BOE Voting Meeting - December 13, 2016: Legal Fees Controversy

I finished watching the latest recording of the Middeltown Board of Education meeting late Monday afternoon and needed some time to post it to the blog, so that I could process what I had finished watching. And it's good that I did. The Asbury Park Press posted two articles about what transpired during the meeting which saves me a lot of time trying to explain it myself:

Posted online Monday was, "7 highlights from Middletown schools' audit", which pointed out some very good news for the district:

Revenues

• $206,501,974: This figure includes all the money that flows into the district, most of which is property taxes. In 2015, total revenues were $192.8 million.

Property taxes

• $137,004,630: The township schools are the single-biggest contributor to the bottom line on your property tax bill. The district collected about $4 million more from homeowners in 2016, an increase of 3 percent from the previous year. Local taxes make up 76 percent of the public money that fund Middletown schools.

Expenses

• 206,168,208: Transportation was one area that shot up. Getting students to and from school cost $10.8 million, or $866,000 more than in 2015.

Teacher compensation

• $75,592,658: The cost of instruction increased by less than 1 percent from 2015. The $570,000 in new money went to negotiated salary increases and a handful of new positions. The certified teaching staff was counted at 922.

Enrollment

• 9,698: For some perspective, 10 years ago the district had 427 more students in class on an average day. There are 12.6 pupils for every teacher. The national average is about 16 to 1, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Cost per pupil

• $16,510: This represents the highest amount the district has ever spent, but it's still relatively low. The average district in New Jersey was paying close to $20,000 for each student in the 2014-2015 school year, according to the Taxpayers Guide to Education Spending.

Debt

• $68,920,000: That's down $3.8 million from the previous year. The district's bond rating remains at "AA", which is the second-highest rating that Standard & Poor's assigns. Generally speaking, the higher the rating, the less it costs to borrow money. About 4 percent of district spending goes to paying down debt and interest.

I would like to see some of that savings "banked" for a rainy day because I know theater are things coming down the line that will cost the district big time over the next couple of years.

The other article posted yesterday, "Middletown school board hires outside lawyers for ethics dispute", however is what gave me pause and the need to think before posting about what I had experienced after watching the BOE video. During a 20 minute discussion (triad really) beginning at 1:12:00 mark of the video, Middletown Board of Education disfunction once again raised it's ugly head.

In essence, a last minute item was added to the night's Agenda that many Board members weren't fully aware of.  That item was for the approval of the hiring of the law firm of Giordano, Halleran & Cielsa, PC as special counsel to represent 5 Board members in connection with the several ethic complaints they filed against fellow member Joan Minnuies, some of which has been dismissed, while some others have been bumped up to OAL litigation.

For this representation, the school district will be paying any legal bills associated with the litigation of the 5 individual Board members, Vinnie Brand, Bob Banta, Ernest Donnelly, Michael Donlon and BOE president Jim Cody  at the rate of $250/hour for litigation counsel and $100/hour for paralegal/legal assistant time with NO cap on the fees!

When the items was being introduced, Board member Sue Griffin made a motion to table the item until the following meeting, when the new BOE could discuss it further and decide whether it was appropriate or not to continue. After a heated argument between Griffin, Brand and Cody erupted about due diligence of board members still sitting on the Board and what was actually stated in the legal agreement that was to be voted on, the board went into executive session to discuss the item further.

Again you can watch the whole exchange staying at the 1:12:00 minute mark of the video.

In my opinion, this is outrageous and utter waste of tax payers money. If the School Ethics Board dropped some other charges against Joan Minnuies but couldn't decide on others and referred them for OAL litigation to pass the buck so to speak, then the charges aren't worth pursuing if it means that it could cost the district tens of thousands of dollars! And that's not easy for me to say, I'm not a big Joan Minnuies fan.  All this comes down to now is a very expensive, personal vendetta against Minnuies by her fellow board members - two of which, Brand and Banta, will no longer be members of the board, when legal action will proceed and representation will be needed sometime next year.

If action does move forward on this now frivolous legal action, than I think Vinnie Brand and Bob Banta should have to pay for their own legal expenses since they will no longer be members of the Board of Education.

There has also been outrage expressed by some Middletown residents HERE and HERE on Facebook over this.

But, as Board president Jim Cody stated during the video, there's nothing really to worry about.  No money from the school budget will be allocated for legal fees. The cost of legal fees will come out of the BOE's Legal Services budget.  HA-HA, ain't that great! It's all one and the same to me.

I would expect that once the new Board takes control next month this issue will be looked at once again and the correct decision will be made to kill this nonsense once and for all.

Letter: For Those That Can't Reach Gov. Christie Call The Lt. Gov

The expressed opinions or views of this letter does not necessarily represent the opinion of the MiddletownMike blog:

Dear Editor,

It is unclear when the Chris Christie Presidential Wannabe Magical Mystery Tour will end, spending taxpayer money all around the country, but refusing to provide the citizens of our state with any sort of accounting to explain how our money has been spent. The court battles to keep these records secret have also been at taxpayer expense.

Many citizens have questions for Governor-turned-Dictator Chris Christie, but with him travelling out-of-state all the time in his megalomaniacal fantasy to become U.S. President, they simply can’t reach him.

Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno carries a cell phone and tells business people to call it if they have problems with red tape or otherwise need her assistance to use it. I believe we should share that number with the Sandy families Christie has abandoned and anyone else who has questions for his administration. Call 609-575-8111.



Eric Hafner
Toms River

CHAIRMAN CURRIE REACTS TO CHRISTIE'S $1,000,000 PR STUNT

(Trenton) -- John Currie, Chairman of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee, reacted to the release of the report that was compiled by Governor Christie's hand-picked team of lawyers at extraordinary taxpayer expense. The million dollar taxpayer funded distraction fails to put forth an explanation for the scandals created by the governor's office.

"The fact is this ‘report’ is a public relations stunt, plain and simple. It's unfortunate that Governor Christie would waste taxpayer funds to create a distraction from his administration’s negative attention. Clearly, the governor views our taxpayer monies as a retainer for another one of his own public relations campaigns," said Chairman Currie.

Currie continued, “The recent scandals are a consequence of his administration's dysfunction, his own staff’s disrespectful attitude toward public service, credible allegations about the governor’s office’s misuse of public funds, and the fact that New Jersey citizens were put in harm's way by his political appointees. The $1,000,000 and counting is being spent so Christie's cronies can delay the truth about the leadership style that allowed this scandal to occur in the first place."

NJ WATCHDOG: Reality TV Rumble Stars 'Disabled' Cop Inbox x

For Immediate Release:

Reality or Fake, Police Disability Pays!


On television, Joseph Derrico pursues a monster truck on foot, pulls the driver out of the vehicle and tosses him to the ground. He is on truTV's "Bear Swamp Recovery," a reality show on vehicle repos by the "baddest towing team in Jersey."

Yet Derrico collects a police disability pension of nearly $70,000 a year. In the eyes of the State of New Jersey, the retired Hamilton Township cop is "totally and permanently disabled" by a leg injury.

No stranger to trouble, Derrico was a criminal defendant when he retired in 2010. A Mercer County grand jury indicted Derrico on a felony charge of theft by receiving stolen property.

The patrolman escaped with his pension intact – thanks to a secretive deal with Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph Bocchini, who dropped the case when Derrico retired

If convicted, Derrico could have lost his pension. Instead, he has collected $180,000 in tax-free disability pay from the state Police and Firemen's Retirement System. If he reaches his life expectancy of age 80, Derrico's bad leg and behavior will be good for $2.5 million.

Bocchini claims his office has no record of the indictment or dismissal of charges against Derrico. In response, New Jersey Watchdog is suing the prosecutor in Mercer County Superior Court to produce the records or an explanation of why they no longer exist.

The Derrico case illustrates the inherent weaknesses of a $200 million a year disability pension system that's prone to abuse by police and firefighters in New Jersey.

Check out the full story – a joint investigation by New Jersey Watchdog (http://newjersey.watchdog.org) and NBC 4 New York – at http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2013/04/28/fake-or-reality/.

Republican Party Boss Andrew Lucas is about to get a Valentine's Day Gift

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OLD BOYS NETWORK REPUBLICAN CONTROLLED MONMOUTH COUNTY FREEHOLDERS PREPARE TO GIVE 1.2 MILLION DOLLAR VALENTINE'S DAY GIFT FOR LOCAL REPUBLICAN POLITICIAN

February 14th, 2013

FREEHOLD - The 5-0 Republican controlled Monmouth County Freeholders will be voting on a resolution to release taxpayers funds to Manalapan Republican Party Boss and Elected Official Andrew Lucas. http://oprs.co.monmouth.nj.us/OPRS/Meetings/AgendaFrmHolder.aspx?eid=143&ty=1
This vote will gift $1.2 million which will come from state, county and Manalapan taxpayers. In exchange, he promises not to sell this recently purchased property to a developer.

"There is something wrong with a system whereby a sitting elected official applies for a taxpayer funded grant and there is no transparency. In reading the resolution, don’t be fooled by the corporate name. It is owned by elected Committeeman (and former Mayor) Andrew Lucas," stated Chairman Vin Gopal

Recently, Republican Manalapan Deputy Mayor Ryan Green voted against the Lucas land deal. Mr. Green first moved to table the purchase due to incomplete documentation. Green stood up to local Republican boss Lucas.

State Comptroller Matt Boxer recently issued the results of an investigation condemning a mayor in another New Jersey town for improperly using his position of influence in a private land deal. ttp://www.nj.gov/comptroller/news/docs/investigative_report_chesterfield_01_29_13.pdf

"This doesn't pass the smell test. While middle-class families in our county are working hard to makes ends meet, Manalapan politician Andrew Lucas is about to make over a million dollars off of taxpayers. If the Republican controlled freeholder board chooses to put the interests of their crony politicians ahead of the taxpayers of this county, we will have a serious problem. This will be one of the most important issues facing this year's county election," stated Gopal.

The public meetings are held at the Hall of Records, 1 East Main Street, Freehold, NJ 07728

Workshop Meeting at 2pm
Voting Meeting at 7pm

Since this is on the agenda, the public will have the opportunity to be heard at each of these meetings.

Trentonian Editorial: Dogging the Guv

This editorial published in the Trentonion today ties in nicely with the last post pertaining to NJ Watchdog and it's investigative reporter Mark Lagerkvist.

Lagerkvist has doggedly pursued the issue of public officials who retire from one public sector service jobs, start collecting a public pension and then either gets appointed to - through nepotism or cronyism - or elected to another public sector job and collect a salary from the state as well as their pensions. This type of public tax payer abuse is known as double-dipping and the Christie administration has done nothing but condone these abuses:

Gov. Christie travels the land hailed by enthusiastic crowds eager to sample his blunt-talk, no-nonsense Jersey routine — the stuff that made him a star of YouTube. But everywhere the Guv goes, there’s this growling pit bull, its jaws firmly clamped on the gubernatorial ankle. Can’t shake the thing. Dang dawg.

The dang dawg would be the N.J. Watchdog. N.J. Watchdog is nothing if not tenacious. The dawg is kenneled in Red Bank, under the aegis of veteran investigative reporter Mark Lagerkvist. This dang dawg refuses to be impressed by the fact that the governor is an important personage who was on the short list of prospective VPs.

The dawg snarls and barks at the Christie administration like it’s nothing more than another assemblage of backroom pols trying to put one over on the folks who just arrived on the back of the pickup with a load of turnips out of Millway or some such deep South Jersey backwater. Dang dawg has Christie’s No. 2 treed right now and won’t go away no matter how much the administration keeps shouting, “Go on, git outta here!” No. 2, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, sits up there on the limb, waiting to see what happens next. Dang dawg’s waiting her out.

Here’s the current status: Dawg has put the state government in the peculiar position of dragging itself into court. This has to be one of the oddest antics in the annals of Blackstone. The state in effect is suing itself to keep itself from handing over records N.J. Watchdog has demanded. The records pertain to possibly embarrassing — or worse — finagling Guadagno allegedly did when she was Monmouth County Sheriff.

Dang dawg alleges that she pulled a slick one to enable an aid to do a little double dipping at the expense of taxpayers. She allegedly classified one Michael Donovan Jr. as a lowly underling in charge of arrest warrants when actually he was her chief sheriff’s officer and paid as such. This enabled him to go on collecting an $85,000 public pension on top of his $87,500 sheriff’s office salary — all in alleged contravention of the statutes of the Great State of New Jersey and the peace and dignity thereof, to use the flowery verbiage favored by law enforcement.

One arm of the state government, the N.J. Government Records Council, was going through the pension records pursuant to dang dawg’s demand. But now another arm of government has hauled that arm into court to enjoin it from releasing said documents. Meanwhile, the Lt. Guv sits up there on the limb, and dang dog stands down there growling about double dipping and how Christie’s vaunted pension reform overlooks what could be New Jersey’s official state dance if the square dance weren’t already it.

And so we wait. No problem, so far, for the Guv, as he travels about the land. Nobody out there in Iowa or Wisconsin asking the Guv, “What’s all the barking?” It’s gotta be unfomfortable for No. 2, though, up there in that tree.

GOP Freeholder Lillian Burry Fails Monmouth Taxpayers Over Brookdale College Scandal

By Vin Gopal, Chairman of the Monmouth County Democrats
Cross posted from Middletown Patch

Earlier this summer, Brookdale Community College President Peter Burnham pled guilty of stealing tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money. The web of corruption surrounding this case is just another example of Monmouth County Republican cronies profiting at the taxpayers’ expense.

Mr. Burnham, along with Brookdale Community College’s then-Board President Howard Birsdall and Brookdale’s Board Attorney John Cantalupo, were all close allies and major political supporters of the Republican Party establishment here in Monmouth County.

Mr. Cantalupo served as Freeholder Lillian Burry’s close confidant and official Campaign Treasurer in her 2005 and 2008 Freeholder campaigns.

In this same time period, Mr. Cantalupo negotiated the terms of Peter Burnham’s lavish Brookdale contracts.

This represents a clear conflict of interest, given that Mr. Cantalupo was Freeholder Burry’s right-hand man. Perhaps this is why Freeholder Burry sat silently on the sidelines as the truth about Mr. Burnham's theft was being exposed.

As a result of the Republican-controlled Freeholder Board’s lack of oversight, student tuition increased at Brookdale Community College -- while their college president profited immensely.

This is what happens when a chief advisor for the Republican Freeholders is negotiating salary contracts on behalf of a College President that is funded by these same Republican Freeholders.

It is time for Monmouth County taxpayers to unite against the Good Ol’ Boys Network here in Monmouth County.

A Blueprint For Middletown To Follow On How A Finance Committee Could Be Structured And Utilized

For the past few years Middletown Committeeman Sean Byrnes has been advocating for a "Finance Committee" to be form in Middletown so that the Township can get a better grasp on it's finances and not have to wait several months into the calendar year before adopting a budget.

Byrnes has argued that the way the budget process is now handled is inefficient and antiquated and needs to be restructured in such a way that would provide better over site of spending and identify in advance any trends that may prove problematic during the year.

Each time Byrnes has suggested the idea of a finance committee he has be rebuffed by the Republicans that have controlled the township committee for the greater part of the last quarter century.

Their reasoning behind opposing such a committee is weak at best. I have heard everything from the cost of setting up new committee (which would be negligible being it would be staffed with members of the Township Committee, the Town Administrator and volunteers) to the reasoning that Township Committee members act as their own finance committee to oversee and question spending (even though none are qualified to due so).

Sean Byrnes has counter argued that other towns, major corporations and most charities group and non-profit organization have them. It is simply a good business practice.

Recently Jack Archibald, a councilman in Atlantic Highlands and a contributing columnist for the Atlantic Highlands Herald, wrote a column explaining how the budget process works in Atlantic Highlands. Can you guess what is mentioned in that column? That's right a Finance Committee.

Archibald pretty much lays out the blueprint for Middletown on how to structure and use a Finance Committee:

"...our municipal budget began to take shape in December. At that time, our administrator, Adam Hubeny, and Chief Financial Officer Gerry Gagliano, hold kick-off meetings with various department heads and discuss their needs for the coming year. Once that is compiled, a rough draft of a budget is presented to the finance committee. In general, the finance committee is comprised of three council members who report back to either the Borough Council or Township Committee as a whole.

In a few towns, the governing body has formed a citizens committee to review and make suggestions to the budget. While this public input is welcome, municipal accounting is a very specialized practice, and crafting a municipal budget is subject to many state regulations and caps that do not seem to make much sense to the average citizen...."

It makes perfect sense, the administrator, the CFO, 3 Committee members and maybe some input from qualified residents get together make recommendations and then draft preliminary budget document to be submitted to the Mayor and other members of the township committee to consider.

The only reason I can think of for not forming a Finance Committee is that the majority in charge doesn't want others to see where and how the Middletown taxpayers money is being spent on needless pet projects or salaries and benefits for loyal GOPers who make a living from the town in one way or another.

AP: NJ biz travel rules would be looser under Christie

ANGELA DELLI SANTI,The Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. - The Republican candidate for New Jersey governor, who regularly overspent the government rate when traveling as the state's top prosecutor, said if he's elected that his top advisers would be allowed to travel with fewer travel restrictions than under the current administration , at taxpayers' expense.

Chris Christie, the former U.S. attorney who has campaigned on a platform of ethical integrity and cutting government waste, said members of his Cabinet could bill taxpayers for overnight stays in expensive hotels if cheaper accommodations aren't available.

State employees are currently required to stay within the government rate and are barred from most overnight trips, according to a review of the Corzine administration's travel policy guidelines.

A review of Christie's travel history through documents provided in a public records request showed he regularly exceeded the government lodging allowance while traveling as U.S. attorney, frequently staying at luxury hotels in New Jersey, across the United States and abroad. He said the trips were always justified and he always sought out the government rate before booking more expensive accommodations. He does not appear to have curtailed his travel due to the economic recession. "I would want my Cabinet to follow the same rules I followed as U.S. attorney," Christie said Thursday at a diner stop in the blue-collar community of West Deptford. "If they were traveling and they could find the government rate, they should use the government rate. If they couldn't, they shouldn't sleep on a park bench. They should find the best rate they could."

Christie said he logged more than 160,000 miles while serving as U.S. attorney for seven years during President George W. Bush's two terms. During that time, he stayed in some of the country's most luxurious and trendiest hotels, including the Mandarin in Washington, the NineZero in Boston and the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando. Sometimes the tab fell within the government allowance.

However, his hotel bills occasionally exceeded $400 per night and the tab was higher than the government ceiling on 14 of 16 business trips Christie took in 2008. Five nights in London were $401 a night per room for him and his top deputy, Michele Brown.

Gov. Jon Corzine issued a memo early in his first term saying he would continue to enforce business travel restrictions for state employees that his predecessor, Gov. Richard Codey, had instituted. Those guidelines require anybody making travel arrangements for state employees to search a Web site specializing in government-rate rooms. All travel must be preapproved at least two weeks in advance to allow greater possibility for savings.

Reimbursement costs for official travel must not exceed the federal per diem rates, according to the guidelines.

Corzine said his opponent's travel records are evidence that Christie has a different set of rules for himself than everyone else, a line the Corzine campaign has consistently used.

Christie has come under scrutiny for railing against Democrats' excessive spending while billing taxpayers for high-end business travel. The candidate disavowed any hypocrisy, saying his travel was necessary and exceeding the rate permissible.

"It wasn't waste," he said. "I had to go someplace for part of my job. We tried to get the government rate. We couldn't. So my only alternative would have been to not go."

Christie or Brown often signed a required waiver approving additional expenses; his reimbursement vouchers were certified by a third party.

Christie said his secretary was instructed to look first for accommodations within the government rate when she booked his travel. He said he sometimes needed to stay at a specific hotel because he was giving a speech there early the next morning.

His stay at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando in January 2008 cost taxpayers $287 plus taxes and fees, more than twice the government's allowance of $121. The Orlando area has about 450 hotels.

Christie also billed taxpayers for in-state overnight stays , in Atlantic City and Cape May, for example. Such trips are barred by Corzine's administration.

Corzine, who became a multimillionaire on Wall Street and is the former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs, pays all his own travel expenses.

Short and Byrnes Looking Out For Middletown Taxpayers

I received the following letter from Middletown resident Paul Jansen:

In our current economic crisis, everyone is suffering, with tens of thousands of job losses and pay freezes nationwide. When times are tough, our elected representatives must make difficult decisions by taking the finances of our towns seriously and helping those who need the most help — the taxpayers.

What better way to lead in these trying times than by setting a good example and taking charge of what they were elected to do? I applaud the Middletown Township Committee for deciding to forgo its pay. It should go one step further by eliminating the stipend and health benefits of all committee appointees, particularly sewer authority members.

The committee also should ask all appointed professionals, such as lawyers and engineers, to accept a reduction in the contracts that were negotiated in December. This is being suggested by committeemen Patrick Short and Sean Byrnes.

Some say Short and Byrnes criticize insignificant savings, when in reality they are looking to find significant savings in items that are not self-funded.

Homeowners and taxpayers deserve a committee that is going to set the tone for a responsible township budget. This is not happening, and more than 20 percent of this year's budget has already been spent.

Short and Byrnes are the kind of positive, creative thinkers required to lead our town. They are putting the taxpayer first by looking for ways to allow them to keep more of what they earn.

Paul J. Jansen
MIDDLETOWN

Middletown Committee Sets Example

In our current economic crisis it is safe to say that everyone is suffering right now with tens of thousands of job losses and pay freezes nationwide. When times are tough, our elected representatives must make difficult decisions by taking the finances of our town seriously and helping those that need the most help. The taxpayer. What better way to lead in these trying times than by setting a good example and taking charge of what they were elected to do.

Therefore I would like to applaud the Middletown Township Committee for deciding to forgo their pay. They should go one step further by eliminating the stipend and health benefits of all Committee appointees, namely the sewer authority. A request should go out to ask the appointed professionals, like lawyers and engineers, to accept a reduction in the contracts that were negotiated in December. This is the example that should be set and is being suggested by Committeemen Patrick Short and Sean Byrnes,

There are some that report that Committeemen Short and Byrnes criticize insignificant savings, when in reality, they are looking to find significant savings in items that are not self-funded so that those that need the most help are not subject to the town helping themselves to your hard earned dollars. As homeowners and taxpayers, we deserve a Township Committee that is going to set the tone for a township budget. This is not what is happening and over 20% of this years budget has already been spent. Committeemen Short and Byrnes are the kind of positive and creative thinkers that are required to lead our town. They are putting the taxpayer first by looking for ways to allow the taxpayer to keep more of what they earn.

I applaud the work that Committeemen Short and Byrnes are doing to drive this budget process. Even the other Committee members recognize the effort and have adopted some of their Ideas. Hopefully, our town can come out of this process on a positive note.

Paul J Jansen

Middletown, NJ

01/24/09: President Obama's Weekly Address

In his first weekly address since being sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, President Barack Obama discussed how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan will jump-start the economy.