seem to be any political will to do so. And remember, even effen the departments dis wanna consolidate, they would hafta be debt free, or the city would hafta assume the debt. Effen yew wanna see budget meetings like 40 years ago, put that on the table.
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With the coming of spring, we see Herroner is making blight and cleaning up the city a major part of her program. Jest last week she had a presser and announced the formation of Blight Taskforce, that is made up of several city departments, and is gonna go after various things that make certain areas of the city not so nice to look at.
Nelly Nuthatch was perched outside the Harriett Nawth Meeting Room listening to the announcement, and took note that absentee landlords are gonna come under scrutiny. That’s a good thing. For a lotta years investors have come into town and bought up contiguous properties and rented them out for lotsa money, but many of them are only in it for the money, and do little to improve the properties.
Rents in our little corner are perty steep and getting steeper. Meanwhile, improvements are surface or cosmetic at best. This new task force will look and make sure the city’s regulations are follyed, and will require that each absentee ownership have a live person as a contact.
As Herroner said in her announcement too many seem to hide behind LLC’s and other corporate entities, and nothing ever gits done because there is no one to answer.
Effen the task force could git that part of the program into play, it’ll probably help many neighborhoods look better.
There is gonna be cameras put in areas where dumping takes place. We can think of about four or five locales in the city where people seem to dump trash and furniture and nobody sees it. Cobina ain’t been on Marginal Drive or around Stevens Avenue or Morris Avenue in a while, but the last time she was, those places were mini dumps. Effen something can be done with those areas and a few more, great!
All in all, there seems to be a new effort to get things in order so that our town can lose the epithets that outsiders, and some of our insiders seem to use. We shall see what happens.
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The Wag was in t’other afternoon and sez that members of the constabulary and the commissioners are hoping the MARB (Municipal Accountability Review Board) will get its act together and approve the new contract for the WHPD with a pension provision. It seems that another one or two young officers, who were trained by our taxpayers to the tune of $100K are going to other departments.
This is an issue that this papyrus brought to light almost three years ago, and one would have thought that now things are moving in that direction the MARB would be a help, not a hindrance. Part of its task of “review” should be working with the city and offering some suggestions. Nope. From what we hear things are still at arm’s length.
Until we git the pension back for our police force, officers are gonna stay for a while and then look to greener pastures. It don’t take a rocket scientist to figger it out. And, the costs lost in training people who aren’t gonna hang around can be just as debilitating as pension contributions.
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A few years ago we made a pernt to seek info about Beach Street, and mentioned it each week. We might hafta do the same things with the proposed library/Allingtown Fire headquarters that is proposed for the Post Road. It’s been over a years since anything was announced, and it’ll be nice to see how or if things are progressing. Allingtown is in need of a library and the FD is in need of a new headquarters.
Effen the two entities think they can cohabitate well in the same construction, let’s see what happens. But until a real plan is put underway, it’s just talk, talk, talk.
With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,