--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "wernerapnj" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> History is always part of the future in a holistic, functional
> environment.
> Unfortunately not in the "Asbury park Zone" tick,tock ...tick,tock
>
> Werner
Dear Group members,
Werner is surely right about history. That's why I bring up a
little of the recent and not-so-recent history of the bond issues
voted on and still being paid for by the taxpayers in the following
long (what else?) letter that I've given to the Coaster. I've
requested that they publish in their next edition:
"Of Heels and Healing"
In any town other than ours, a Little League team would be encouraged
by the "powers that be" to continue to instill discipline and teamwork
in our young people. In Asbury Park, it has become just another
struggle. Do the kids in Holmdel or Colts Neck personally have to
raise money to improve their ballfield and then face the prospect of
eviction? That's the situation we are faced with in Asbury Park
because the state "monitor" who has been here for five minutes
promulgates an edict while hiding behind some legal sleight of hand
provided to him by our highly paid law firm. How far do you think
that Mr. Mark Cowell would get if he had declaimed such a dopey decree
in the town he comes from?
Although I am a member of the school board, I do not speak for
that body. However, with the help of some folks with longer memories
than I, it is easy to expose the legally questionable and gross
injustice being perpetrated here.
In 1996, the BOE at the time commissioned a plan to improve the
fields between the High School and Deal Lake and which are adjacent to
our classic 1925 stadium. A list of improvements were proposed that
were estimated to cost 1.8 million dollars. That plan was the basis
for the 1997 two million-dollar bond issue that was passed
overwhelmingly by the voters of Asbury Park. The centerpiece of that
bond issue was the refurbishing of the stadium, but there were many
other upgrades contained in the bond issue covering not only those
fields, but the elementary school playgrounds as well.
In public statements by James Famularo, the Board president at
the time, and in the official public forum called to discuss the
details of the bond issue, three separate ball fields were proposed.
The three were to be distinctly designated baseball, softball, and
little league fields, and money was earmarked specifically for these.
That agreement was memorialized in a 1998 map of the property
designed by the Avakian Engineering firm. The three ballfields are
clearly delineated. The Little League field is marked exactly where
it is today.
In 2000, the people of Asbury Park increased the amount to finish
the renovations by 1.4 million dollars. What did they get for that
combined 3.4 million dollars? Other than a decent stadium and running
track, your guess is as good as mine.
We are still paying for those bond issues. We are now being
asked to refinance (legal term: "re-fund" them) in order to get a more
favorable interest rate. It's like refinancing the mortgage on your
home. But in this case, there's a big difference. The voters of
Asbury Park never got what they have been paying for, including an
improved Little League field. To make matters worse, the Little
League is now being told by an outsider that the improvements will
never be allowed where the people of Asbury voted to put them.
To my mind, it's classic "bait and switch". Suppose you bought a
really nice house and paid a premium price for it, but after the real
estate closing you found that you had really only bought a rusty old
trailer. But you accepted it anyway, and poured years of sweat and
hard-earned resources in trying to make it the best trailer around.
It was only a trailer, but it was a home that you and your children
could be proud of. You were still busy raising the funds to make it
even better. Along comes a new banker in town who does not know you,
your history, or your struggle to make a decent home for your extended
family. The new banker makes the snap decision that you can no longer
live in the home that you had restored so lovingly. Even though the
real estate map clearly shows it is your property, you are told to
pick up and leave.
If we are asked to refinance a bond issue that made commitments
that were never kept, and we also refuse to make good on those
commitments a decade later, then I cannot support it. If we renew the
bond issue financing, then I believe we are obligated to renew and
deliver now on those legal commitments.
As chairperson of the board's finance committee, I have conferred
with the present school business administrator and am prepared to
offer resolutions to that effect. With his help, I am in the process
of reworking and rewording resolution templates he has provided me
with, and hope to be prepared to move them at Wednesday's BOE meeting.
I also believe that tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer
money have been wasted by our law firm to fashion elaborate monkey
wrenches to thwart the Little League's plans. They have spent this
money even after the clear direction was given to them in several
unanimous votes of the board to move forward and approve the Little
League's plans. Therefore, as chairperson of the finance committee, I
am also reworking and rewording a resolution template provided by the
current business administrator to remove the law firm from decisions
relating to the Little League.
Of course, these resolutions must be seconded and voted on by a
majority of the school board members in order to effectuate them.
Sadly, there is no guarantee that we can muster the votes of five BOE
members.
That takes us back to the state "monitor", Mr. Cowell. The
Commissioner of Education has stated that he has veto power over the
actions of the elected BOE members. So no matter how many clear
resolutions we pass, the state "monitor" can veto them.
History is always instructive. Our school system, with its huge
amounts of financial resources provided from Trenton, has a long
history of educational and fiscal mismanagement. Although we were
making great strides, in my opinion, to correct long-term misfeasance,
the State has chosen this moment to send in a "monitor". That in
itself is not the problem. We can use and should welcome monitoring,
if it really is just that. But think back to what you learned in high
school. After Lincoln was assassinated and his plan to heal the Union
died with him, the "carpetbaggers" arrived. They helped no one but
themselves, and in their zeal to punish the sins of the South, caused
untold misery for those whom they purported to help.
The first commandment that a bureaucrat obeys is "Thou shalt
never admit a mistake." Before all heels are dug in and no healing
can take place, it is time for the state "monitor" to admit a mistake
and reverse course now.
Frank D'Alessandro
December 13, 2007
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