HAMMONTON BLOG

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Mayor starts 2008 by calling for 3% cuts from all Town Departments

Date: 10:52 AM Jan 8, 2008

Here's a question, why when it was election time didn't HF say cuts had to be made when promising 0 increase. did I hear the Mayor correctly when he called for a 3% cut across the board including salaries? How can you cut when you cut in previous years. If they are cutting now did they over charge us for the past two years? Did the cost of running the town go up, and they think they can make cuts? I like the 0 tax increase but can we really afford it?If you have have to cut by 3% over all this means you have to cut deeper in some area's because of salary agreements already in place.Can someone please shed some light on this? I am watching this and I am confused.This must be some form of new math.

Date: 04:21 PM Jan 9, 2008

Looks like the Governor is demanding spending cuts also. Corzine is right. It is time government spent within it's means.

Date: 09:10 PM Jan 9, 2008

Can't help but to comment after reading both papers today I don't want my taxes going up and do support that. It seems as if all Marino wants to do is hire more police, what will that cost? He keeps saying we need to hire 8, funny the town hasn't heard that from the chief. Yes it important for safety but does Marino even know what that would cost? On another note Vitalo is mad about not being on any committees, could you explain to me if once your appointed to a committe what makes you think you own it forever? I think that council should rotate committees so that they become better rounded in the job as a council person.Why not.? I was not impressed in the job that they did in their council reports last year. Why didn't Marino ever report on the airport? where was Vitalo with bringing back the MUAC all of last year. problem is there already to many committees at do nothing. There is an old saying if you want nothing to happen put it in a committee. In the history of Hammonton there have never been so many committees? Why has Bertino remained quiet? I think that the next few months will tell the tale as to what will happen in the November elections. If hf can keep taxes to a zero they may very well hold all 7 seats in January of 2009.Funny thing they had much to say in the paper but nothing to say at the meeting. I bet the next council meeting will be not much better than the January 1st one. Vitalo wants to talk about committees but sat there and voted for the rules of council, isn't that where the committe thing is spelled out? Please Mr.Admin put a copy of the 2008 council rules on this site ,then ask Vitalo if he even knows what he voted on? A no vote on council rules would have been a good start? I really like the Republicans but it's getting harder to support them when ther is no difference . Say onething and do another, let's walk the talk instead of blaming others, or the town will go to one party rule in November.

Admin · Status: Offline

In reply, none of us want to see tax increases. We at the Hammonton Democratic club sincerely support the Mayor & Council in the work ahead of completing a new budget with no tax increase and we offer our assistance and cooperation in working on the new budget. However, we feel the need to point out that the Hammonton First Party "promised" a zero tax increase for this year. Recent comments by the Mayor may or may not be a move off of that promise. Terms being used now are "Intent" and "goal". These terms seem to be less cut-and-dried than "promise". We are not bashing or attacking here but pointing out what the words seem to be saying. Only the next few months will answer this concern.
As for the police, you said that the Town has not heard from the Chief. You need to remember what Mr. Marino is basing his request upon. A study of our town was done by the Attorney General's office and that is who has said that Hammonton need 8 additional officers in order to provide a proper level of public safety. Anthony is only relying on the expert when he makes his statements. And when this report was issued by the AG, the Chief did come before Council and request that Mayor & Council take the recommendations very seriously.
As for committees, you brought up a solution in your comments that I think would have been a much better option and been accepted better by all of council. Assignments could have been shuffled. I believe being denied any Committee Chair is what has Mr. Marino upset. We have 7 Committees and 7 Council members, It seems each Council member handling a Committee is more than fair, but that is not what the Mayor has done.
There are a lot of committees in Hammonton, but each one serves a purpose, however, Mayor & Council needs to rely more on these committees and stop micro-managing the town. They have good people serving this town and need to trust them to do their jobs. The jobs of Mayor & Council is to set law and policies for the employees and residents of town to follow. They need to ensure that the laws and policies make it possible for the residents to have the best possible life in town. The Mayor & Council need to support these committees in their respective jobs. These people volunteer of their time to help make Hammonton a better place to live, but they need to resources to do that and in too many cases Mayor & Council do not provide them with those resources.
No matter what the Mayor thinks, we Democrats do support him in his pursuit of a better Hammonton. We do ask questions and raise issues, but in America we listen to all sides and all input in order to make a more informed decision. I don't believe the Mayor wants people to put on blinders and follow him like the pied piper, but he gives that appearance when he constantly refers to people who ask questions as nay-sayers. He appears that way when he refuses to even respond to requests by the Democrats to serve on any committees. He speaks of all inclusive, open government but his actions say the complete opposite.
Anthony Marino has now found out the hard way that this is not an all inclusive government. We ask the Mayor to live up to his own words and start including all of the people on committees and discusions, not just those who blindly agree with you. We have a lot of good things to offer too.

Date: 12:06 PM Jan 10, 2008

Admin I couldn't agree with you more. Hammonton First is not for the people and their decision are not for the people.

Date: 01:18 PM Jan 10, 2008

Anonymous wrote:
Can't help but to comment after reading both papers today I don't want my taxes going up and do support that. It seems as if all Marino wants to do is hire more police, what will that cost? He keeps saying we need to hire 8, funny the town hasn't heard that from the chief. Yes it important for safety but does Marino even know what that would cost? On another note Vitalo is mad about not being on any committees, could you explain to me if once your appointed to a committe what makes you think you own it forever? I think that council should rotate committees so that they become better rounded in the job as a council person.Why not.? I was not impressed in the job that they did in their council reports last year. Why didn't Marino ever report on the airport? where was Vitalo with bringing back the MUAC all of last year. problem is there already to many committees at do nothing. There is an old saying if you want nothing to happen put it in a committee. In the history of Hammonton there have never been so many committees? Why has Bertino remained quiet? I think that the next few months will tell the tale as to what will happen in the November elections. If hf can keep taxes to a zero they may very well hold all 7 seats in January of 2009.Funny thing they had much to say in the paper but nothing to say at the meeting. I bet the next council meeting will be not much better than the January 1st one. Vitalo wants to talk about committees but sat there and voted for the rules of council, isn't that where the committe thing is spelled out? Please Mr.Admin put a copy of the 2008 council rules on this site ,then ask Vitalo if he even knows what he voted on? A no vote on council rules would have been a good start? I really like the Republicans but it's getting harder to support them when ther is no difference . Say onething and do another, let's walk the talk instead of blaming others, or the town will go to one party rule in November.

The voters have already spoken loudly that they want taxes kept in check. Marino and Vitalo can scream with the Dems for more spending. Voters know that means more taxes.

Admin · Status: Offline

You can't read???? THE DEMOCRATS DON'T WANT TAXES EITHER. We are offering our help in putting together a new budget. We are offering our help on other committees. I personally have sent an e mail to the Mayor offering my help in areas I feel I can be of particular help with and he hasn't even responded to me. We are asking for the "all inclusive" government the Mayor always professes to have when he is looking into the TV camera every month, not the real government we have here in Hammonton once the TV cameras are turned off.
Taxes must remain in check.
Our credit card spending needs to stop.
We must pay down the debt.
We must listen to ALL the people of Hammonton!!!!
Thanks to the Democratic Governor, school taxes should once again be with no increase in Hammonton.
Let's work together to keep ALL taxes in check here in Hammonton.

Date: 07:02 PM Jan 10, 2008

Admin, you've advocated hiring more government employees every week and against cutting spending. To do what you want costs the taxpayer's money and causes taxes to increase, just like when you were involved in the school board disasters of a few years ago.

Date: 07:05 PM Jan 10, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

Can't help but to comment after reading both papers today I don't want my taxes going up and do support that. It seems as if all Marino wants to do is hire more police, what will that cost? He keeps saying we need to hire 8, funny the town hasn't heard that from the chief. Yes it important for safety but does Marino even know what that would cost? On another note Vitalo is mad about not being on any committees, could you explain to me if once your appointed to a committe what makes you think you own it forever? I think that council should rotate committees so that they become better rounded in the job as a council person.Why not.? I was not impressed in the job that they did in their council reports last year. Why didn't Marino ever report on the airport? where was Vitalo with bringing back the MUAC all of last year. problem is there already to many committees at do nothing. There is an old saying if you want nothing to happen put it in a committee. In the history of Hammonton there have never been so many committees? Why has Bertino remained quiet? I think that the next few months will tell the tale as to what will happen in the November elections. If hf can keep taxes to a zero they may very well hold all 7 seats in January of 2009.Funny thing they had much to say in the paper but nothing to say at the meeting. I bet the next council meeting will be not much better than the January 1st one. Vitalo wants to talk about committees but sat there and voted for the rules of council, isn't that where the committe thing is spelled out? Please Mr.Admin put a copy of the 2008 council rules on this site ,then ask Vitalo if he even knows what he voted on? A no vote on council rules would have been a good start? I really like the Republicans but it's getting harder to support them when ther is no difference . Say onething and do another, let's walk the talk instead of blaming others, or the town will go to one party rule in November.

You make some great points.

Admin · Status: Offline

You keep confusing me with the wrong school board. The one I served on built a state of the art high school on time and on budget, we never had a deficit, we charged the proper tuition to Waterford. We did have tough times because that is when the State started underfunding our schools, but we never had any disasters like you mention.
As for hiring, we do feel we need to address the police shortage as outlined in the Attorney General's report, but we also realize we must have funding in place before we do this so as not to pass the burden on to the taxpayers. And yes, we are concerned with all of the cutting going on at the present, we would prefer finding efficiencies in services, shared service cost savings, and consolidation of duplicated work.

Date: 11:14 PM Jan 10, 2008

Admin, the school board you were on leased millions and raised taxes.

Admin · Status: Offline

Yes, taxes were raised just as they were by the current school board when the State ignored the law and did not fund the schools properly. That happened all across the State to a vast majority of the school districts. And there were no leases out of the ordinary and there certainly was not millions. The computers for the new high school were lease purchased rather than put on a 30 year bond. And just like the current board we lease pur`chased a new bus.
How about the town and the debt we are being put in there. We are $25 million in debt and that budget is only $12 million.

Date: 04:50 PM Jan 11, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

Can't help but to comment after reading both papers today I don't want my taxes going up and do support that. It seems as if all Marino wants to do is hire more police, what will that cost? He keeps saying we need to hire 8, funny the town hasn't heard that from the chief. Yes it important for safety but does Marino even know what that would cost? On another note Vitalo is mad about not being on any committees, could you explain to me if once your appointed to a committe what makes you think you own it forever? I think that council should rotate committees so that they become better rounded in the job as a council person.Why not.? I was not impressed in the job that they did in their council reports last year. Why didn't Marino ever report on the airport? where was Vitalo with bringing back the MUAC all of last year. problem is there already to many committees at do nothing. There is an old saying if you want nothing to happen put it in a committee. In the history of Hammonton there have never been so many committees? Why has Bertino remained quiet? I think that the next few months will tell the tale as to what will happen in the November elections. If hf can keep taxes to a zero they may very well hold all 7 seats in January of 2009.Funny thing they had much to say in the paper but nothing to say at the meeting. I bet the next council meeting will be not much better than the January 1st one. Vitalo wants to talk about committees but sat there and voted for the rules of council, isn't that where the committe thing is spelled out? Please Mr.Admin put a copy of the 2008 council rules on this site ,then ask Vitalo if he even knows what he voted on? A no vote on council rules would have been a good start? I really like the Republicans but it's getting harder to support them when ther is no difference . Say onething and do another, let's walk the talk instead of blaming others, or the town will go to one party rule in November.

People have to watch their home budgets with a recession coming. Why should the government think they can keep spending?

Admin · Status: Offline

Exactly, we need to stop the credit card spending this Town Council is doing. We need someone to stand up to them and stop putting this Town further and further into debt.

Date: 09:25 AM Jan 12, 2008

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

Can't help but to comment after reading both papers today I don't want my taxes going up and do support that. It seems as if all Marino wants to do is hire more police, what will that cost? He keeps saying we need to hire 8, funny the town hasn't heard that from the chief. Yes it important for safety but does Marino even know what that would cost? On another note Vitalo is mad about not being on any committees, could you explain to me if once your appointed to a committe what makes you think you own it forever? I think that council should rotate committees so that they become better rounded in the job as a council person.Why not.? I was not impressed in the job that they did in their council reports last year. Why didn't Marino ever report on the airport? where was Vitalo with bringing back the MUAC all of last year. problem is there already to many committees at do nothing. There is an old saying if you want nothing to happen put it in a committee. In the history of Hammonton there have never been so many committees? Why has Bertino remained quiet? I think that the next few months will tell the tale as to what will happen in the November elections. If hf can keep taxes to a zero they may very well hold all 7 seats in January of 2009.Funny thing they had much to say in the paper but nothing to say at the meeting. I bet the next council meeting will be not much better than the January 1st one. Vitalo wants to talk about committees but sat there and voted for the rules of council, isn't that where the committe thing is spelled out? Please Mr.Admin put a copy of the 2008 council rules on this site ,then ask Vitalo if he even knows what he voted on? A no vote on council rules would have been a good start? I really like the Republicans but it's getting harder to support them when ther is no difference . Say onething and do another, let's walk the talk instead of blaming others, or the town will go to one party rule in November.

You make some great points.

hf is pushing for spending cuts. the republicans and democrats want to hire more and spend more.

Date: 06:44 AM Jan 14, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Can't help but to comment after reading both papers today I don't want my taxes going up and do support that. It seems as if all Marino wants to do is hire more police, what will that cost? He keeps saying we need to hire 8, funny the town hasn't heard that from the chief. Yes it important for safety but does Marino even know what that would cost? On another note Vitalo is mad about not being on any committees, could you explain to me if once your appointed to a committe what makes you think you own it forever? I think that council should rotate committees so that they become better rounded in the job as a council person.Why not.? I was not impressed in the job that they did in their council reports last year. Why didn't Marino ever report on the airport? where was Vitalo with bringing back the MUAC all of last year. problem is there already to many committees at do nothing. There is an old saying if you want nothing to happen put it in a committee. In the history of Hammonton there have never been so many committees? Why has Bertino remained quiet? I think that the next few months will tell the tale as to what will happen in the November elections. If hf can keep taxes to a zero they may very well hold all 7 seats in January of 2009.Funny thing they had much to say in the paper but nothing to say at the meeting. I bet the next council meeting will be not much better than the January 1st one. Vitalo wants to talk about committees but sat there and voted for the rules of council, isn't that where the committe thing is spelled out? Please Mr.Admin put a copy of the 2008 council rules on this site ,then ask Vitalo if he even knows what he voted on? A no vote on council rules would have been a good start? I really like the Republicans but it's getting harder to support them when ther is no difference . Say onething and do another, let's walk the talk instead of blaming others, or the town will go to one party rule in November.

You make some great points.

hf is pushing for spending cuts. the republicans and democrats want to hire more and spend more.

Hmm, How many family members of HF have benefitted financially from the town hall construction? Answer, the entire inner circle, it's all on public record and obvious to those who pay attention.

Admin · Status: Offline

Anonymous wrote:

hf is pushing for spending cuts. the republicans and democrats want to hire more and spend more.

Speaking of spending, How much did HF spend to get elected this time? Why won't the Mayor and his party obey the law and file their election reports?

Date: 08:48 AM Jan 14, 2008

I dont mind the spending cuts. These people in town hall with their 35 hour work weeks should shape up.

In the real world you have to tighten the belt, start telling them they will have to pay part of their health insurance. See how fast they find 3% to cut.

HF took office, the town didnt implode. I call 911 cops come. Trash comes. Recycling comes. Belleuve is not ghosttown.

Seriously whats hte problem ?

Admin · Status: Offline

Anonymous wrote:

I dont mind the spending cuts. These people in town hall with their 35 hour work weeks should shape up.

In the real world you have to tighten the belt, start telling them they will have to pay part of their health insurance. See how fast they find 3% to cut.

HF took office, the town didnt implode. I call 911 cops come. Trash comes. Recycling comes. Belleuve is not ghosttown.

Seriously whats hte problem ?

I think your heart is in the right place and things need to continue to change here in Hammonton, however, hands are already tied in some ways. Town Council has already completed negotiations with the town hall employees for a three year deal, and so they can't threaten them with the copayment of insurance, that is already off the table. The other question is, how many years in a row can you conti nue to cut. Salaries go up, insurance costs go up, goods and services cost more, inflation makes continuous cuts very tough. We need to find better ways of doing things. We need to find efficiencies that allow us to reduce costs. We need to look at duplication of services between departments and we need to look at shared services both within our Town and with other municipalities and government agencies.

For your other points, yes when you call 911 the police do come. But when the Attorney General issues a report showing that we are 8 officers short, we need to seriously look at the report and insure the safety of our residents. As our Town continues to grow, it would be a disaster if someone were to lose their life because several events happened in our Town at the same time and we did not have enough police to cover the incidents.
Trash service is still provided here but as you drive around Town, take a look how long items lay on the curb because we have continued to cut personnell from the highway department.
We are not a Ghost Town, we are a great Town with great people and a wonderful place to live, let's not take any steps backwards just to fulfill a campaign promise.

Date: 10:47 AM Jan 14, 2008

I think 3% is fine you say a 35 hour work week please? stocks are going down oil is going up. the fed is cutting rates. you know what is next. we all need to tighten the old belt up. the good news is that after all the years of wastful spending. all the dept. should have plenty of notches to tighten it up.

Admin · Status: Offline

It is very easy to make a blanket statement like "all the years of wasteful spending", but can you back that up with any instances of wasteful spending that exist right now. Working together on solutions that overall benefit the residents of Hammonton is what needs to happen here. To make a negative statement with no basis for that statement helps no one.

Date: 11:08 AM Jan 14, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

I think 3% is fine you say a 35 hour work week please? stocks are going down oil is going up. the fed is cutting rates. you know what is next. we all need to tighten the old belt up. the good news is that after all the years of wastful spending. all the dept. should have plenty of notches to tighten it up.

It's time for a change of government. Hammonton First has been in control of our Town government for over 2 years now and apparently have allowed a lot of wasteful spending to go on. How can they let this happen, and for 2 years? We can't wait any longer. At the next election we will have to vote in some people who will get the job done rather than sit on their laurels and just allow all of this wasteful spending to just go on and on.

Date: 03:43 PM Jan 14, 2008

Anonymous wrote:
I dont mind the spending cuts. These people in town hall with their 35 hour work weeks should shape up.

In the real world you have to tighten the belt, start telling them they will have to pay part of their health insurance. See how fast they find 3% to cut.

HF took office, the town didnt implode. I call 911 cops come. Trash comes. Recycling comes. Belleuve is not ghosttown.

Seriously whats hte problem ?

When the Republicans had 7-0 rule they could raise our taxes every year. They are mad as hell about these zero tax increases at the town and the school. They want change!

Date: 05:49 PM Jan 14, 2008

nice try the wastful days where when the reps and dems had total control. 0 increase is the future. hf is leading the way we don't need more employee's . we need every employee to work a full day. without long breaks and extra long lunchs and walks at the park and gym classes.

Date: 09:29 PM Jan 14, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

nice try the wastful days where when the reps and dems had total control. 0 increase is the future. hf is leading the way we don't need more employee's . we need every employee to work a full day. without long breaks and extra long lunchs and walks at the park and gym classes.

What a disgrace. Apparently Hammonton First feels the employees who work for our Town don't put in a full days work. And what's worse, they know this and have allowed it to go on for more than two years. Is this how they plan to continue running our government? Pushing through their own agendas at lightning speed but allow what they feel is waste to go on for years on end. It appears their priorities are all screwed up. I guess this just goes to show why they would spend so much money to get elected to a municipal position that pays very little.

Date: 05:29 AM Jan 16, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

nice try the wastful days where when the reps and dems had total control. 0 increase is the future. hf is leading the way we don't need more employee's . we need every employee to work a full day. without long breaks and extra long lunchs and walks at the park and gym classes.

leading the way into delayed debt is what HF is doing. Enjoy your breaks and lunches and walks in the park. Soon we'll have to work 2nd jobs to pay for the tax increases HF is leading us to. How can you trust a party with figures when they can't even release a simple campaign finance report in a timely manner.

Date: 05:34 AM Jan 16, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Can't help but to comment after reading both papers today I don't want my taxes going up and do support that. It seems as if all Marino wants to do is hire more police, what will that cost? He keeps saying we need to hire 8, funny the town hasn't heard that from the chief. Yes it important for safety but does Marino even know what that would cost? On another note Vitalo is mad about not being on any committees, could you explain to me if once your appointed to a committe what makes you think you own it forever? I think that council should rotate committees so that they become better rounded in the job as a council person.Why not.? I was not impressed in the job that they did in their council reports last year. Why didn't Marino ever report on the airport? where was Vitalo with bringing back the MUAC all of last year. problem is there already to many committees at do nothing. There is an old saying if you want nothing to happen put it in a committee. In the history of Hammonton there have never been so many committees? Why has Bertino remained quiet? I think that the next few months will tell the tale as to what will happen in the November elections. If hf can keep taxes to a zero they may very well hold all 7 seats in January of 2009.Funny thing they had much to say in the paper but nothing to say at the meeting. I bet the next council meeting will be not much better than the January 1st one. Vitalo wants to talk about committees but sat there and voted for the rules of council, isn't that where the committe thing is spelled out? Please Mr.Admin put a copy of the 2008 council rules on this site ,then ask Vitalo if he even knows what he voted on? A no vote on council rules would have been a good start? I really like the Republicans but it's getting harder to support them when ther is no difference . Say onething and do another, let's walk the talk instead of blaming others, or the town will go to one party rule in November.

People have to watch their home budgets with a recession coming. Why should the government think they can keep spending?

I could never understand all this spending on moving the historic town hall, building a new town hall at its present locations, dedicating more time and future finances towards theatres and historic districts which will increase taxes. Just pick up my trash, fix my streets, and use the taxes collected for what they were intended for. Enough of all these fancy HF pork projects. Pigs will fly before HF stops spending millions on benefitting their downtown properties.

Date: 07:24 AM Jan 19, 2008

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

Can't help but to comment after reading both papers today I don't want my taxes going up and do support that. It seems as if all Marino wants to do is hire more police, what will that cost? He keeps saying we need to hire 8, funny the town hasn't heard that from the chief. Yes it important for safety but does Marino even know what that would cost? On another note Vitalo is mad about not being on any committees, could you explain to me if once your appointed to a committe what makes you think you own it forever? I think that council should rotate committees so that they become better rounded in the job as a council person.Why not.? I was not impressed in the job that they did in their council reports last year. Why didn't Marino ever report on the airport? where was Vitalo with bringing back the MUAC all of last year. problem is there already to many committees at do nothing. There is an old saying if you want nothing to happen put it in a committee. In the history of Hammonton there have never been so many committees? Why has Bertino remained quiet? I think that the next few months will tell the tale as to what will happen in the November elections. If hf can keep taxes to a zero they may very well hold all 7 seats in January of 2009.Funny thing they had much to say in the paper but nothing to say at the meeting. I bet the next council meeting will be not much better than the January 1st one. Vitalo wants to talk about committees but sat there and voted for the rules of council, isn't that where the committe thing is spelled out? Please Mr.Admin put a copy of the 2008 council rules on this site ,then ask Vitalo if he even knows what he voted on? A no vote on council rules would have been a good start? I really like the Republicans but it's getting harder to support them when ther is no difference . Say onething and do another, let's walk the talk instead of blaming others, or the town will go to one party rule in November.

You make some great points.

hf is pushing for spending cuts. the republicans and democrats want to hire more and spend more.

HF keeps trying to keep the size of the government down while their opposition is screaming for more spending. The opposition is mad they can't get their hands on more of the taxpayer's cash. Before HF, they raised taxes every year.