Saturday morning was one of the most rewarding days of my career. As Vice-Chair of the New Jersey State Legislative Black Caucus, I had the opportunity to chair a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Shirley Turner, and Governor Jon Corzine and five of his cabinet members. The meeting was focused around some of the crisis issues concerning our great State of New Jersey; the Federal Stimulus Package, corrections (gangs), education, health, labor, and the budget. Being able to receive such information first-hand in order to share it with the mayors and residents within my legislative district brings me great pleasure. Thus, upon receiving the eight hours of information on Saturday, my first priority was to share it with our community, taking the high road when compared to ill-informed local blogs.
It was very rewarding to have the Governor discuss his satisfaction with Plainfield in how the murder rate has drastically dropped over the past few years during Mayor Sharon’s administration. While reviewing the statewide numbers, it is clear that the Governor’s policies aimed at thwarting crime in the State are beginning to pay their dividends. His praise of Public Safety Director Martin Hellwig’s efforts in sustaining community safety and his workability with his staff attest to what the Governor has been laboring after these past few years.
Regarding the stimulus package, New Jersey is in a good position in the realm of awareness when it comes to the outlines and guidelines of the financial aid we will receive. I have to agree with Doc in that he is right in some of his comments regarding the package moving from the House to the Senate, and there being a hold up in the Senate. With that being said, how could anyone say that Plainfield missed their deadline when the package is still in negotiation? To those who spread misinformation: when you do not have a clue as to what you are talking about, and stand behind it like it is a bonded word, you end up looking very foolish.
To ensure the fact that the funding from the stimulus package, once it is passed, is appropriated fairly and out of necessity throughout the State of New Jersey, Governor Corzine has constructed two committees to monitor such actions. He has asked me to work directly with the new director who will monitor these two committees. One committee will provide the function of monitoring allotted funds that can be used in this year’s budget, while the second committee will oversee the balance of such funding. This is precisely the sort of initiatives our President is communicating that he wants to see; a unified front statewide that aims to foster and sustain efficiency and effectiveness.
I look forward to sharing this information with the Mayor and Council President so that we can institute projects that will meet the criteria outlined by the federal government. Some of the recommendations of projects to jumpstart would be the roads here in Plainfield, and any infrastructural projects that we have on paper, but have not been able to act on due to the lack of financial backing, such as our IT System. From the Governor’s standpoint of building up infrastructure and sustaining it, these sorts of projects are of TOP priority. With that, one of my first phone calls this morning was to the Mayor and Administration to ensure ‘i’s and ‘t’s are dotted and crossed when the funding from the stimulus package is available for our State. This same initiative is being carried out for the municipalities in my district who are experiencing problems like that of Plainfield.
Governor Corzine made it very clear that this year, on a state and local level, municipalities are urged to keep their taxpayers first in terms of policies and legislation. Other than the proposed stimulus package, there will not be much more coming from the federal and state government, thus the belt-tightening should be in full effect. Locally, governments will not be able to enjoy the past luxury of relying on state and federal bailout relief due to unwise budgetary decisions. Local governments statewide will need to examine their budgets and make sure their tax dollars are being wisely spent.
For this reason, I have asked the State of New Jersey to provide more detail to local governments regarding the Pension Deferral Plan. Local governments, like Plainfield for example, should be given more information so that they can FULLY examine the principles of the Deferral Plan and make the right decision for their municipality. The County of Union has already reached out and supports the plan because it will save Union County taxpayers over 4 million dollars.
Due to this financial crisis we are experiencing, I am asking that every town in my district thoroughly examine the affects of this plan in the short-term as well as the long-term. I applaud the State for not putting added, undue pressure upon local governments across our State because this issue is very sensitive to each province. As Chair of Housing and Local Government, I am receiving many calls regarding this issue because, like all things, there are pros and cons. No one enjoys raising taxes, but there will be some towns that will need assistance, otherwise they will face bankruptcy. This is why it is vitally important that towns closely examine this plan before making their decision.
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