Government
By DR. JIM KENNEDY
April 10, 2023
Dear Editor, Recently, a candidate for the position of member of town council is grabbing headlines by indicating that Roxbury's form of government needs to change. Why I ask? This council form of government has guided us through many crises such as the landfill issue, COVID and many others.
On March 14, 2023, the Westfield Town Council voted on the final ordinances and resolutions needed to proceed with Hudson's Bay's $375 million investment in our town, One Westfield Place. This investment will now be made inside of rules and controls that have been very carefully crafted by the ...
Wayne is the recipient of a $15 Million grant to improve traffic conditions on Valley Road. From all the negative comments by a number of republican council members and other online postings you'd think that Wayne had tons of excess cash and this grant somehow places a terrible burden on the Wayne ...
This week marked a significant and exciting milestone for Westfield when the Town Council cast its final votes for One Westfield Place and approved the financial agreements, allowing the project to move forward to the Planning Board for site plan approval later this year. Specifically, the ...
An Open Letter to Wayne's Emergency Service Volunteers Dear Wayne Emergency Service Volunteers, I am writing to apologize for the way Mayor Vergano and my Council colleagues treated you at the February 15th Council meeting. Your attendance in support of a stipend encouraging active service ...
During the past several Town Council meetings, Republican members of the Council have been suddenly complaining about the County taxes. This has taken place at least three meetings by my count. It made me wonder why they were raising that issue at this particular time. My question was answered ...
I recently read your (TAPinto) article on cannabis retailers in Mount Laurel. The vast majority Mount Laurel residents are unaware that the local government is approving marijuana dispensaries in our town. It's concerning because our town is heavily family centric, and many of the towns ...
The Township continues to make alarming land use decisions permitting builders to bypass various conservation ordinances to construct major developments. At the March 6, 2023 Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting, there will be a public hearing where Galreh, the applicant for a major mixed use ...
I am writing to express my concern regarding the demolition of the Nabisco building in Fair Lawn. While the development of this property is exciting, it is crucial that safety measures are taken into consideration during the demolition process. There are several issues that must be addressed to ...
The Township continues to make alarming land use decisions permitting builders to bypass various conservation ordinances to construct major developments. At the March 6, 2023 Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting, there will be a public hearing where Galreh, the applicant for a major mixed use ...
I am writing to express my concern regarding the demolition of the Nabisco building in Fair Lawn. While the development of this property is exciting, it is crucial that safety measures are taken into consideration during the demolition process. There are several issues that must be addressed to ...
I am writing to express my concern regarding the demolition of the Nabisco building in Fair Lawn. While the development of this property is exciting, it is crucial that safety measures are taken into consideration during the demolition process. There are several issues that must be addressed to ...
Boon for Builders in Wayne The Township continues to make alarming land use decisions permitting builders to bypass various conservation ordinances to construct major developments. At the March 6, 2023 Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting, there will be a public hearing where Galreh, the ...
“Build It, They Will Come and They Will Spend” appears to be what is driving Mayor Brindle and the Council to include new office construction in the One Westfield Plan for the Lord & Taylor and South Avenue sites. The question is what will be the costs to achieve this, and do the benefits ...
To The Editor: Wayne's Republican council members, along with the mayor, have made no secret about their partisanship and refusal to consider anything not initiated by themselves. Their refusal to even second a motion from Councilwoman Ritter is just the latest example of their pettiness. What ...
Dear Editor: At the last Town Council meeting, Mayor Vergano announced that he anticipated that Wayne will have a 4 million dollar budget deficit for this year. This came as quite a shock to many Wayne residents, including myself. This gap and the need to fill it mean that our municipal budget ...
The development proposed under One Westfield Place is significant in scope and well beyond our established Land Use Ordinance limits for building heights, coverage and density. Of course the Lord & Taylor building and parcel requires redevelopment, but 75 foot structures and shoehorning in ...
After the Town Council approved controversial zoning changes for the Lord & Taylor/Train Station Redevelopment Plan last week, Mayor Brindle wrote that “specific details will be ironed out when the plan is submitted for site plan approval with the Planning Board later this year, and that there ...
To the editor: Can you imagine what our Wayne taxes would be like if we had to pay for a full-time fire and rescue squad? Our all-volunteer emergent services are a precious gift that saves us millions of dollars a year. But it’s getting harder and harder to get new recruits. So we urgently ...
Wayne's 14-year Mayor with an 8-1 political party majority (Republican/Democrat) seemingly felt no obligation to justify a huge increase in cost to the taxpayer to change his role from part-time to full-time. Therefore, I made an Open Public Records Act Request (OPRA) to see what justification the ...
I've listened closely to the debate around the One Westfield Place project, read through available material, viewed online presentations and visited the preview office. I've also heard the pleas and concerns about preserving the charm and character that makes Westfield "special." As a long-time ...
Dear Editorr, At the February 15, 2023 Town Council meeting, I raised concerns about the lack of an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) on our major housing developments. My comment was essentially as follows. In the affordable housing settlement agreements, the Township has two options: a ...
Canceling the Phillipsburg council work session on rent control is outrageous! We have a national problem. We have a shortage of affordable housing. We have an oversupply of unaffordable housing. Just like Phillipsburg! My previously published plan, an ordinance that would cheaply and simply ...
To: Montville Township Board Please consider my thoughts when making decisions about continued building, especially large habitable complexes as opposed to individual homes. I feel the issue of our water supply is not properly addressed or assessed when making any decisions about permitting ...
We ask Mayor Shelley Brindle and the Town Council members to vote to place a stay on the proposed One Westfield Redevelopment Plan. The citizens of Westfield have overwhelmingly shown their support in pausing and readapting this current proposal. The released TAPinto survey on redevelopment, as ...
Let me start by saying that I love Westfield. I grew up here, and even as a kid, I always knew that I wanted to move back to my hometown to raise a family of my own. The two biggest draws to me have always been the athletic programs in our town, and our lively downtown. Both have always been a ...
Dear Editor, I was at the TC meeting where this was presented and have a couple of comments. First, the question here is what is best for the community overall. Is the community served better by reallocating a municipal space used by one group of residents, those that golf or want to learn to ...
On Tuesday, the Westfield mayor and town council will vote on the controversial redevelopment plan known as One Westfield Place. As our town is deeply divided as to approve or disapprove this enormous project, the mayor, many of the town council members and town attorney Tom Jardim continue to ...
Since I first published my letter to the editor on January 19th, many residents have contacted me directly or posted comments on social media because they do not want this in our town. Today, I am updating you on what I have learned regarding this potential project. Where the application now ...
Greenwashing is everywhere. Corporations will add a few recycling bins and offset some of their carbon footprint and call themselves “green.” But what does it mean to be truly sustainable? To incorporate it in the fibers of your design and honor your commitment to this core value? Sustainability ...