... Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, D-Essex, said Democrats in the lower house ³also want to see the money go directly to cities, not into building a new layer of bureaucracy that obliterates local autonomy. Despite the governor¹s rhetoric, the DCA has always retained proper oversight authority.² (AP Press)
This statement above by Speaker Oliver is complete nonsense. There is NOT proper oversight authority on the extraordinary aid that is given to cities like Asbury Park. When I was on the AP City Council I went down to the DCA Office and begged the Chairman¹s staff to stop giving Asbury Park money until there was true oversight of city expenditures. My concerns at the time were: (1) we were wasting money; (2) because of the waste the state might one day (read now) turn off the money spigot and we should be prepared. I was laughed at by my colleagues. To further move us in the direction of fiscal responsibility/accountability, I pushed for for the first-ever budget hearings within the city. At the hearings all department heads were to present a department mission statement, goals and objectives and their budget line items were to be pegged to the stated objectives. To be frank, I have seen better work from my former high school students than what some of the department heads turned in. Also, during the 8 hours of hearings, I was the only council person that was there, with the exception of Loffredo coming for 45 minutes that¹s a real commitment to oversight. I also suggested that each department run through the exercise of cutting 10% across the board from their budget. I could not get the council majority to support such an effort. Let me be clear, I am not against the aid being given, but these funds MUST be handled with true oversight, not the dog and pony show that the DCA has traditionally accepted from cities like AP to justify the cash handout. Peace, JWK -- Jim Keady, Director Educating for Justice, Inc. j...@educatingforjustice.org 732.988.7322 www.educatingforjustice.org [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: asburypark-dig...@yahoogroups.com asburypark-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: asburypark-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/