Edison Council's last work-session - let's hope it's Joyce Ship-Freeman's Last in the Lead!?!

Whoa - lived in this town a long time but never thought I'd ever see such a demonstration of cluelessness  by a Council President that could top Charlie 'I Abstain' Tomaro's reign - but I was wrong.

I give you Council President Joyce Ship-Freeman. 

Unfortunately, made the terrible mistake of watching the last Council work session today and couldn't believe Council President Ship-Freeman's performance. She clearly comes across as ill-prepared and lost on the issues but worse, she is totally incapable of dealing with dissenting comments from some of the other council members.

Can't believe they spent over an hour on some $333k in engineering fees with her defending the money and Brescher, Coyle and Patil questioning if we're being overcharged. I'll spare you the details but you can watch it for yourself.

Her arguments lacked any substance and when they kept coming at her, she had nothing, nothing but attitude.

Now, let's be fair here - it's not hard not to see here what's going on with this Council-bunch. You got Ship-Freeman, Gomez, Diehl pushing Señor Lankey's agenda and Brescher, Coyle and Patil opposing it - and Joshi somewhere off in the corner still trying on Big-boy pants, so forget him.

So, you had the opposing team egging her on about possibly paying too much money for the engineering services and making their case and she failed miserably in responding. Her attempts to respond came across as pure gibberish but with attitude.

But wait, it gets better. When questioned by Councilman Coyle about transparency and why the Township Clerk wasn't on camera but, in his words, was quarterbacking for her - she went off the deep-end.

If I heard her correctly, she actually said Coyle was misogynistic.

Now, is this the type of meeting that does anything for the People of Edison? Do you really care if the kiddies can't play nice together? It was embarrassing to watch.

Are they working to solve the problems of the People of Edison during this horrific Pandemic where most everyone is worried about paying their bills and keeping a roof over their heads?

Nah - they're more interested in fighting their own battles for position in this politically corrupt one-party town. If they weren't they'd all be working together, in spite of their differences, to make sure the People of Edison were the priority.

Clearly, Ship-Freeman was a bad choice to be Council President in her first-term on the Council. She comes across in her performance as Council President with tunnel-vision, looks disheveled and lost, can't properly handle dissenting views by other council members (no matter how annoying or goating they may be at times) and puts in question whether she's even qualified to fill the role.

I would suggest that she step-down and turn the reins over to someone who can actually do the job but unfortunately, the Council Vice-President is Joshi - and he's got a long way to go before he learns how to put on his Big-boy pants.

So, we stuck with Council President Ship-Freeman. My reaction to that is to Stop watching Council Meeting. I'll try again when they Stop fighting and attacking each other and Start Fighting for the People of Edison. 

And, since the power-struggles within the all-Dem-party Council will no doubt continue on at the expense of the People of Edison - it's not likely I'll be wasting anymore time watching meaningless Council meeting.

Anyhoo, you get what you deserve in this town - so I hope you like what you're really getting now. 

Edison Board of Mythomania Ratifies ETEA & EFMMA agreements at July 20th Stay at Home Meeting

Well, saw the agenda for the July 20th Public Meeting and noticed these two items:

vii.g - Ratification of ETEA Certified & Non-Certified Agreements (to be distributed after privileged session).

vii.h - Ratification of EFMMA agreement (to be distributed after privileged session).

So, lets remember what the last Contract with the ETEA Certified & Non-Certified cost us:

Remember because they give all this money away every three years and then tell you in succeeding years when they're raising your school taxes some more, there's nothing they can do about it - it's contractual. Yeah, you can do something about it - don't give it away.

Well, just out of curiosity, I made an OPRA Request for these agreements and their financial analysis of the Cost to all of us for all these contracts. 

When I get it, I'll share it. Would be nice to know what else they're doing to us over there on Mythomania Lane during this Pandemic.

Anyhoo, big numbers flying around for a Stay at Home Meeting.

Edison Pandemic Property taxes 2020 - Barf!?!

Top 10 Reasons Why You Just Gotta Like Life here in the Political Cesspool of Downtown Edison!?!

10. Because You like the Political Stewardship on both sides of town!?!

9. Because You like the Local Dem-party tax increases year after year and especially the Outrageously High ones during this Pandemic!?!

8. Because You have fond memories of that Sneaky attempt at that Open Space Forever tax!?!

7. Because You like having the Board of Ed elections in November and turning it into a now Local Dem-Party infested attack on your pocketbooks!?!

6. Because You like those Racist flyers from 3 years ago that still go unexplained by the Committee of the Hole!?!

5. Because You like County tax increases so much that you keep reelecting Charlie 'I Abstain' Tomaro to represent you!?!

4. Because You like the inept leadership of this guy so much that you gave him 2 Bites of the Poison Apple on a Ridiculous Plan to fix the Overcrowding!?!

3. Because You like it when Politicians claim to Save You millions but Your Taxes Never Go Down!?!

2. Because You like how Opposing Views are treated by this, arguably, $245k Board of Ed mistake!?!

1. Because You like how the Internal Power Struggles within the Local Dem-party have always been in their interests and have always taken precedence over the interests of the People of Edison!?!

Anyhoo, if You keep doing the same thing, how can you expect things to get better?

Even a Pandemic can't Stop the Local Dems from doing what they do best! Sticking it to YOU!

Well, it wouldn't be Edison without tax increase after tax increase after tax increase - year after year, after year, after year. Looks like nothing's changed, even with a Pandemic putting everyone in difficult situations. Total Property taxes for 2020 according to Señor Lankey's Budget Presentation (excluding Garbage Dist 1 tax) are $5.656, which is up 24.8-cents or 4.4% over last year's $5.628. 

If you live in that imaginary home assessed at $180,400, then you property taxes will be $10,203.42 and your property tax increase will be $447.39. 

If you don't live in that imaginary home assessed at $180,400, then take your home's assessed value divided by 100 and multiply it by $5.656 to find out what your property taxes will be and by .248 to get your property tax increase.

Here's where the 2020 Property tax increases stand right now:

• County tax up 9.7%
• County Open Space tax up 9.6%
• School tax up 1.9% (don't kid yourself, this is where the bulk of all your money goes to get wasted)
• Muni tax up 7.2%
• Library tax up 8.7%

Here's the 2020 numbers and the changes from the 3rd Qtr Estimate and Last Year:

If you expect the 7 Processing Clerks to change anything Lankey has put on the table with his Muni Budget, then think again. History is on Lankey's side with zero changes.

Any Checks & Balances in this one-party town were long left at the Council Chamber doors.

And, oh by the way - expect another 2.9-cent hit to your 4th qtr tax bills. Seems the 3rd Qtr Estimated tax bills understated the Muni tax increase when they went out. Guess they're hoping you wouldn't notice the increase in your 4th qtr tax bills - like they did with the 3.5-cents increase last year.

Anyhoo, can't say we don't deserve what we get here in the 'DemBadLands' of Downtown Edison. Enjoy it!

I wish everyone better than you're getting on both sides of town. 

Ralph Bucci, Peace Out!