Anthony Cooper
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Comments
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On the article Mayor: Tax Rate May Have Stayed Flat Without Sandy and Tax Appeals
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On the article Taxes May Rise 5% in Holmdel, Sandy Cleanup Costs Millions
Anthony Cooper
1:40 pm on Tuesday, May 7, 2013
ReplyThanks to Patch for this fine article alerting people to tonight's Holmdel Township Committee hearing on the town's 2013 municipal budget. Unfortunately, this 5% increase in Holmdel's 2013 municipal budget follows immediately after the 10+% increase in Holmdel's 2012 municipal budget.
All should note that this proposed 2013 budget is posted on the Township's website.
My reading of this budget indicates that, just like in 2012, Holmdel's officials appear to have spent the bulk of their budgetary efforts in gaming the state's 2% CAP on year-over-year municipal budget increases, while giving lower priority to expense reductions.
I plan to attend and speak at tonight's meeting, and I encourage all who would like to receive equal protection under this 2% CAP law to do likewise.
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On the article Monmouth County Assemblywomen Object to Proposed JCP&L Tax Hike
Anthony Cooper
10:23 am on Wednesday, April 10, 2013
ReplyMany thanks to Assemblywomen Amy Handlin and Caroline Casagrande for their fine efforts to halt the undeserved rate increase for JCP&L.
Rewarding JCP&L (and ultimately its owner, First Energy) with a rate increase after JCP&L's terrible performance in repairing power equipment that failed from Hurricane Sandy would only encourage JCP&L's continued poor restoration performance after future storms in this area. Never reward poor performance! -
On the Blog Post Holmdel Fire Rescue Co#2 Open Meeting
Anthony Cooper
9:34 am on Thursday, April 4, 2013
ReplyThanks to Holmdel Fire Rescue Co#2 for holding an "open-to-the-public" portion of their April 4 meeting. I support this Company #2 and am grateful to all of its volunteer members for the fine protective services they provide to all of the residents in my area.
I plan to attend and listen to what the members might say about the apparent "bad time" this Company #2 seems to be getting from the Holmdel Township Committee.
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On the article Budgets Not Easily Available on Holmdel and Hazlet Websites
Anthony Cooper
10:11 am on Wednesday, March 27, 2013
ReplyMany thank to Patch for its important public service in locating and publicizing the whereabouts of this important information.
At its official meetings to date, Holmdel's Township Committee has been saying to all who've asked for 2012 municipal budget information that isn't available to the public.
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On the Blog Post Holmdel Township Trying to Close Holmdel Fire Rescue Co#2
Anthony Cooper
7:16 pm on Thursday, March 14, 2013
ReplyI strongly support Holmdel Fire Company #2 and all its volunteers, who do such an excellent job for our community. All Holmdel's fire-fighting volunteers save us taxpayers considerable money, and we should each contribute to their annual fundraising campaigns.
I'm happy to see Kaitlyn Anness (Editor) taking action against some of the more trashy postings to Patch, most of which likely come from an individual (or two?) who feel it's necessary to hide his identity behind aliases (Holmdel Dem, Holmdel Rep, Holmdel Dad, ...) or made-up names like J. Nick and Paul Heyman (whom I could not find as registered voters in Holmdel). A few years back, the "Independent" had a parallel situation with campaign letters-to-the editor, which all appeared to be from a single individual. He was previously convicted of an ethics-related crime while serving on the Woodbridge School Board. Kaitlyn, please keep up your good efforts to raise Patch's standards.
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On the Blog Post Action by County's Amendment Review Committee is Important to Holmdel
Anthony Cooper
2:33 pm on Monday, February 11, 2013
ReplyPaul Heyman, I agree with you that Obama has done much damage to this country. You may be interested in a book due out tomorrow (Feb. 12), entitled "Benghazi: The Definitive Report". But let's not slacken our efforts to better control our local bad actors on the BRSA and the Township Committees that appointed them.
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On the Blog Post Action by County's Amendment Review Committee is Important to Holmdel
Anthony Cooper
12:34 pm on Monday, February 11, 2013
ReplyBud, I agree with you. The BRSA's expensive windmill boondoggle that threatens so many people in Union Beach is a prime example of sewer authorities running without control to the general detriment of us all. If you can attend the County's Amendment Review Committee meeting on Feb. 13, it would be good to raise your point there.
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On the Blog Post Comments on Holmdel's Redevelopment Plan for Alcatel-Lucent property
Anthony Cooper
2:03 pm on Sunday, February 3, 2013
ReplyThanks to Mr. Smith for his nice article on Holmdel's issues with the Alcatel-Lucent tract's revitalization. His good question on why the Town needs four lawyers to negotiate with Somerset Development raises a warning flag. In typical negotiations, agreement is first reached among the principals on all key issues, and then lawyers for both sides craft the legal language.
Some Township Committee members have implied there's no cause for alarm over the many defects in this tract's Redevelopment Plan since what counts is the tract's Redevelopment Agreement now being negotiated. But maybe four lawyers are needed since that Plan's defects, e.g., inadequate bulk parameters and a missing traffic-related requirement, have put the Town “behind the 8-ball” in this Redevelopment Agreement's negotiation.
I'm aware of another warning flag on this negotiation: When a friend requested a copy of the Town's questions sent to Somerset in reply to Somerset 's Concept Plan, he was told they were secret and couldn't be revealed. Those questions are no secret to the Township or to Somerset -- why keep them secret from the public? If negotiations are going badly for the Town due to Redevelopment Plan defects, maybe Township Committee members want to hide this fact from the public.
I commend Township Committee members' openness in publicly sharing Somerset's Concept Plan, and ask them to now follow their own good example by publicly sharing the Town's response questions to Somerset.
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On the Blog Post Dangerous Bill Lets Sewage Treatment Plants Off the Hook for Pollution
Anthony Cooper
10:08 am on Sunday, January 27, 2013
ReplyThanks to Mr. Tittel for this alert. I observe that the grossly mismanaged Bayshore Regional Sewage Authority (BRSA) has outrageously focused its energies for years on a very expensive "wind turbine" that adversely impacts so many people in Union Beach. It should have focused instead on its basic job of processing sewage. Let's hope the new Directors of BRSA will do a much better job.
Anthony Cooper
1:44 pm on Thursday, May 9, 2013
Thanks to Patch for diligently following the sorry situation with Holmdel Township's 2013 municipal budget. This year's 5% increase in Holmdel's 2013 municipal budget again deprives all property tax-paying Holmdel residents of the protection to which we are entitled under Governor Christie's 2% CAP law.
Unfortunately, our present Township Committee appears to focus more on gaming the 2% CAP law, and drumming up excuses, than on working to manage municipal finances in sensible and thrifty manner. At their May 8 meeting our Township Committee members went out of their way to claim they've done a great budget job while blaming their excessive municipal expenditures on Sandy, on the “awful” tax appeals, and even on the fact that Holmdel has publicly owned Open Space areas.