Edison Board of Mythomania - Failure to Disclose 'Unbudgeted' Heads to Staff!?!

You know, it's one thing to ask my friends over there on Mythomania Lane to disclose to the residents all these 'unbudgeted' heads they've added over the years but quite another to be told they'll take it under consideration or they're working on it - and then do nothing about it.

That's just Not Nice!

Now, no one recognizes the need for fluidity in the hiring process throughout the school year more than me. No problem there. They do what they believe they have to do as reality rolls in. Problem comes in when they don't tell you what they did and hide it in their budgets you vote on every year.

By doing that, you don't get to have a say in the largest expenditure in the school budget or see the true growth of the staffing levels. If you knew they had already added 'unbudgeted' staff but were still asking for more - wouldn't you ask Why? And wouldn't you want some explanation for the 'unbudgeted' staff added?

So, take a look at their numbers on the staff growth in staff since I've been looking at it:

They've increased their staff by some 394 heads and you never ever saw it! That's a 22% increase in staff just from this hideous practice of not disclosing all these 'unbudgeted' heads in their budgets.

Now, I'm being overly generous here. I'm only talking about the net 'unbudgeted' heads against the total staffing in their budgets. If you look at the detail by position, you can see it's all over the place. For example, in the School Year 2012-13, they've added 7 heads ( 1 Reg. Nurse, 3 Guidance Counselors, 1 Secondary Supervisor, 1 Data System Analyst and 1 Lunch Aide). They've deleted 4 heads ( 1 Health Services Supervisor, 2 Occupational Therapists and 1 Principal) - for a net of 3 'unbudgeted' heads.

Here's where you can see it:

So, there's two things you want to take away from the above schedule:

1. First, always keep the prior year budget you voted on and use that to compare to the prior year column in next year's budget. That's where you'll be able to see all the 'unbudgeted' heads added.
2. Second, don't approve any new School Budgets until they begin to disclose to you what they're doing with Staffing and what they've already done.

Anyhoo, it's just Not Nice for this Board to continue to treat the residents of Downtown Edison with such disrespect - especially since it's not an unknown practice and it's our money they're playing with.

Board of Mythomania's - Staffing Shell Game alive & well?!?

You know, as long as the Board of Mythomania fails to report out staffing changes to their budget and continues to hide all those Unbudgeted changes by failing to disclose it in the budgets you're asked to vote on - and You allow them to continue doing it, then this hideous practice will continue:

Can you seriously believe they've added 394.3 unbudgeted people to the staff over the years and they didn't tell you and therefore you didn't get to see it in their budgets or have a say before you voted?? Believe it, it's true - their own numbers show it. They know it but do it anyway.

Here's what it looks like by year:

Now, don't be confused when they report out additions and deletions by name in their monthly agendas - they don't relate any of that to what's in their budget. It's just a hodgepodge of names.

Anyhoo, until You make them report out their staffing changes to budget and get back some control over the Out-of-Control $pending over there on Mythomania Lane, the largest portion of your tax dollars here in Downtown Edison will continue to go into that Bloated Pot of Money they call a School Budget.

But hey, at least we're comforted in the knowledge that the Edison Council looks at it every time a School Budget is defeated - with eyes wide shut!

Gotta like what goes on in Downtown Edison - unchecked!

Understanding How Your Property Tax Bill works in Downtown Edison

Here's something I put together that may or may not help you understand Your Property Tax Bill here in Downtown Edison. If it does, great - if not, feel free to ignore.

If this works, I'll add another one that will help you understand what causes the Property Tax Rate to change year-to-year.

Promotions & Lawsuit settlements - oh my!?!

Well, after reading the latest bit of Edison news here, there's only one way to describe the long-running dysfunctional politics here in Downtown Edison

JUST PLAIN UGLY

'Under the agreement, the officers and their lawyers will share just over $1 million, the township's labor attorney, Louis Rainone, confirmed. Edison has spent at least $250,000 to fight the various rollback lawsuits, with hundreds of thousands more in legal fees picked up by insurance, Rainone said.'

Joining in the frey is former Councilwomen Melissa Perilstein who chimes in with (referring to Mayor Ricigliano) 'It's business as usual' and 'She had a real opportunity to turn the tide on the unprofessional cycle that has plagued the department. It's a missed opportunity, and it's going to cost the township a fortune.'

With all due respect to Ms. Perilstein, it's hard to take her partisan comments too seriously - she was a staunch supporter on the Council for former Mayor Jun 'RForMe' Choi - and we all know about his tenure as mayor. As with her tenure on the Council - Beware the Perils of Perilstein!

Guess it's true what they say though - we get the the type of government we deserve here in Downtown Edison!

Anyhoo, serious problems require serious people to fix them - too bad there's a dire shortage of them here in Downtown Edison.

EDO sweeps in Downtown Edison

Congratulations to the victors in yesterday's local election here in Downtown Edison. According to the SL reporting here, the results are as follows:

Mayor:
Lankey        8,021    39%
Ricigliano    5,497    27%
Gaspari        4,213    20%
Prasad          2,956    14%
Soni                  47      0%

Council:
Diehl           8,447     15%
Gomez        7,998      14%
Shah            7,842     14%
Resner         5,888     11%
Shukla         5,053       9%
Viruet          4,676        8%
Wan.            3,012       5%
S. Patel.       3,466       6%
Zuckerman  3,479       6%
M. Patel      2,120        4%
Nagel          1,971        4%
Doherty      2,044         4%

Think someone should know what's on your tax bill?!?

"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please." 
Mark Twain

No matter who Wins Edison Mayoral Election - we Lose!

You know, if we could combine the business & political acumen of Lankey, the intelligence and good sense of Dr. Prasad and the people skills of Ricigliano - we'd have the perfect Mayor here in Downtown Edison. But, unfortunately, we can't.

While each has admirable qualities and capabilities you'd like to see and alone would probably be a good choice - they come as part of a package deal.

With Mayor Ricigliano, you get the same people she surrounds herself with now - and that's not a good thing.

With Councilman Dr. Prasad, you get the Jun 'RForMe' Choi connection and the guy who turned 'Reform' into 'RForMe' and that's not a good thing.

With Councilman Lankey, you get what Ricigliano calls the 'Good Old Boys' connection - the old-guard Local Dem Party and we all know how the perils of one-party rule came to fruition under that bunch and that's not a good thing.

So, this election tomorrow isn't about Ricigliano, Lankey or Dr. Prasad - it's about what each brings along with them and, hence, it's about how the town will be run and who controls the township coffers.

Don't be misled by all the self-serving campaign flyers being put out there by these campaigns (see below).

First of all, no one who is part of the process now should be claiming greater accountability and efficiency if they get elected. It's an absurd claim and outright admission that they do nothing about it now as part of the governing body.

Second, don't be fooled by claims of everything done is for 'the people' when clearly things quite contrary were done.

Third, if the Republicans made a concerted effort they might of gained some attention but being 'masters of the obvious' without any discernible plans or solutions doesn't get very far.

Well, here we are - a no win situation if you want our local pols to look out for us, the people of Downtown Edison, and not their own political interests and agendas.

Anyhoo, elections are about winning - not the truth. So, we'll either have more of the same Dem Party in-fighting if Ricigliano wins, back to the 'Good old boys' control if Lankey wins or some more of Jun 'RForMe' direction if Dr. Prasad wins. Whichever way - we lose, and none of the serious issues facing this town are likely to be addressed and resolved.

Whether you see it or not, your only choice is who you prefer to be spending your money and how they spend it over the next four years. That's a tad bit sad for a town the size of Edison.

But hey, at least we're comforted in the knowledge that none of them has anything to say about that bastion of waste and inefficiency - the Board of Mythomania over there on Mythomania Lane!

Here's some of the flyers received; Top to bottom - Lankey for Mayor, Dr. Prasad for Mayor & Gaspari for Mayor. Guess it's easier to attack each other than provide real solutions.