The group that has been seeking a referendum on changing Neptune Township’s form of government has announced that its petition drive has fallen short.
According to the group’s website, it collected about 25 percent fewer signatures than it needed to get its proposal on the November ballot. Monday was the deadline for turning in the signatures to the municipal clerk’s office.
The group had sought to change the current form of government to a Mayor-Council system. This would have meant, according to the terms of the proposal, increasing the number of council members, having some of them elected in wards rather than at large, and having a full-time mayor elected to a four-year term.
— CL
Sorry but … comparing two NYC neighborhoods, or any other major city, to a NJ coastal community like Neptune is just wrong. There have to be better comparisons than that one. I actually like the idea of an advocacy group. That’s a great way to raise questions, stir debate, get answers and advocate for change! Noisier the better! Justify changing things and people will vote for it!
Ogrover,
Attack it as you wish, that is your right. I prefer to look at it in a positive manner. Achieving 75% in 4 weeks during a heat wave tells me that there is something to this and that the people are tired.
As to your concerns about grouping Ocean Grove with other areas, I guess the groups explanation of NYC’s ward 4 in the previous post does nothing for you.
Maybe it’s Ocean Grove that needs to secede instead of Avon? Just sayin
Hope this thing dies off, now. Falling 25% short on the petition leads one to believe this whole thing was completely ill-planned and rushed with far too many questions left unanswered. Other than causing confusion, a salaried political mayor, more paid staffing and even more council positions to run for, there appears to be no significant advantage to Ocean Grove or it’s residents. For one to even consider a ‘ward system’ it would be nice to know which section we’d be aligned with. The thought that Ocean Grove might be grouped with downtown or other areas with their issues gives one a touch of uneasiness.
Call Me Crazy,
We would like to answer your questions. Hopefully, this will help to set the record straight for you and others.
1) Yes, you and the voters are entitled to answers.
We were ready to have WEEKLY educational forums (at OUR group’s expense) all across Neptune. All voters that signed the petition were informed of that, the signed the petition in the spirit of good faith.
We have also had non biased experts in this field from outside of working on that information, and were ready to use noted scholars in the field.
ALL WE WERE DOING WAS ASKING TO PUT THIS ON THE BALLOT SO THAT THOSE EDUCATIONAL FORUMS COULD FORWARD
So, we are not so sure where the fear of unanswered questions is coming from. We had a website where people could easily have sent us questions, such as one of the posters here did. We readily provided answers.
Putting this on the ballot and having a three month discussion would have cost Neptune Taxpayers nothing. And if on Election Day, the votes said no; the taxpayers would have not been on the hook for anything.
However, democracy would have prevailed at a next to nothing cost. Is there anything so wrong about that?
2) This plan of government would NOT have been a cost to our town because this would have provided COST EFFECTIVE government. Thousands upon thousands of dollars of waste could have been controlled with this style of government and that money used to offset costs.
Job Responsibilities (and their allotted money and salaries) would have been shifted to others to mitigate that cost. And yes, our group would have pushed for smaller stipends for our elected officials.
Did you know that Board Of Education members do as much work, if not more than Township Committee people, yet get NO stipends? Why should a Township Committee person get $7000 per year of your tax dollars? It’s supposed to be about public service.
OUR GROUP WILL NOW TURN IT’S EFFORT SHOWING THE VOTES SOME OF THAT WASTE AND THE BAD DEALS FOR TAX PAYERS.
3) We did put up on our website the information about the creation of the wards. If you visit http://www.ng4a.net and send us an email; we will supply that to you.
The truth is that no one knows how the wards would actually turned out. That is LEGALLY a function of a commission outside of Neptune (to provide transparency) if the referendum passed. To have suggested, as one of your elected officials did; that Midtown could have been connected to Ocean Grove was not only divisive but a matter of conjecture. The fact is that Sea View Island could also be connected to Ocean Grove.
Did you know that NYC’s Ward 4 includes both Little Italy & China Town? The nature of those communities haven’t changed despite them being part of a Ward.
THESE ARE THINGS that would have been discussed in a three month long process that would have started August 8th and run up until election day via the forums we mention in point # 1 above.
3) Why did we wait? Because of deep research and legal opinions that take time to develop in order to make sure we were putting the best ideas forward.
NO ONE WAS ASKING ANYONE TO VOTE FOR THIS AT THIS MOMENT.
What we asked was to put it on the ballot so that we could have had three months of information for you and everyone can discuss it.
Now, re: the charges thrown around that this was a partisan scheme. Mind you, these charges seem to be coming from partisan people, the same people who are in power.
Call Me Crazy, 9 out of 10 did sign the petition and WANTED the opportunity to discuss this. That included Democrats, Independents and Republicans. Members of the Black community were especially enthusiastic about signing it because they know our government is broken.
They understood that this was an opportunity to have a great debate.
Perhaps others who are throwing up these arguments might have had faith in our ability and desire to fully explain this over the next three months.
If you didn’t like what you heard, you didn’t have to vote for it. But, it would have cost you as a taxpayer NOTHING to have had that debate.
Finally, for those that continue to suggest this a partisan attempt at something, via their own quotes, the party in power politically suggested that. You must ask why.
ANYONE WHO KNOWS THE DEMOGRAPHICS AND VOTER MAKE UP OF THIS TOWN KNOWS FULL WELL THAT IT WOULD BE NEAR IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE PARTY OUT OF POWER RIGHT NOW TO TAKE CONTROL.
We invite you and everyone still confused about this being a partisan effort to call 732-456-2199. We’ll gladly have a conversation with you about that.
IT’S NOT ABOUT POLITICS, IT’S ABOUT EMPOWERING VOTERS TO HAVE A GREATER VOICE IN THEIR GOVERNMENT
But, this effort to change the style of our government is over. NG4A will now morph into a taxpayer advocacy group willing to expose the waste and bad deals that our taxpayers endure
OhGee… if you care to step out from the anonymity of a blog post I’ll be glad to meet and discuss NG4A with you. I’m easy to reach as my number is in the phone book. Your statement that I am a Republican is false as I am registered as an Unaffiliated voter. NG4A doesn’t have a “Board”, all involved are just common, every day people sharing ideas. I only operate as Treasurer because I have past experience and know how to file Election Commission reports; something we feel is important even though that put my name out in front.
As for the Democratic members of NG4A, they were integral to our deciding to move forward with the effort. We would have been crazy not to have confidence that all three factions (Dem, Rep and Indy) were interested in the idea. Unfortunately the Dems that were part of the team are terrified to lose their seat “at the table” in their party because they speak of something as American as putting a referendum on the ballot. Not only did they decline being out in front but, apparently, they declined to work at all on signature collection. Regardless of how disappointed I am in their effort I will honor their wishes to remain out of the spotlight and thus remain in the good graces of their political party or employer.
Isn’t the larger question: How do we develop a more effective, responsive government with what we have now?
but shouldn’t these folks have had answers to people’s questions, like how much extra it would cost yearly and how the wards were going to drawn, before they asked anyone to just “trust them” and sign on to this?
And if it was such a great idea, why did they wait until the very last minute to do this, instead of starting this earlier in the year, getting all the answers, and being able to give people food for thought instead of what was basically a “we personally can’t win an election with this form of government, so let’s change to one where we might pick up one or two seats if we can find someone to run who hasn’t already lost an election?” That’s what this whole scheme seemed like.
Oh Gee,
The better question might be, did the group ACT in a PARTISAN manner?
Did they ONLY get Republican signatures?
Mr. Lapp, who is the NG4A Treasurer, is a Republican who has previously run for township committee and lost. Until NG4A publicly lists its leaders and board members, I’ll be a Doubting Thomas as to whether they are a truly non-partisan group.
In the interest of full disclosure, as to where NG4A ended up, where our group is going next and the reasons for change; our entire August 1st Press Release is posted on the home page of http://www.ng4a.net
There well may be an interest among Neptune voters for a change in the form of government. That basic question should be established before which of the dozen plus forms available in NJ.