Sunday, May 25, 2014

Uh..in case you don't know who I am!?!

I'm Charlie 'I Abstain' Tomaro - it's true, I wrote it on my shirt so I wouldn't forget!


Anyhoo, nice to see Charlie again at Edison's Memorial Day Parade. A Very Nice Parade it was!!

Friday, May 23, 2014

Mayor ChoiLankey's CY 2014 Muni Budget - May 28, 2014! It's almost here!!

Well, here it comes. The agenda for the combined meeting has the Intro of the CY 2014 Muni Budget, Intro of the CY 2014 Solid Waste Budget & Ordinance O.1868-2014. An Ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and establish a cap bank.

Bet you can't wait to see what Mayor ChoiLankey comes up with for this CY 2014 Muni-Budget?

Anyhoo, it's gotta be tough to be the boy who cries wolf here in Downtown Edison - after four years on the Council.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Edison 2014 Muni Tax Increase Guess-ta-Meter - while we wait!

Well, while we wait to find out what Mayor ChoiLankey & his 'Fresh Start Tour' entourage has in store for us, tax increase wise, with their 2014 'DemBadLands' Budget for 2014 - here's thingie to estimate what you think Your Muni Tax Rate Hike will be.

Just take your best guess on how much they will increase the Spending (Muni Tax Levy) - we already know that the Ratables are up some $30 million over last year and that will reduce the tax rate.

Then, drop in Your Home's Assessed Value and see what Your increase will be.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Ah..even in Mayor ChoiLankey's 'DemBadLands' - we still need a 2014 Muni Budget!

You know, just for the heck of it and just out of curiosity - to know the double-secret Muni tax-hike we're gonna get slapped with in August & November property tax bills.

With almost 40% of 2014 over now and, most likely, 50% by the time the 'Fresh Start Tour' entourage gets around to approving Mayor ChoiLankey's Budget for 2014, probably sometime in June - let's call it what it is - a ChoiLankey 6 month budget for 2014 with a bite!

But hey, how more prudent can you be in 'DemBadLands' budgeting - just wait for the actual numbers, less to have to budget!?!

Anyhoo, as the song says - Happy..like a room without a roof?!?




Friday, May 16, 2014

Top 10 Reasons

why Mayor ChoiLankey should just tell us now what the 2014 Muni-tax increase is and skip the Dog & Pony show called a Council review:

10 Because the Council asked Ricigliano for her budget months before the budget year started, yet they've yet to ask Mayor ChoiLankey - months after the budget year started.

9. Because we're 4 1/2 months into the budget year and not one Councilman asked publicly - Where's the 2014 Budget Senor Lankey?

8. Because Rob 'March on Trenton' Karabinchak follows Lankey around so closely and is so in step with him that Lankey has to keep Snickers bars in his jacket pockets just in case they have to stop and talk to anyone.

7. Because Finance Committee members Rob 'March on Trenton' Karabinchak and Alvaro 'KaraMia' Gomez didn't even know there was a 2.9-cent tax increase after their review of the 2011 Muni Budget and after the tax bills were out - and we already paid half the year's Muni-tax increase.

6. Because Mayor ChoiLankey is the Finance Committee and if he wanted to stash money away for a rainy day and didn't want the Council to know - they'd never find it.

5. Because there are no Checks & Balances with Mayor ChoiLankey and his 'Fresh Start Tour' entourage and the only Council Amendment would be to give Perilstein & Russomanno some more money.

4. Because the Council asking Department Heads questions about their budgets (which they most likely have very little say in) is like Karabinchak asking his Council buddies for secret approval for a conflict tax assessor & attorney when he filed his tax appeals - a tad bit hypocritical.

3. Because no one wants to hear Russomanno ask for more money.

2. Because it's a waste of time and money when Mayor ChoiLankey & his 'Fresh Start Tour' entourage already know the outcome - we just don't know.

1. Because the Local Dems have made Edison safe for Hypocrisy and Mayor ChoiLankey, the highest elected official here in Downtown Edison, has just made it into his own 'DemsBadLands.'

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Next-up for Mayor ChoiLankey in 'DemBadLands'!?!

Well, it's gotta be the collective bargaining agreements and the invisible Muni Budget for 2014. Not to worry about the collective bargaining agreements - he should get some help from the caps and the pension and health reform bill kicking in to those who escaped it the first time around.

But where's the Muni Budget for 2014? We already know the School and County raised their taxes here in Downtown Edison - so, where's Mayor ChoiLankey's increase, otherwise known as the Dems 'Stabilizing Taxes?'

Mayor ChoiLankey - now officially Mayor of 'DemBadLands'!

Not surprisingly, just saw here that the Council unanimously passed the Police Odor-nance last night.

That's too bad - not that it passed (it really does nothing) but that Senor Lankey chose his party over the people he serves with this side-step diversion over the next 4 years.



Anyhoo, this side-step away from actually fixing the problems here in Downtown Edison is squarely on Lankey.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Police Odor-nance - truly disappointing effort by Lankey!

You know, I like Senor Lankey and have high hopes for his stewardship but this ordinance he's putting out stinks so much of Dem party politics that you really have to wonder where his head is when it comes to the interests of the people of Downtown Edison. I truly expected more of him - and it looks like that was foolish of me.

While this odor-nance is described as a step forward by his surrogates and Dem Party supporters, it's really just a side-step around the real problems and serves only Lankey & his Dem Party cohorts. It's window dressing to leave you with the impression that they're actually doing something.

Now, the Council will approve this police odor-nance tonight, without question. Nothing unpredictable about this Dem Council following Lankey's lead except why Bob 'See No Conflict' Diehl has put up with Rob 'March on Trenton' Karabinchak this long! Seems that's a bubble looking to burst at any moment.

But I digress, so let's get back to Lankey. While I recognize in the wonderful world of Dem Party politics here in Downtown Edison that there are no permanent friends, no permanent enemies - just permanent interests, you really have to question his hiring practices, his political appointments and his total disregard for his campaign promises.

And, if he continues to let Karabinchak and/or Perilstein to speak for him on important matters, then we just might as well start calling him Mayor ChoiLankeySpadoro! You can pretty much discount anything they say if you remember the first rule of spin - Spin is all well and good, just as long as you don't believe it.

Now, don't misunderstand me, there's nothing wrong with politicians putting the facts in the light most favorable to themselves but it seems here in Downtown Edison the politicians spin stuff so much, they make themselves dizzy. Spadoro was great for that.

And let's face it, Karabinchak doesn't exactly inspire much confidence in our elected officials when he's in control of a public meeting and Perilstein is a Choi leftover who doesn't exactly have a fondness for the police department when you read her writings. And seriously, Russomanno?!? Really!?! When is enough, enough with this Dem Party guy?

So, here's what this police odor-nance means to me. Lankey can't seem to find the balance between the Dem Party and the people he serves and continues to place the interest of the Dem Party over the interest of the people of Downtown Edison - and for that, I truly am disappointed in him.

Anyhoo, at least we're comforted in the knowledge that Lankey had an opportunity to make a major statement about this town but passed on it by sending Rob 'March on Trenton' Karabinchak and his side-kick Alvaro 'KaraMia' Gomez on a fact finding mission instead.

Dems 1 0 People

Guess once a column guy - always a column guy!










Tuesday, May 13, 2014

The 'Rob & Bob' Show - aka, Council Worksession - 5/12/14

Just watched the Council worksession on local access. Just a couple of things of note:

1. Both Rob 'March on Trenton' Karabinchak and Bob 'See No Conflict' Diehl agree that their Campaign Manager, Anthony Russomanno, is a good choice as Mayor ChoiLankey's appointee to the Planning Board. There's a lot of planning coming down the pike and Anthony knows about planning.

Well, there you go - if Rob & Bob think so, then everyone else must be wrong!

2. The 'Rule of 5' is being changed to the 'Rule of 3' in the Police Odor-nance.

Anyhoo, don't just love it when a plan comes together for Mayor ChoiLankey's 'Fresh Start Tour' entourage?!?

Sorry, forgot something. Far be it from me to say how they'll vote on this Police Odor-nance but even with this 'Window Dressing' of an ordinance they've put together - remember that a a 4-3 vote in favor works just as well as a 7-0 vote. Though who wouldn't expect them all to jump on board the Mayor ChoiLankey express - any abstentions aside?!?

Geez, does Super O'Malley work for the Board of Mythomania or vice versa?!?

With Super Dr. Richard 'Build the Trust' O'Malley's employment contract expiring on July 1, 2015, when is the Board of Mythomania going to say something about his publicly interviewing for a new Super position elsewhere.

Recognize that this is a personnel matter but Dr. O'Malley must of been aware that the interview process in Rock Hill, South Carolina was public and proceeded forward with it. Now, I truly am sorry that he didn't get the opportunity to live the lifestyle he wanted but where does this now leave us here in Downtown Edison?

We've invested a lot of time and taxpayer money in Senor O'Malley, so it's not unreasonable to ask what is the Board going to do with someone they know is publicly seeking employment elsewhere.

Just hope he stays and renegotiate a new contract with him and pretend nothing happened? His salary goes to $222,854 come July 1, 2014 - the final year of his contract. Any renegotiation would run into the Super Salary Cap once his current contract expires or is extended. And what happens then?

Silence by this Board is not golden here under these circumstances - it's actually a tad bit disrespectful to the people in Downtown Edison to keep them in the dark.


Anyhoo, this is too an important position for the Board to leave to an unknown - does O'Malley want to stay or does he want to go, and should the Board even want him to stay now? Seems like someone on the Board of Mythomania should be able to explain those answers to the often neglected stakeholders here in Downtown Edison, you know, the ones who pay the bills - the taxpayers.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Edison Sewer Tax Bills are out! Ambush a Reality!!

Let's give Mayor ChoiLankey and his 'Fresh Start Tour' entourage a big round of applause for increasing the Sewer tax rate 35% and 50% for the residential and commercial properties here in Downtown Edison.

Who doesn't like a good Ambush every once in a while?

Anyhoo, don't you just get a kick out of how Mayor ChoiLankey's 'Stabilizing taxes' Political Rhetoric always seems to collide with Reality here in Downtown Edison. That's just Not nice!


Russomanno-Mania in Mayor ChoiLankey's Badlands?!?

Geez, checked the agenda for Monday's Council worksession to see if the Police ordinance was on the agenda and saw Mayor ChoiLankey's appointment to the Planning Board - none other than their Campaign manager himself - Senor Anthony Russomanno.

Not for nothing, but haven't we seen enough of their campaign manager? Recognize 'To the Victor goes the Spoils' but to much of this stuff puts the Stench on the Victor. Isn't there anybody else in town who would be interested in an appointment to the Planning Board?

But hey, let's hope we don't have to pay for his new Township Business card:

CampaignManagerLawsuitSettlementRecipientConstituentRelationsAdministratorPlanningBoardMember

But hey, what do I know, I still can't figure out if Mayor ChoiLankey is or isn't just looking for 'keep busy' work for his Constituent Relations Administrator?!? Don't ever see anybody Consti-tuating around in Downtown Edison.

Anyhoo, I digress, so let's move on to the main point. If you're planning to attend the council meeting and are not quite in favor of the Police ordinance - remember to hand a Snickers bar to the Clerk before you go to the podium to speak and then talk fast when you do. Council President Rob 'March on Trenton' Karabinchak has a slight tendency to be a tad bit expressive to those who don't agree with him.


Mayor ChoiLankey's Appointment:


Friday, May 9, 2014

Top 10 Reasons you gotta like the Police Ordinance!?!

10. Because Rob 'March on Trenton' Karabinchak went on an exhausting fact-finding mission and only came back with his other two faces.

9. Because you're an 'Animal House' fan and you like double-secret thingies like review panels, interviewing and sealed envelopes.

8. Because you like the idea that they're relying on confidentiality here in Downtown Edison to ensure the integrity of and preventing favoritism in the testing and interview process.

7. Because you like the idea that no one in this town will ever get preferential treatment.

6. Because you like the idea that the party that created the problem is taking the responsibility for fixing it.

5. Because you're Happy to see Mayor ChoiLankey's first pick Melissa 'Beware the Perils of Perilstein' Perilstein actually had something to do for her $65k.

4. Because Mayor ChoiLankey and his 'Frest Start Tour' entourage has such a great record in making sure we only hire the best and the brightest here in Downtown Edison.

3. Because you're big on test scores as a major decision-making factor in life.

2. Because you have a high tolerance for the amazing contradiction between the written words in this ordinance and reality here in Downtown Edison.

1. Because 'Window Dressing' only serves those who hold the power and not those good people who serve the people of Downtown Edison and all the residents they serve.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Monroe BoE Passes a School Budget that actually reduces Property Tax Bills by $114!

Wow, there's something you don't see often but saw this piece here about Monroe's School Board passing a budget that lowers the property tax bills. Their school tax portion of their property tax bill will be less than what it was last year! A first in 17 years.

You know, not like we do here in Downtown Edison even when School Budgets are Defeated by the Voters - and the Council turns a blind eye to the residents' wishes and just reduces the amount of the increase. Hence, always an increase in school taxes.

As long as I can remember and checked, we've never had a reduction in our school taxes in any school budget here in Downtown Edison - the Board of Mythomania's School Budgets have always resulted in tax increases - even after Council cuts to Voter Defeated School Budgets.

Just since I've been looking, it's been 22 Years of Continuous School Tax Increases here in Downtown Edison:
But hey, at least we're comforted in the knowledge that the powers that be here in Downtown Edison are consistent - they've consistently taken advantage of the residents and taxpayers.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Edison BoE's Current Staffing - School Year 2013-14

Just received the current staffing data and it shows Staffing of 1,918 with contractual salaries of $127.3 million. The data includes contractual salaries by employee, by contract term, by title, and by department & location. From this data, I put together some summary schedules and a couple of tables to sort the data.

Here's how the Staffing of 1,918 falls by salary range - in chart form:
Here's the numbers for the above chart with a breakdown of the contractual amounts:
Here's the contractual salaries by Department:
And finally, here's some tables that you can use to drill down to the employee level and sort the data to find what you'd like to see:

Anyhoo, anyone interested in having these files, just drop me a note. You're welcome to them.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Senator Barnes got it right - where's the support from Edison's officials?!?

Well, just saw the HNT editorial today here - Internal affairs units need outside help. They support Senator Barnes effort to reform the internal affairs system in New Jersey - and I'm happy to see them do it.

You know, Barnes had it right with Wards when he was a councilman here in Downtown Edison and he's got it right now, especially here in Downtown Edison. Enough of this home-rule mentality and time to open up this one-party town to some outside scrutiny.

Everybody was asking for help with the police department from the chief & police union to the mayor and now that it could happen with Barnes' bill - nobody in Edison's administration wants to step up and support it? What's that all about?

Anyhoo, if it's supposed to be about the people of Edison, then everyone in Downtown Edison should be on board.




Friday, May 2, 2014

Taking 'Politics' out of the Edison PD' - nice metaphoric visual, but come on now!?!

I just saw O.1865-2014 up on the town's website here. An ordinance amending the hiring and promotional process in the Police Division. Apparently, this is up for vote on May 14, 2014.

Also, see the coverage in the local papers here and here with all the local politicians quotes to boot. I'll skip all the usual comments when Senor Karabinchak and other local pols offer their spin of their work and get right to the matter.

First, let me say, I think it's great that everyone is talking over there on Municipal Blvd. and looking for ways to resolve their differences - that's always better than not.

Having said that, it's just a tad bit hard to buy into this ordinance because, under our current structure, you'll never be able to remove 'politics' from Edison's political environment - especially one that the Local Dems have dominated and controlled for years. A party that over the past years sought contributions from the unions and eventually turned power over to them with their policies and contracts.

Now, the same party is going to fix it? Geez, I truly hope they do but just don't see it in this ordinance.

The Local Dem pols still control who gets hired and promoted with their 'Rule of 5' and poorly described 'Clean Record' wording - outside testing, no talking to each other Command Staff evaluations and double-secret sealed envelopes aside.

Maybe I'm wrong but, you see, the ability to grant favors is still there. As someone much smarter than me once said, 'You can's sell power you don't have and you can't buy what is not available.'

Until an environment exists where there are no free rides, this ordinance get things the wrong way around - substitutes a visual image for reasoned change.

Anyhoo, not enough in this ordinance for me to think that things are really going to change that much here in Downtown Edison. But hey, it's a nice thought though - people actually getting hired and promoted based on their qualifications, talents & abilities here in Downtown Edison.