To the Editor: School Referendum Raises Questions##M:[more]##
It was with great interest that I read the July 8 article by Jack Florek in the West Windsor-Plainsboro News relating to the proposed Plainsboro and West Windsor School Board referendum asking voters to vote on spending $25 million on repairs and capital improvements for its schools.
Although it appears that the School Board really wanted $30 to $35 million they have settled on “only $25.195 million” but if the voters feel extra generous they can vote to give an addition $2.3 million. Looks like they are inching their way to spending $30 to 35 million. The way the referendum is to be presented to the voters is also very confusing. Some questions for the School Board:
When the recent school budget was presented to the voters was the possibility of this referendum made known to the voters?
How can the Board know the amount of funds required if as reported the list of projects has not yet been determined?
Has the Board come up with the projected costs for each of the proposed repairs/improvements on their wish list?
Since district officials have stated that voters will not likely see an increase in taxes because of two maturing bond issues has the Board done an analysis to confirm this?
It appears once again that the Board will take our tax dollars and find a way to spend them
Vincent J. Marino
29 Honeyflower Lane,
West Windsor
Needs vs. Wants
In your July 8 article on the upcoming West Windsor Plainsboro school referendum you quote school board member Richard Kaye as having no qualms over concerns about the referendum expressed by some Village Grande Civic Association members. Kaye is also mentioned as a member of the Association and states that he believes the referendum “brings some important needs to the public.”
I too am a member of the Village Grande Civic Association and I have some very serious concerns. When I moved here in 1999, my school taxes were $2,”779 a year. Last year I paid $4,”429, a 59 per cent increase over five years. This is a time frame in which the school population remained relatively stable, and inflation was under control.
I’m concerned that our school board, including Mr. Kaye, needs some help in understanding the difference between a need and a want. I do not think a $7.6 million performing arts center should be defined as a need. I’m also at a loss to understand why repairs are included in a bond referendum. Repairs are an ongoing expense and should not require long term bond financing.
The lack of critical analysis in your article is quite disappointing. Your list of specific items included in the $25.195 million referendum comes to only $13.575 million. What are the specifics of the other $11.620 million?
I urge all residents of West Windsor Plainsboro to demand accountability of their elected officials. Spending money just because residents will not see a tax increase due to retirement of old bonds is not fiscally responsible, nor does it necessarily provide a good education for students. It is also not responsible to suggest that the state will reimburse 40 per cent of the expenditure in these hard times. It continues the profligate spending attitude that will double my school taxes in a little over eight years.
Raymond J. Ryan
39 Cardinalflower Lane, West Windsor
School Referendum: Yes
I would like to respond to Mr. Marino’s letter. If Mr. Marino would take the time and visit the schools in question I am sure he will immediately realize that our school board has been very diligent at prioritizing the repairs. Dutch Neck school is in need of better ventilation for many classrooms, High School South is in great disrepair due to its over use and age. All one has to do is tour both high schools to see that they are far from equal.
North, which is under utilized from a student capacity standpoint, does not suffer from overcrowding and the facility is much newer.
South on the other hand is exceeding 100 percent capacity, suffers from overcrowding and since it is older the infrastructure is failing. Other schools suffer as well.
Taxpayers and voters must realize that our school board is a volunteer group with an agenda to allocate funds in a manner that maximizes our return. I firmly believe since we elected them that they are well aware of the pain we all feel in these difficult economic times. I am still looking for meaningful work and will continue to support the school board in its effort to spend my money in the best possible fashion. I strongly urge all voters to pass the much need referendum.
Jack P. Honore III
West Windsor
Affordable Housing: More Is Needed
As a resident of West Windsor, I’m intrigued by Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh’s interest in hearing new ideas about how to provide affordable housing. Here are some thoughts for him and for those who care about creating affordable homes for all New Jerseyans:
— Real estate values in West Windsor are climbing at a dizzying rate. In the last few years, according to the state Department of Treasury, the price of a home has increased 47 percent. Many of us who could afford to live here are at risk of needing to leave.
— A community needs police officers, firefighters, carpenters, teachers, nurses, and child care workers as much as it needs pharmacists, doctors, lawyers, and investment bankers, so we must work harder to open the community up to economic diversity by providing more affordable housing.
— We have many older residents who have raised families here and who have been in their homes many years. We need to ensure they can stay in their homes if that is their choice. It is increasingly rare to find neighborhoods with older residents and families with young children living side-by-side. We still have some, but for how long?
— The mayor and other people living in West Windsor should join Homes for New Jersey (www.homesfornj.com), a nonpartisan effort to improve public policies and use existing resources more efficiently to create and preserve safe, affordable homes for people in New Jersey who need them.
I am fortunate to live here. I wish I could comfortably say that many of us want to make our community accessible and that we really are doing everything we could.
Paige Carlson-Heim
5 Canoe Brook Drive,
West Windsor
The writer is associate director of the Housing and Community Development Network of NJ.
Plainsboro Driver Questions Police
It seems as if the Plainsboro Police have gone back to their old ways and reenacted the “Driving Late at Night” statute.
In 2001 I wrote a similar letter to this one, and things were quiet for four years. All that changed on July 8 at 2:50 a.m. On my way back from taking a friend to Ohio and being only 500 feet from my apartment, I was pulled over and issued two tickets. One was for having my left taillight out and another for crossing over the white line on Plainsboro Road.
After being pulled over and getting back to my apartment, I checked my taillight, which appeared to be working fine. I called the police station to complain and was invited down to the station. I didn’t really feel like having a repeat of 2001, when I was told that “law-abiding citizens are in bed at decent hours,” so I declined to go down there.
In 2001 Mayor Peter Cantu told me that if I ever had similar problems with the police to give him a call. So I called him, and he told me that there was nothing he could do. I guess in 2005 that offer no longer stands. He did give me another number to call, which ended up being pretty useless, since all it afforded was an offer to mail me complaint forms.
On July 9 I took my car to a service station to have my taillight and brake lights checked. The mechanic looked at them several times and said they were fine. After closer inspection, the mechanic noticed that the left side of my left taillight was slightly dimmer. The decorative bulb was out, but the three larger brake/tail lamps worked fine. Also, since there is no divider between the taillight section and the wrap-around section of the taillight, the taillight was fully lit and working.
My court date was July 20. I have photos and the small bulb that the mechanic replaced to bring with me, but when I asked for a letter as proof as to what was replaced, they refused. So, what this basically ends up being is a trumped-up charge that has the potential of costing me $54, not to mention a lot of aggravation and a day in court.
As for crossing over the white line, I know that is also a lie. I was stopped in the right-hand lane at the stop light at George Davison Road with the police officer behind me, who had been following since around the Princeton Meadows shopping center. There was a car beside me also stopped at the light. We both pulled out at the same time when the light turned green. As soon as I crossed the intersection, the officer put on his flashers and pulled me over. This wonderful ticket is $85 and gives me points on my license.
This is a warning to everyone: Do not drive in Plainsboro at night, or you may be the next person to get tickets under the re-instated Plainsboro statute — “Driving Late at Night.”
Robert Rosetta
Ravens Crest Drive, Plainsboro
Editor’s note: Rosetta appeared in Plainsboro municipal court July 20. He lost on both counts.
