What’s Important to Know About Our Local & State Government This Week….
This week’s newsletter starts with two articles about somewhat similar narratives on initiatives in Berkeley Heights and Warren, which leave residents of both communities with more questions than answers. Despite weeks of effort on our part, the Berkeley Heights Mayor, Council, and Recreation Chair still need to make the Lower Columbia Field lease agreement public and provide a line-by-line accounting of where the funding is coming from. They are asking the public to vote on an open-ended ballot question that hands school property over to the Township for $1.
We move on to the second part of our series on how both political houses in Berkeley Heights are continuing to collude in obstructing the New BOE in repairing the District as a means of creating instability as a potential pressure tactic around the field and to create opportunities machine-backed candidates in the upcoming election.
The newsletter begins to wind down with a thoughtful and comprehensive article from an educator in the community about the school calendar that demonstrates the potential to expand religious holidays and professional development days.
Our State feature brings good news for families struggling with medical debt and NJ workers.
Our notes for the week start with the Township’s disclosure of financial information of 300 residents. There was no public announcement of the disclosure or plan of action as of this write-up and many residents are concerned abut emails sent landing in junk mail. Yet, one article after another about sidewalks and the CMS field that do not address the issue connected to hazardous roads many residents had concerns about earlier in the year or the lease agreement attached to the Columbia ballot question.