Three Republicans and two Democrats have filed to run in this year’s election for the Township Committee, TLS has learned.

The candidates are seeking to fill two seats on the Committee – one Republican and one Democratic. Up for re-election this year, is long-time Township Committeeman Ray Coles (D), and Committeeman Steven Langert (R). Running alongside Ray Coles, will be Moshe Raitzik, and from the Republican side, Mike D’Elia Senior – who currently serves as a Fire Commissioner – will be running with Steven Langert. 

Also filing for the candidacy, is Joel Schwartz, a BOE member, who filed as a Republican.
D’Elia was endorsed by the Regular Republican Organization of Ocean County, as first reported on TLS, and Raitzik was endorsed by the Democratic Party.

Joel Schwartz was not endorsed by the Republican Party, but ran with his own slogan of “Restore Quality of Life”.
The deadline to file was 4 PM today.
The Primaries are June 3rd. General Elections are November 4. [TLS]

Submitted to TLS by Chesky Seitler:

Although I am happily retired from the BOE for almost 3 months now, I have been asked by Members of the Igud Hamosdos to clarify some misconceptions about the BOE budget and the “crisis” that has erupted. I would like to preface, that I understand what it means to be a shliach tzibbur in this thankless job and in no way am I making any negative comment about anyone who undertook upon themselves this great Mitzvah to help our precious children and the entire Lakewood. Let me begin with a few facts vs fiction.

Fiction – The current budget does not allocate enough for Transportation, only 16 million vs 19 million last year
Fact – The current budget actually allocates 21,130,000 for transportation which is 1.5 million more than last year. This mistake was first raised in October because the budget line items were inadvertently left in an old format and the new BA at the time did not re-allocate the monies to the correct line item. SO while the Transportation budget had the increase, the extra money was put into Special ed transportation and all that was required was a routine transfer. It was this error that had caused the original “crisis” and it was when this was pointed out that the “crisis” was adverted. It seems that this “crisis” has resurfaced after I left, and I am surprised to see that some District officials are still making this mistake. I offered to provide any assistance necessary to the new Budget chairman when making the new budget as things like this are required knowledge before drafting a budget. I was never taken up on the offer, though. Anyone who wants can see this for themselves on the BOE website, just look at the total allocation for transportation and it is all very clear.

Fiction – The last 3 years the BOE depleted reserves that were there and left the District with no surplus
Fact – Any budget surplus/shortfall that is announced in the middle of a fiscal year is nothing more than a projection. These projections are almost always based on mistaken facts. The only real number is the final audited number released in July of every year, of the exact amount of surplus that was left on June 30th. On June 30th 2010 (right when the “new Board” come in) the surplus was approximately 2.5 million dollars. On June 30th 2013 (the last budget that the new board so through to the end of the year) the surplus was 1.7 million. A reduction of less than a million dollars. Not something that can be blamed for a 9 million dollar increase in taxes!

Fiction – The last 3 years the BOE did not put away enough for savings.
Fact – State law does not allow a District to hold in surplus more than 2% of their budget, in our case a little over 2 million dollars. Any additional surplus MUST be used towards tax relief.

Fiction – The BOE did not tax enough for the current fiscal year.
Fact – As was correctly stated, the law does not allow the District to exceed the 2% cap. Last year we taxed at around 6% using a list of exceptions to that law, not the least of which was the fact that we had not raised taxes in 3 years and we had “banked caps” that were available.

Fiction – The District had unexpected expenses this year.
Fact – While there were some expenses that were for capital improvements, the idea was never for those expenses to come out of the operating budget. It was supposed to be rolled into a 20 year bond issuance which was supposed to go to referendum in January or March of 2014 but never did. By not going to bond, it has caused a shortfall in the budget. The capital improvements were for things like the HVAC system in the High School (about 850k) The new BOE offices in the High School, (about 1.5 mil) deferred payments on debt service (about 1.3 mil) amongst others.

Fiction – The District had a large increase of children this year more than previous years.
Fact – The District has had these increases the last 2 years and the increases were steadily rising each year before that. The way we were able to keep taxes down and services up was by being creative. We attacked the single vendor system and were able to double services with the same amount of money. We merged certain bus routes and were able to offset the increase of student population. We negotiated a 2 year zero increase contract for the teachers union. Amongst other measures. The proposal to save 7 million dollars on courtesy busing encompasses ANYONE who lives within 2 miles of the school even if it means crossing a hazardous road. The amount of courtesy busing for those living under 2 miles and who are not required to cross a hazardous road is less than 500,000 dollars. This rule will affect almost every family in Lakewood either for all or some of their children. In summary, while I expected a severe tax increase (albeit not 9 million dollars worth!), I had thought that there would be some collaboration with the new board so that the Klal would not be hurt. For reasons unbeknownst to me, that has not happened. The damage to our busing has already been done by the mere suggestion, however that damage can be somewhat controlled if it is immediately taken off the table.
There are better ways, the last 3 years are proof of that. Wishing the Board Members much Hatzlacha, Chesky Seitler

To those that still check this website for any rare updates, I would like to wish EVERYONE a happy and healthy new year. Many people are asking me why this website is no longer updated regularly. There will be an article coming up in the future explaining why I am no longer active in any advocacy of ANY sorts. I am not "burnt out", I have not been threatened, I am not worried about shidduchim for my children, nor have I been paid off to keep silent. Suffice it to say that we are at a point where repairing the problems in Lakewood is highly unlikely. There is a litany of issues, and players with conflicts of interest that are destroying our town. Until now I felt that shining a light on these problems could be beneficial in resolving them, but there is only so much I can do.
I would like to thank all those that supported my efforts until now. I am in the process of writing what is becoming a novel about the inner (non) workings of Lakewood politics. Until that is completed, all I can say is we really need to pray for a good year.

Sincerely HH

A controversial electronic billboard along the Margate Causeway could be demolished by December, following a judge’s order that it be torn down.

Superior Court Judge Julio J. Mendez on Aug. 23 ordered the owners of the billboard to file a demolition plan within 45 days, with the teardown happening 60 days later. Mendez’s order became public Wednesday.

Richard Levitt, a Northfield resident who challenged the billboard when its brilliant glare made sleeping difficult for him and his wife, said he was glad.

“Well, we’re obviously thrilled,” Levitt said. “We knew from the beginning it was constructed illegally, and now we are on the path to having the right thing done.”

His attorney, Stephen Hankin, described the potential demolition as “a major victory for the public.”

“You have no idea of the scores of calls I have gotten from people I haven’t heard from in years” who wanted the billboard gone, Hankin said.

Chet Atkins, president of billboard owner Jersey Outdoor Media, said, “The only thing I really have to say is it’s not over until it’s over.” He declined to say whether he had filed or planned to file an appeal.

His attorney, Peter Boyer, said he had seen the order but declined comment because he had not talked with his client. Boyer also would not comment on plans to appeal.

At issue is a 50-foot-tall electronic billboard approved by the Egg Harbor Township Planning Board in September 2011 and built on the causeway in early 2012. It operated for only two months before legal challenges pulled the plug by June 1, 2012.

The state Department of Environmental Protection found that wetlands had been improperly filled in to put up the billboard. The application was refiled and subsequent township Planning Board hearings reauthorized the billboard, but it remained dark.

Mendez’s ruling last week was a victory for the people who opposed putting up the billboard, but it was also a sharp rebuke to the township’s Planning Board.

Mendez ruled the board authorized the proposal without two key variances from the township’s Zoning Board, improperly mixed business and commercial zones, and ignored the clear intent of the relevant billboard ordinance.

Levitt, who chairs Northfield’s Planning Board, called on Egg Harbor Township leaders to step in.

“I would just hope at this point the township takes a responsible look at what the citizens of adjoining towns are asking them,” Levitt said. “I hope they are willing to listen to the public at this point.”

Do cities gain from subsidizing sports teams?

The National Hockey League season doesn't start for another three weeks, but already hockey fans in Glendale, Ariz., are counting an unexpected victory. Four years after the Phoenix Coyotes went bankrupt and were taken over by the league, prompting endless rumors that the struggling franchise would relocate to Quebec, Seattle or parts unknown, new owners were approved this month who have promised to keep the team in Arizona.

It's a victory, though, that will come at a high price. To secure the sale, the Glendale city council agreed to a new lease that requires the city to pay the Coyotes' owners $15 million a year as an "arena management fee." If the deal runs its full 15-year course — not a given, because the new lease allows the team to leave town if it’s losing money after five years — the Coyotes' new owners, a pair of Canadian investment bankers, will end up collecting more from the city of Glendale to run the team than the $170 million they're spending to buy it in the first place.

City officials say they had little choice. Glendale mayor Jerry Weiers, who in his acceptance speech last fall warned the Coyotes, "Glendale is not your cash register," has now resigned himself to paying for pro sports, saying, "The council made its decision, and my job at this point is to do everything in my power to make this thing a success." His predecessor, Elaine Scruggs, insisted that paying the Coyotes was cheaper than letting the team leave: "What shall we do — lock it up, turn off the lights and then pay the debt on the arena?"

The answer, say many economists and sports business experts, is very likely yes. There's no way a city like Glendale will see enough of a boost to its local economy to make lease subsidies pay off. And, they warn, the Coyotes deal is a sign of a new trend in the sports industry: After a 20-year period during which, according to Harvard researcher Judith Grant Long, about $18 billion in public money was spent on a wave of new stadiums and arenas, team owners looking for a leg up on their competition are now demanding additional cash to run the buildings they got for free.

"They always do come up with clever little tricks," says Rick Eckstein, sociology professor at Villanova University and co-author of the book Public Dollars, Private Stadiums. "Just when we think we’ve seen it all, they come up with something else."

This summer's new lease isn't the first time that Glendale has anted up public cash for its hockey team. The suburb of 230,000 people was already on the hook for $9 million a year in debt payments on its new arena, a building for which the team's owners paid only $1 a year in rent. (Glendale also spent $200 million on Camelback Ranch, a spring-training baseball facility for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox.) In 2010, after the Coyotes' bankruptcy, Scruggs poured in an additional $50 million in management fees over two years, raiding its landfill, sanitation, water and sewer funds to raise the cash.

The result of all this sports spending has been a massive hit to the city's budget at a time when Glendale was already furloughing firefighters, closing public pools and shortening public libraries' hours. Last month's Coyotes lease subsidy came shortly after the Glendale council discussed a proposal to sell off its city hall to help pay for the previous round of Coyotes payments. 

"Our police and fire departments were the first ones that started seeing their budget cut back," says Ken Jones, a Glendale resident who led several unsuccessful attempts to force a public vote that could have overturned the Coyotes lease deal. "Libraries were hit pretty hard. They raised our water bills 80 percent, our sales tax was raised, and our property tax was raised. They have robbed the things that people really expect to get from their taxes in order to keep supporting sports."

The first sports team owner to cash in on this pay-to-play tactic was the New Orleans Saints' Tom Benson, who in 2001 capitalized on rumors that he was considering moving his NFL team to convince the state of Louisiana to pay him $186.5 million over the next 10 years to keep playing at the Superdome. In 2010, the owners of the Indiana Pacers basketball team followed suit by demanding — and receiving — $30 million in "operating subsidies" over three years to remain at Conseco Fieldhouse, the arena that the city of Indianapolis had spent $183 million to build nine years earlier. (As in Glendale, Pacers owner Herb Simon, a billionaire real estate developer, paid just $1 a year rent.)

To pay off the initial Pacers arena cost — plus the $650 million that it sank into a new stadium for the Colts football team — Indianapolis' Capital Improvement Board had already cut off all of its arts and tourism grants the year before. To help fill the new gap, Mayor Greg Ballard funneled city property-tax revenues to the board, even as he asked city agencies to reduce library hours and close public pools because of budget shortfalls.

"Indianapolis might be a great place to visit, but it should be a better place to live," says Pat Andrews, a longtime Indianapolis community activist and blogger who has closely followed the Pacers deal. In addition to cuts to parks, transit and other services, she notes, the city police force has stopped recruiting new officers because of budget cuts, and murders have risen dramatically this year. "The basic services of the city are suffering at the same time the Simons and [Colts owner Jim] Irsay are making out like bandits."

Simon, meanwhile, agreed only to keep the Pacers in town through 2013 in exchange for his $30 million in cash. The city's Capital Improvement Board has since negotiated a one-year lease extension — along with yet another $10 million in payments to the Pacers — while it works out a long-term deal, one that Andrews worries will cement annual operating subsidies in place for good. (CIB officials declined to comment for this story.)

Even team owners building new stadiums have begun seeking annual operating subsidies.Earlier this year, when Atlanta agreed to provide billionaire Atlanta Falcons owner (and Home Depot founder) Arthur Blank with $200 million in hotel tax money to help pay for a new stadium to replace the 20-year-old Georgia Dome, it tacked on an additional bonus: Any leftover hotel tax money after the first $200 million would spill over into a so-called waterfall fund that Blank could then tap for any future maintenance or operating expenses. Estimated cost: an extra $300 million. 

In an effort to be transparent the Lakewood BOE attorney responds to Mr. Inzelbuch claims posted on the scoop.

Below is the Lakewood Board of Education's official response, to the article that appeared on the Lakewood Scoop.

It was sent to TLS, yet Lazer Hasenfeld, owner and editor of that website REFUSED to post it or  acknowledge it altogether. 

Instead suggested that the BOE debate MI on these issues.

The public has a right to know that TLS is feeding them pure propaganda.

Lakewood is world famous!  Not for its rural beauty. Not worth its stellar institutions of learning. Not for its mix of cultures. Not for its special businesses. It is famous for its Tent City. In this must see video you will see how a couple from Holland cope with living in Tent City for a reality TV show. 

To the right to the left.

 

This singular line sends shudders down the spine of every living Jewish man and woman. "The selection" process of yimach shmoSS-Hauptsturmführer Joseph Mengele personifies perhaps the most barbaric and inhumane period in our long and storied journey through golus. If you appeared strong you lived, weak straight to the gas chambers, if you were privileged, subjected to an experiment.

 

Outward appearance dictated fate.  

 

There is a strong and poignant lesson we can learn from this. Are we as a community in a subtle yet similar vein guilty of this same approach?  The torah teaches us in the parshaof egla arufa "yadeinu lo shofchu es hadam hazeh" and chazal teach us to examine whether we did anything that may have assisted and possibly caused the calamity.  Lo potarnu blo levaya and see Rashi there who elaborates.  Are we student of “left and right”?  Are we judging and condemning young and innocent eighth graders to a "selection" process based upon the criteria of what looks good for my school and not the essence of her true neshama?  

 

"To the right to the left." 

 

Did we do everything in our power not to alienate these bnos yisroel and setting them on a path of destruction because of our refusal to accept them in our community schools?  Are we confident heading into a yom hadin to face our creator and ask him to judge us favorably and not look at our sins and condemn uslamoves?  We seem to be very proud of our 11th hour ability to make sure that all girls are accepted into schools at the beginning of the school year. We pat ourselves on the back for a job well done once again. ”We did it!” Every girl has a place in school!  Amazing!  "Mi keamcha Yisroel!"

 

Yet the public school system manages to function without practicing "to the right to the left" and manages to place every child in school without the hypocrisy of the 11th hour “heroics.”  Mi keamcha Yisroel indeed.

 

Yadeinu shafchu es hadam hazeh!  By the time the innocent “11th hour girl” is “placed” the damage is already done.  We have alienated, lost, and "killed" the soul of a bas Sarah, Rivkah, Rochel v’Leah.  We pat ourselves on the back, "Mi keamcha Yisroel!"  They suffer humiliation at the hand of a system run by ruthless mechanchim who judged them and sent them to the left: a system that these innocent souls can no longer believe in.

 

Yadeinu shafchu es hadam hazeh.

 

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Written by a Lakewood mechanech and parent afraid to identify himself out of fear of retaliation against his children.