now that is funny!

Malarkey. Horsefeathers.

I agree. I would like the council to do what is best for Fair Lawn,not their poppycock political fiddlefaddle political party.

The blissful ignorance that seeks to vote against the community's best interest for the sake of political party is pathetic. Want to see the definition of party politics? Look for someone who can't work on a balanced budget without the need to inject a constant attack on any attempts to resolve differences - it's a failure to understand that you can't make the ends meet if someone keeps moving them.

Don't we the taxpayer pickup the country employees benefits too? Or do they just get paid over $300k between them? Council people get a $2500 annual salary, assuming your numbers, that's $17,000 per person. Brent, are you sure about those numbers?

When John Corzine was in office he took no salary as governor. When Chris Christie became governor in the most dire financial situation the state has ever had, he decided he would take a salary. His reasoning was he worked hard and deserved it. Brent, would you suggest Christie step down because he is not sharing in the sacrifice?

Everyone knows the reason why Baratta and Trawinski ( who makes more than the governor) do not take their benefits. It's to skirt their definition of being double dippers.

Or are you saying the regular Joe that has a regular job, like a part time swim coach who would find it a financial burden to serve has no place in politics?

BB, while I do appreciate the hard work and dedication of all the Borough's council members, I think the duties and responsibilities of a governor preclude you from earning a living more so than a position at the borough level would.
Also, Jonny C. was able to afford not taking a salary because he made enough money in his career as a professional loser. Failing up does have its benefits, and judging by the "dire financial situation" after his tenure, the people of New Jersey ended up paying for it another way.
At the borough level, I don't know that the stipend and benefits offered should be the driving force behind being a member of the council. I can't speak to the financial situations to any of the council members, but assuming they all have "day jobs", and assuming further that it is agreed that cuts should come from the top first, how is this not a step in the right direction for FL?

YES!!!!! now this is getting fun. And Brent, it's a $5,000.00 a year stipend each plus $30,000.00 a year Medical benefits each. So if all 5 took this that is $175,000.00 a year.

Is having Trawinski's family members on the Fair Lawn payroll a Fair Lawn issue? What is the cost to Fair Lawn tax payers there BP? Do those salary, benefits and pension add up to more than $40,000 a year? Methinks you are the detractor, and still with a bunch of flapdoodle.

Brent, I'm still a Republican, have been my whole life. Im a top five poster here, No one will confuse me as a Democrat. I'm pointing out the hypocrisy, all leaders should be held to the same standard, regardless of party.

It's no secret that taxpayers pay for those county benefits too. If $40k is significant why don't you support cutting the town's rec staff? Why won't you answer my previous questions about subsidizing Memorial Pool memberships, funding the Senior Center which allows out of towners in for free? Where is that skate park? How can we ask for our neighbor's support when our party's house is not in order?

Mr. truthhurts, would you please give me your source for the comment "Trawinski's family members on the Fair Lawn payroll?" Are we citing Delgado on that one? I believe you'll find it's humbuggery.

No one's buying what you're peddling Brent.

Mr. Thomas Paine, is it a fair reflection of your position that you would close down the Memorial Pool, library, and senior center, significantly curtail the borough's recreation offerings, and cease borough funding for the fireworks and any other civic or community-oriented events? Are there other critical components that I am missing? Would you seek significant cuts to the local schools? And on a county level, I suspect you would seek to end funding for county parks? But you would increase funding for local police, is that correct? Please excuse my ignorance, I'm just trying to clarify.

Mr Dunay, not subsidizing and closing down the pool are two different things.  At a time when everyone agrees the police are understaffed, should we spend a red cent on subsiding a pool?  Any idea how many private pools we have in town?  Why not give it to a non profit and allow the users of the pool to cover its costs?  Using last years numbers, we could hire a few cops by closing or privatizing the pool.  

The borough's sports are run that way, yet we still have several borough rec employees too, why?  Do you even know how much FL All Sports, YIHAFL, etc take in?  

In this day and age, does every town really need a library?  IF we are going to have one, why not a regional one?  

When did we become the party of tax and spend?  The money comes from somewhere.  It comes from us!  I had people at my door talking about how we spend too much, now we are going to spend more?

I advocate ending the Abbott districts which send $38,000,000+ in Fair Lawn tax dollars to Hoboken and 30 other towns.  Where is the council on that?  They can pass a resolution against sunshine laws, but not that??  

I would like to see Parental Choice.  In Fair Lawn 16% opt out of the government schools despite the "free" education, doesn't that say quite a bit?  

Our party should be against wasting $450,000 a year on union janitors instead of the company which won the bid.  Yet our leaders are silent, why?

truthhurts
I don't know about Trawinski's sister being on the county payroll but Baratta's drinking buddy is.

I am now and have always been a Republican. I do agree with Kurt Peluso. Cut from the top.

Mr Paine
You have articulated my frustrations very well.
Let me know if you'd be interested in becoming part of the Fair Lawn Republican Orgainzation. This is a separate entity from the FL Rep Club.

Mr. Paine, thank you for the clarification. A few additional points of clarification:
1. Were there no non-profit interested in assuming the pool, absent a subsidy, would your position THEN be that we should shut it down?
2. If I understand your position correctly, you WOULD, in fact, close down the library, unless several other neighboring towns signed up to close theirs and make ours a regional hub, is that accurate?
3. You would like Fair Lawn All Sports and other youth sporting groups to pay for the borough's recreation and parks services out of their own revenues?
4. You would seek no significant changes to our school district, absent petitioning for the Supreme Court to overturn a decades-old precedent, asking the legislature for school choice, and firing some custodians?

Mr. Agosta--is it fair to assume from your post that you agree with Mr. Paine's positions on these matters?

If we didn't already have the pool, would you be in favor of spending money on a new one?  The question every year should be not what to keep, but what is justified.  The pool reduces our property value as configured.  If the pool is as loved as you imply it is, I'm sure the people who use would be willing to pay for it.  

As for the library it's your type of thinking that prevents regionalization, why can't we pay another town to use theirs?

All Sports,etc, are nonprofits which serve our community, funded by our residents using our resources.  They should run and fund the rec staff.  The park maintenance should be sent out for bid. I'm sure that was $100k at a minimum.

As for the schools, instead of the council Republicans slamming sunshine laws, they should slam our State Senator and Assembly people who represent 0 Abbott Districts for not sponsoring legislation to fix the problem.  It's not like Gordon (former FL mayor), Wager and Euctice haven't sponsored hundreds of bills. And none of them are even Republicans.

There are many things we can fix in our school system, instead of having overpaid janitors we could have full day Kindergarten as an example.

I guess we're being formal, So, Mr Dunay, I believe in what I have said for the last two years. Shut the pool. Shut the Community Center. Shut the Senior Center. Cut funding for extracurricular sport programs. We cannot afford these fluff services at this time.
You know how difficult the times are these days. Neither the Democrat or Republican clubs honored my request for 5-10 flags that we needed for body bags here in Afghanistan. I understood that the flags, at $20 a piece, were too expensive. Yet, your council folks have no problem spending the $16k of my property tax money.
Speaking of which, not one of them served on Active Duty. Yet, they will participate in the Memorial Day parade, the 9-11 ceremonies and the Veteran's Day ceremony. They will do this knowing that they wouldn't support our military.

Mr Dunay, Councilman poppycock has a son in law that works for the DPW.

Mr. Paine, I am really just trying to get my arms around this--I didn't mean any offense. I believe I am reading your latest commentary to imply that you WOULD, in fact, shutter the pool and the library, that you would push the costs for our parks and recreation down to private groups, but that you would seek to expand services offered at our local schools (full-day Kindergarten)? I'm just trying to make sure I understand.

I have thick skin, and a good amount of patience, so let me try to restate for you.

I am for PARENTAL CHOICE, no one cares more about their kid's future then parents do, we should empower parents to select which school their kids goto, not assign them to a government school based on where a bureaucrat draws the district lines. 16% opt out with any financial incentive, the number would be much higher if we tied the money to the students. If we offered parents 60% of the amount the BOE spends per pupil, we would cut enrollment more than half and save 15 to 20% very quickly. With that said, its very difficult for a town to that on its own. So since we are maintaining these schools, cutting the grass and cleaning the toilets doesn't command $100k in the free market, we shouldn't expect the taxpayer to pay that much either. At a time the BOE is looking to cut services to keep the janitors, kindergarten students only get a half day. Does that seem right to you? What ever happened to the kids first?

I don't care if Memorial Pool exists or not, those who do, and use it, should pay for it. How that is not a Republican principle is beyond me. Over Cosgrove's term in office it will cost us over $10,00,000 for the library, why don't we merge it with Glen Rock or Elmwood Park? Do you have any idea how much we pay the staff there?

I want to agree with you BellairBerdan on Councilman Peluso. At last nights meeting Councilman Peluso agreed with the three Republicans to be in favor of not taking a stipend and medical benefits. Every cent counts.

I have asked you questions on a previous article and you refused to answer because BellairBerdan wouldn't answer your question. She did, then you refused like a coward.

2 lingering questions based on the current crop of comments:
1 - There does not seem to be a consensus on whether or not family members of Council Members are FL employees. Mr. truthhurts made a comment regarding Mr. Trawinski having "family on the payroll." Is there any truth to that? And if so, has there been any evidence of wrong-doing or "excessive enrichment" by these family members? If not, I don't know what one's got to do with the other.
2 - Having been witness to a lot of top-heavy organizations, I am in agreement that in a situation like that, the cuts need to come from the top before they come from the bottom. I also don't think $40k is a small amount by any means. Does anyone from either side disagree that cutting council stipends and benefits is not a cut "from the top" that is worth making?
As an aside, I am unhappily familiar with layoffs, as a result of my tenure with MF Global. I don't wish a sudden loss of work on anyone, and I hope the council is not taking the consideration of firing employees lightly. Being Fair and Saving Money don't have to be mutually exclusive, and imho I think the community should share the burden first and then hold the parties responsible for the burden second. Losing a job hurts the individual, hurts the family, and hurts Fair Lawn.

nice one

I would donate my time to help run and organize a non profit to keep it open, I don't need a portion of my name on it though.

The Fair Lawn Republican Organization, brought to you by Sleepy's the Mattress Professional.

Sleepy? Not for long.
I am looking forward to banging on doors!

agosta- brent pohlman and frank sina became interested in local politics when they helped john cosgrove campaign. after cosgrove got elected they were quickly appointed to the planning board even though they never attended any coucil meeting, never been involved with the fair lawn republican party, or have any knowledge of construction or town planning.
brent- simple question, why in the world would baratta and trawinski need the stipend and benetfits when we the tax payers already pay thier six figure salaries and cadillac health care programs? for a lawyer you sure do make horrible arguements.

The Fair Lawn Republican Organization, brought to you by Jehovah's Witnesses.

I wonder what Frank Sina did for the campaign. It is obvious by his religious slander that he never worked a ground campaign.
Frankie, during a door-to-door campaign, you walk to targeted households. In my case, it will be 2, 3 and 4 of 4 Republican voters. You bring literature (handout) and speak with the residents about the local politics.
Why did you not contribute to the flags I requested? I'm just curious.

"Mikey", I know that Frank and I share the same last name, but he and I are two different people. Not sure what he has to do with my comments...
As for religious slander, Jehovah's Witnesses are commonly known for going door-to-door, I was riffing on your comment regarding "banging on doors". Apologies if the joke wasn't clear. Best of luck to your McDowell's franchise.

Tony, 2013 is around the corner. Call it what you want but I assure you there's nothing fake about my intentions.

And the winner of the comments for this article...Stu Pace!
Swordfish.

you get exceptionally high "Marx" for this one, STU

According to the article there are FOUR, count 'em FOUR, managerial positions in the Rec Dept. Why do we need them all?

New Slogan - I don't even understand your quote to respond to it. If you could explan what you are getting at maybe I could respond.

BB, one of the points made by the Borough Manager at the meeting addressed your concern directly. Apparently, since the Borough has eliminated through attrition so many of the entry level and non supervisory positions in the past that many of the supervisors are doing their work and the work of those that were below them. Now, I'm sure you are asking if this is really the best way to manage resources and it seemed the council as a whole agreed but realized that an organizations shift such as that can’t be done in the last budget meeting and they intend to have further discussions about that issue as they move forward.

I'm Tony Sina...That is my brother Frank Sina

frank sina- the man who will ask questions but wont answer any...
frank do we really need a recreation supervisor?
what would you cut?
what are your qualifications for planning board besides being friends with john cosgrove?

i do not wish for anyone to lose thier job or services to be eliminated, however during tough times layoffs and reduction of services is a must.
lets just look at the title "recreation supervisor". the definition of recreation is:
an activity done for enjoyment when one is not working. the rec center/ pool is a want not a need.
its about time the public sector starts acting like the private sector. when business is good we have more workers and are treated to nice bonuses like holiday partys. when business is slow we have to layoff workers, people must work longer hours and take on additional responsibilities, and we dont have bonuses or have holiday partys.
if my boss didnt lay people off or continued to have holiday partys during tough times just to keep everyone happy we would have been out of bussiness years ago.
pools and recreation centers are a want not a need. when the economys good i am all the town providing "fun" places for the residents to enjoy. but during economic times like the presents we need to worry about the needs and not the wants

mr peluso explained why he didnt think the position was neccassary and works for a ymca which provides similiar services as the FL community center. he wasnt just looking at a position and salary on a piece of paper. hes the only one doing what the republicans claim to be doing- making the tough decisions.
you say peluso shouldnt except the stipend or health benefits to cut from the top and help the tax payers. with that theory shouldnt you tell your friends baratta and trawinski to reduce thier salaries us taxpayers pay for? if they dropped thier salaries to an even $100,000 it would save us more than peluso not accepting his $2500 stipend

New Slogan, I don't know if you are aware of this but the Mayor and Deputy Mayor are full-time employees of the county, not part- time elected officials. You also may not be aware, but the Donovan Administration reduced the county budget in both its first year and this its second year. In fact, in the first year after taking over from the dems, the Donovan administration eliminated $30 million in spending.

And to be clear, Councilman Peluso voted in favor of eliminating the councilmember perks at Tuesday's meeting I apologize if I implied otherwise. He should be acknowledged for that as well as for his idea to not fill an empty position and the idea to see if another position can be outsourced at a lower cost.

...On 2nd thought, go to a Planning Board meeting and ask them.

Now that's funny!

him and his brother can crack jokes but never answer simple questions.
why are you on the zoning board mr sina what are your qualifications? let me guess you cant answer that cause im not posting under my real name. any qualified individual wold simply post thier qualifications and end this arguement- but you cant because the only reason you are on the planning board or involved in local politics is because youre friends with john cosgrove.
do you think when families in town are struggling to pay thier bills we should force them to pay for a rec center, a pool, and all the employees to run the rec center and pool? is it fair that i cant buy my son a new pair of sneakers because my money is being used so that YOU can go have fun at the rec center? i have to ration my money so senior citizens can play ping pong at the rec center on wednesday night?
people who use the rec center should pay $10 a month. thats still a lot cheaper than a gym and it would help out us taxpayer that dont use it but still have to pay for it

Mr. Slogan - It may be you didn't mean to lump me into the assertion that I never answer questions, a misspeak on your part. If not, please restate the simple questions that were asked of me, and I'll be happy to answer them as best I can. Near as I can tell, the other Mr. Sina answered the questions that you posted as well.
With regard to your wondering what my brother's qualifications are...I suppose I could ask the same question of Democrats who followed a similar path.
Now, I have to assume you question his qualifications because you suspect he is unable to fulfill the duties and responsibilities. If that's the case, appearing in person and calling him out before the board would a)better publicize your concerns and reach an audience of potentially like-minded residents and b)prove to people that you as a resident of FL have a basis in determining why someone is or is not qualified to be on the zoning board. The zeal you display about this presumed issue would be better served in a place where something can be done about it, not on an internet forum with silly usernames who only started posting recently.

Mr. Slogan - With regard to the financial questions you posted, I hope that you are speaking hypothetically and that you are not indeed in the straits you are illustrating. If not, I wish you well. I agree that no resident should have to make a decision between paying taxes and providing for their family.
As I stated in my previous comments, I don't take the idea of layoffs lightly. However, we have to be careful in determining what should be cut and what should remain. The rec center, the senior center, the library...they all provide valuable services to the people of Fair Lawn. Imo, sacrificing them entirely for the sake of the bottom line would do harm to the morale and social hygiene of our community. I'm not saying we shouldn't cut, I'm saying we should do so responsibly. I hope the council can come to a consensus, mete out the burden as equally as possible, and put us in a better position financially for the long-term, not just when it will look good on a campaign flyer.

Totally agree with Cindy!!

no one goes to those meetings.

New Slogan, you didn’t exist until today, so how would you know anything about what I have done in the past? Is there an individual or committee that approves who can participate in the public dialogue and when they can do it? Why haven’t you ever posted on patch before? Actually its none of my business why you never posted on patch before since any person has the right to enter the public dialogue when they desire. It would seem like only entrenched politicos on both sides would be upset or threatened about new people becoming involved. And based on what I have read here today that does seem to be the case.

Funny thing. Brent Pohlman didn't exist until a couple of months ago. Having never been involved in Republican matters, he is blindly defending Baratta and Trawinski.
Enjoy it for now. 2013 is coming up.

Mr. BB - I assume you are referring to my previous comment which invoked a common-knowledge fact about the beliefs and practices of Jehova's Witnesses. I am not a Republican, that is Frank's job. I wish it wasn't as easy to confuse us...except for the fact that we have different names and are two different people...
If you can tell me what about my joke makes it a "joke", and exactly what I did to bully anyone, I'd be happy to discuss the merits of your argument.

correction - Jehovah's Witnesses, not Jehova's. Apologies.

Tony Sina:
9:20 am on Thursday, April 26, 2012
"I was riffing on your comment regarding "banging on doors". Apologies if the joke wasn't clear. "
Frank Sina:
10:19 am on Thursday, April 26, 2012
"I couldnt just sit back and let Tony crack jokes."

Nothing about your joke makes it a joke. You should be ashamed of yourself bringing any religion into the discussion to deride any person.

You all gang up to tag team and answer for each other then scatter when responsibility comes. Grow up, bullies.

Again, BB is lumping me in with Republicans, and is accusing me of being a bully.
BB, you may not have found my joke funny, but let me tell you what I find hilarious...the inane bile guys like you spew, referring to people who don't share your opinions as drunks, cowards, wannabe adulterers, and all the like...and then YOU call THEM bullies.
Let me provide you with the correct context of what I said. I posted a few lines of humor regarding selling naming rights to public buildings. Mr. Agosta posted a comment about his organizing a Fair Lawn Republican Organization, which is not to be confused with the current Fair Lawn Republican Club.
As an extension of my previous comments, I joked that his group was sponsored by Sleepy's. Mr. Agosta came back and said that his group would not be sleepy, that they would be banging on doors.
Take a moment, process the info, and feel free to re-check all the comments so that we're on the same page.
Based on his "banging on doors" comment, I then joked that his group would instead be sponsored by Jehovah's Witnesses. This was meant to be a humorous association to the well-known fact that Jehovah's Witnesses frequently evangelize door-to-door.
And now that it has been explained (several times), I agree that it is no longer funny. If any Jehovah's Witnesses were offended by the comment, I do apologize.
Contrary to the supremely ignorant and humorless comments posted in response, this has nothing to do with religion or bullying.

BB, in response to your point regarding having the managers accept a pay cut in exchange for no layoffs, I believe that would be a step in the right direction. I don't think anyone wants to be responsible for making the very difficult decision of axing someone in this economy, even if it means reducing the burden on Fair Lawn taxpayers.
I feel like the suggestion that council members forgo pay and benefits goes along that same vein. In the interest of keeping our discourse civil and germane, what say you to that?

What is it with Fair Lawn Republican Club members and religious groups? How many people actually show up to those meeting you hold?

I am amazed at the party-line derision at the local level. Honestly, to be a Republican or a Democrat at this level is akin to declaring yourself an avid roller skate enthusiast. That's great and all, but what's it got to do with anything?
I will say that I find it amusing that the Democratic contingent appears to be mad at the Republicans for NOT wanting to cut services and jobs, when at every other level of government it seems the Democrats are against Republicans because they DO want to cut services and jobs. My time on the Patch has been strange to say the least.

Randi, how quick we forget about the horrible tenure of ex Mayor Swain. As of now, Kurt's claim to fame is he is a loud mouth bully.I haven't seen more of anything else from him. If you haven't noticed this council is a big joke. The republicans and democrats are failing this town because they are incompetent. As for the Barrel idea, it would only be a smash hit if the council members could climb in it and go over the Niagara.

Randi S.......your comment about the rich and the water tower, explains your devotion to ex mayor Swain. Your clearly not to bright.

Please - if you don't understand what a water town is for, go find a dunce hat and step away from the computer. We all already know you are "not a water expert".

Angry..the council doesn't care about you or your kids...dont you get it? ....they lied to get in

The problem in this town is not unique, we have allowed our political leaders to fool the masses into thinking "free lunches" are real. They talk about opening the pool, but not the cost, about the free Senior Center which out of towners use, a skate park, fire works, the list goes on. The politicians bribe us with these programs and cleverly hide the reality, they are bribing us with our own money.

The answers are obvious, they may not be politically popular, but the alternative in the long run is only compounding the problem. The town has a spending problem, the largest problem is the BOE, but the council isn't exempt. We need leaders that are willing to get their hands dirty and remind people the Republic of Fair Lawn can't print (inflate) money, it collects it. We are municipality.

Many of our seniors are force to move because of taxes after living here for decades. Families that have been here for years are being forced out too, like the Cuoccis. The plunder needs to end. We have 100 people who work for Fair Lawn who make 3x the media salary of those of us who live here. We have typists who make $60k, a clerk who makes almost $150k, etc, all BEFORE benefits. There is still plenty of fat left in the budget, and it needs to be trimmed. There are many services we should not provide or outsource. We can deal with it now, or compound the problem further. If we don't do something soon, bankruptcy will be here before we know it.

Stu, I am deeply offended by your religious comments and Bully Bully Alan Marcus mouthpiece Bully double-dipper!
I'd like to defend my baseless stance by quoting the following statement you made at 3:23pm.
"....;)"
GAME SET MATCH REPUBLICAN BULLYS!!!

Stu: Humor is an alien concept to people who want to accuse politicians of every evil under the sun and think charging $5 for rabies shots is somehow an improvement while neglecting that it's hard enough to get people to not play with the sick raccoon in the yard or take their pets to get shots at all, much less something that does a public service like the prevention of a fatal disease that is communicable to people even if their pets aren't visibly sick.

BB, just as a point of information Mayor Baratta refused to take the stipend and medical benefits before she was employed by the county. I don't believe that she has ever taken them.

And Stu, don't you know that this is a non-joking comments section. If you continue down this road you may get my "bully" title.

Brent, I may not agree with everything Stu says but I do have respect for him. He engages in the community and comments words of encouragement on many threads here on Patch. On the other hand you, Dan and the Sina tag team only come for political attacks.

Obviously you need a few definitions of the word bully: A person who is habitually cruel or overbearing, especially to smaller or weaker people. A hired ruffian; a thug. To treat in an overbearing or intimidating manner. To force one's way aggressively or by intimidation. a blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who habitually badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people.
Use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants.

I'm not sure why I should be precluded from the conversation simply because I'm not a Republican, BB. I'm here because I have an interest and I want to share my thoughts and have a conversation. If you pose a question, and I want to respond to it, this is a public forum and I will respond to it. Why should you and the Dems and Reps be the only ones to have all the fun?
Gee, name-calling, excluding people from groups, generally quarrelsome and overbearing...not really answering simple questions because you know better...you sure I'm the Bully?

The Sina Tag Team...Love it. My brother and I are starting a WWE team. Alan Marcus is going to be our manager, dressed as the Million Dollar Man.

BB, thank you for the kind words. I'm curious though, after I provided you with that little point of information regarding how Mayor Baratta never took the stipend and medical insurance are you going to withdraw your above allegation.

the recreation supervisor is a volunteer fire fighter or heavy rescue?
i dont recall peluso suggesting making any cuts that would affect our residents safety.

New Slogan,

Not everyone on this site is constantly talking about your party members. If you look up above Angry in Fair Lawn, implored the council to consider that many borough employees are also volunteers and the effects of eliminating the former on the later. Another commentator questioned what was written and I chimed in with my take. You are very denfensive today I hope tomorrows character is in a better mood.

@ brent
"Not everyone on this site is constantly talking about your party members."
im not a democrat, if anything i lean towards conservative views but wont call myself a republican.
youre right i am defensive today, and its because im am furious with this town taxes and over spending. i thought peluso's idea was the best ive heard so far- at this point in time do we really need so many people employed at the rec center?
i go to the rec center and there is never enough people using it to justify having that many employees. when i scan my card and see 3 employees kicking back watching youtube clips i have to admit it really bothers me that my tax money is gonig towards thier salaries.
ive lived here all my life, i know the politics, i know the cliques. take a look at the public sector jobs in fair lawn. you realize how some of our cops have the same last name, same with our school systems, same with the rec center. it is clearly not what you know but who you know in fair lawn.
im assuming john cosgrove has a personal friendship with the recreation supervisor and thats probably why they wont consider cutting this job, even if its not neccassary.

Hey BB, she was nice to Brent...ATAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!

They should give all the employees raises to match the cost of benefits, then make the copay on ALL benefits 100%. If an employee wanted better benefits, they could pay more, if they wanted less or none, they would pocket more. It would then be a no brainer to offer health insurance to part timers.

Chris, you are right on many historical fronts. You also missed the 8-ton gorilla on our tax bill the BoE. Should I call on the Council to condemn the Abbott Districts which send $38,000,000 of Fair Lawn tax payer dollars to Hoboken and 30 other towns?

Your right there have been a number of cheap shots, at the majority and the minority, its seems the only thing that's not cheap is our tax bill. The debt issues are very real, but so it the town's entertainment bill. Given the dire situation that Metzler speaks of, why are we subsidizing a pool? Why do we have a Senior Center which caters to nonresidents? Why is it that we have a town minibus passing the County minibus on Fair Lawn Ave? Why is it that we give money to Fair Lawn All Sports, FIHAL and others, and still maintain a rec staff? Why is it that we can't get a single town to share a library with us? Why do we have dozens and dozens (over 100) employees making over $100k which is 3x the median income?

The Mayor's boss claims towns can save millions by working together, you'd think her chief of staff would set an example, or maybe her administrator could.

Could you please expand upon this 38M dollars you keep talking about? Where are you getting these numbers from?

To your other points, the median income for our town in roughly 55K. Hardly the 3x you say. All Sports, Pool, Library are all services that, believe it or not, people use. And did you once think for a minute that other towns do not want to share with us? And do we have dozens and dozens? Do you have a break down by department? And you need to stop worrying about the Mayor's boss. She doesn't live here, nor does she govern here. She is the County Executive and really has no governing power. That right there is a cheap shot. Maybe you should get yourself to a Council meeting and voice your concerns. And don't blame the Council for the BOE. They have a separate board that governs that. Those issues should be spoken about in front of them. You seem to lump them together. They meet once a month.

Chris, there are several sources which calculate the costs of the Abbott district funding laws, http://fairschoolfunding.com/ has dated information which understates the problem as $32,859,105. I have non-public sources which calculate the number closer to $39m. The above website does not account for sales taxes which represent a sizable portion of the difference.

@Chris, here is a dated list of 116 people, or 9+ dozen who make $100k http://unfairlawn.wordpress.com Ever wonder why the town won't publish on it's website the payroll even though its public record?

Your right about the Mayor's boss not living here, but last time I checked Fair Lawn is in Bergen County. Under the state charter, the County Executive handles the day-to-day operations of the county government, appointing the department heads and overseeing the activities of all departments and divisions. Considering the selective enforcement of the county, isn't that defacto governance? All that said, end the county already.

I understand other towns don't like entering into interlocal agreements, who wants to run on the slogan, "We did the right thing, we cut your taxes and the [...] is now in the next town." Instead they all want to be the "last one standing" to provide the services to the other towns. Until bankruptcy hits, or more people start realizing we can't print as a town, we will continue to waste money on these duplicative services.

I don't blame the council for the BOE, I was just pointing out the reason our taxes are so high, is not primarily the council's fault.

Your link doesn't work, but it is very disingenuous of you to say 38M of Fair Lawn's tax dollars go to the Abbott districts. Fair Lawn collectively hasn't sent anything close to that dollar amount. All tax and fees revenue in Fair Lawn goes directly to fund the town. Income tax and other taxes fund the state. If someone didn't know any better, they might think that information, by the way it's worded, is correct.

You may want to check that list on the other site regarding FL salaries. On the Municipal side, some of those people are no longer here, and an overwhelming majority are police officers. On the BOE side, that's something to bring up at a BOE meeting. Either way, you're dealing with unions on that one. I can't verify the names on the BOE list, but I would gather that since the pay is high, and there have been a lot of retirements since then, those numbers are wrong as well. Please check your facts prior to posting this information. It's not correct.

@Chris, its not my link, it State Senator Doherty's link http://fairschoolfunding.com which is understated.

I live in Fair Lawn, I pay state income tax. The justification for that tax was for the children and seniors. The state sends money to every board of education. If they did it equally per pupil, we'd get that money I highlighted.

Are kids in Hoboken and the other 30 towns more equal then our kids? Ever hear of equal protection? (14th amendment)

Fair Lawn taxpayers fund Hoboken and the other 30 Abbott districts to the tune of $38,000,000+ every year, use the lower amount of $32m+, its still almost 40% of our school budget. Yet our BoE and Council think its okay by their silence on the issue.

I can't vouch for the information at the other website, except that it matches the 2008 database of one the large press organizations fairly closely. The truth is it should be published on the borough's website, and regularly updated. Sunshine is the best disinfectant. Maybe that's why the council passed a resolution condemning the expansion of the Sunshine Laws, yet we have silence on Abbott.

I was a bit distracted when I posed that, I intended to point out the per capita income for borough residents is $32,273. I stand corrected.

actually is doesnt stop, with the new developing scandal at Bergen Community College under Baratta/Trewinski, where under there noses a "pay-for grades" scandal devloped, add in the Federal charges of theft at Communtiy Development and the tie in between the drugs found in Donovans house could also be tied to drugs found amongst say some Fair Lawn residents, the same old B.S. becomes the scandals of Fair Lawn become the scandals of Bergen County... (and yes, they are double dippers)