An Unexpected Delight on a Sunday Afternoon

It would have been a shame to remain inside the house on such a beautiful Sunday afternoon.  There are always lots of chores to do – even for us retired folks, yet everyone has to take a break.

An unexpected end-of-February photographic catch.
(Image/Dick Bergeron)

Accordingly, Priscille and I decided it was time to go out; to breathe in some fresh air; to collect some vitamin D from the abundant sunshine; and to be fascinated by what nature freely offers each and every one of us with no strings attached – if only we will take the time to pay attention and to take a look at what She puts on our plate.

Pris and I drove north (a short eight-mile drive according to the Garmin GPS), and shut down the engine of the Taurus after arriving in the parking lot of the Quellen Spiritual Center in Mendham. 

Most people hereabouts may not have heard of this place, but it is a jewel of a location set in a nature’s rolling hills, just north of Bridgewater.

Christie’s Proposed new Budget Funnels Increased School Aid into Bridgewater-Raritan School District

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, shown being interviewed
in a one-hour feature this week by Piers Morgan.
(TV Screenshot by Dick Bergeron)

Data released today by Governor Chris Christie’s office shows that school aid for the Bridgewater-Raritan School District for the 2012-2013 school year rose by 12.9%, to $9,087,358, an increase of $1,038,050 over last year’s $8,049,308.

The distribution of that $9,087,358 in state aid for the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District is broken down as follows:

Aid for transportation of children to and from school, $811,013,

Aid for students receiving special education, $5,522,769,

Aid for security, $668,799,

Equalization Aid, $2,084,777

Before this announcement, the proposed 2012-2013 school budget for the Bridgewater-Raritan School District stood at $133,817,689, a 3% increase over last year.  It was already at the 2% tax levy cap allowed by law, and it assumed no increase in state funding.

Christie Presents New & Improved Budget

Before a joint session of the New Jersey Legislature yesterday afternoon, Governor Chris Christie presented his proposed budget for the state’s new fiscal year ending June 30, 2013.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie presents his
administration's new budget, as Assembly Speaker, Sheila
Oliver and Senate President, Stephen Sweeney look on.
(TV Screenshot/Dick Bergeron)

The tally comes in at a hefty $32.1 billion – yet, not only does it not call for any tax increases, but it proposes an across-the-board income tax cut of 10% for all Garden State taxpayers, phased in over three years.

Additionally, the spending plan proposes a $213 million hike in school aid.  This increases the total amount of such assistance by $1 billion since Christie took office two years ago, bringing total school aid in the proposed budget to a record $8.8 billion. 

Claiming that one out of every three dollars in the budget is now being invested in education, Christie said, “We are putting our money where our mouth is.” 

He also emphasized, “We need to give choice and hope to those students and parents now trapped in failing school districts by passing the Opportunity Scholarship Act.”

Christie’s Contradiction

There seems to be a glaring incongruity in what has been Governor Chris Christie’s approach in dealing with two major issues that have recently come before the New Jersey Legislature and his office.  The disputes in question are unrelated to one another, except by the inexplicably dissimilar strategies with which Governor Christie has chosen to address them.
 


NJ Governor Chris Christie fields a question from
the audience at January's Town Hall Meeting in Bridgewater.

The first is the still-unresolved issue of gay marriage.  The second is the painful, but now-settled issue of school budgets.  The common thread that weaves these two disparate matters into a common pattern is the way that the governor has decided that they should be solved.
 
As to the controversy swirling around gay marriage, the Governor has decided that the final voice on the matter should be that of the New Jersey electorate via a state-wide referendum. 
 
Christie feels strongly about that, and has just vetoed a bill that would have placed the union of a gay couple on the same definitional level as that of a heterosexual couple.  The governor has consistently insisted on the notion that the public, not elected officials should make that choice.

Board Decides to Move School Election to November

FLASH REPORT: In a split five-to-three vote at its work session this evening, the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education moved to push the April election for school board candidates from April to November and to correspondingly strip away the vote on the school budget from the local electorate.

Bridgewater-Raritan schools parent Beth Fieseler kicks off a
presentation of the schools' Redistricting Task Force on
Tuesday evening, a previously anticipated event which,
although well-received, was largely overshadowed by a
board discussion and action eliminating the public's vote
on the school budget.

Voting in favor of this move were board members Evan Lerner, Jeffrey Brookner, Ann Marie Mead, Lynne Hurley, and Daniel Petrozelli who was recently appointed to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation of Anda Citroen. 

Those voting against eliminating the public’s ability to vote on the school ballot, and from moving the vote for school candidates from April to November were Jill Gladstone, Cindy Cullen, and Patrick Breslin.  Board member Dr. Arvind Mathur was absent, away on business.

Prior to the BR-BOE’s discussing and taking action on this matter, Mr. Lerner opened the meeting for public comment.  A majority of those who came to the microphone to express their opinion, including this writer, opposed eliminating the vote on the school budget, as well as the move to shift the election for school candidates to November.

Tuesday Night’s School Board Meeting (Feb. 14) could be Decisive

There is a great deal hanging on the eventual outcome of whether or not the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education should move the election of its school board members (including the annual fate of the budget) from April to November. 

Evan Lerner on Feb. 6, as he addresses the Bridgewater
Township Council concerning shifting the school
candidates election from April to November, and
eliminating the public vote on the school budget.
(Dick Bergeron Image)

The most critical impact that this change would have is that you, the voter, will be completely disenfranchised from casting your vote on the budget.  The second most critical impact is the possibility that having board candidates up for election in November might politicize the workings of the school board.

There has been no lack of strong, impassioned views by either side on those two issues.

The BR-BOE first discussed this topic on January 24^th at its meeting in the Wade Building.  Below are a few excerpts from those discussions.

Jill Gladstone:  “I don’t like this bill. I don’t think that it’s right to take the public’s vote away [from the budget,]” while adding that voting on it provides another check and balance on the process.  She emphasized that the legislation “was rushed through quickly . . . I think we should wait a year and see how it works out in other districts.”

Sex, Obama and the Catholic Church

The fierce pushback by the Catholic bishops of the United States to the health care regulations introduced by Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services was highly predictable, and it reflected a major miscalculation by the Obama Administration.

HHS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, and President Obama
at the beginning of yesterday's press briefing on
health care regulations.  (TV Screenshot/Dick Bergeron)

Announced several weeks ago, those regulations would have compelled Catholic organizations such as hospitals, universities, and charities to pay for health care insurance coverage that includes contraception, sterilizations, and abortion-inducing drugs.

This edict was facilitated by the czar-like authority which Kathleen Sebelius possesses under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).  In her pronouncement, she provided for a one-year cooling-off period, during which opponents would be expected to work out a conscience-clause solution that would presumably meet the needs of the Obama Administration and of Catholic service agencies.

But this meant that negotiations would extend well beyond the November, 2012 presidential election.  Apparently, the bishops and others smelled mendacity in the room.

Township Council Leaves Decision up to Board of Education

FLASH REPORT: At its regularly scheduled meeting this evening, the Bridgewater Township Council discussed the question of whether or not to move the school elections to November, including the public’s ability to vote on the school budget.

It decided to defer action on the issue, leaving it up to the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education which will take up the matter at its meeting on February 14th at the Wade Building.

Mr. Evan Lerner, President of the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education stepped up to the mike during the public portion of tonight’s meeting, stated his views and fielded questions from council members.  He concurred with the council that this decision would be better off left to the BR-BOE.

Lerner made it clear that he was speaking merely on his own behalf and not for that of the school board as a whole. He strongly emphasized that he favors moving the school elections from April to November, including eliminating the present right of voters to cast their lots yea or nay on the school budget.

No other member of the BR-BOE was present at tonight’s meeting.

Thanks for reading and stay well. Keep in your thoughts and prayers a member of the council who is soon scheduled to undergo surgery.

Could this man hold the key . . . .

. . . . . as to whether or not the Bridgewater Township Council will take action this evening, February 6^th,  at its regular session meeting  (7:30 P.M.) to separate local voters from exercising their voting privilege with respect to the Bridgewater-Raritan School Budget? 

Mr. Allen Kurdyla listens to the comments of a citizen
at the February 2, 2012 meeting of the Bridgewater
Township Council.

Traditionally, the school budget is voted upon in April of each year, together with the election of three school board members who are installed for a three-year cycle.  There are nine members on the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education, and a different group of three people comes up for re-election annually. 

The new law permits either the school board or officials which serve on the municipal councils of Bridgewater and Raritan to eliminate the ability of Bridgewater and Raritan citizens to vote on the budget.

There are many reasons pro and con for either removing or retaining the ability of local citizens to exercise their voting franchise on that budget.  But that is not the topic of this post.

Union takes off the Gloves with School Board Members; Councils may Preempt the Board

In a Facebook entry which was still on the Web site of the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association at the time of this writing, union leaders called for the removal of any Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education member who will not vote for walling off the citizens of Bridgewater and Raritan from voting on the school budget.

BREA President Steve Beatty addresses the Board of
Education on January 24th, 2012.  (Bergeron Image)

New legislation which recently passed the New Jersey Legislature and which was signed into law by Governor Chris Christie permits locally elected officials (either school boards or municipal governments) to disfranchise voters by taking away their current ability to vote on the school budget which is far and away the largest single component of our property taxes.

The local education union, the BREA, seems adamant in its support for stripping away those budget voting rights. The full text of its statement appears below as written.  The emphasis and paragraphing are mine: