As a board member, I am not allowed to tell people to vote for or against a referendum. That is the law as many are fond of reminding me ad-nauseam, but I can tell you what I think about what is needed to gain the support of a majority of our residents for this referendum, and I am going to spell it out as a resident of Monroe Township and not as a Board of Education member. I am speaking for myself.

Are the Republicans running anyone for Mayor and Council? I have not heard from or about anyone who is running in November? Why the silence when we need leadership? A leader doesn’t hide until the smoke clears; they come out fighting for what they believe is right, even if the people don’t back them. A leader leads from the front and not by waiting to see which way the winds of popularity are blowing. The Democrats have voiced their unwavering support for the current level of development, for our Legislators and for this referendum. Where do the Republican candidates stand? I think that we need for them to weigh in before Tuesday. They must have chosen their candidates by now. I would imagine that people have thrown their names in the hat to run so where are they?

The schools are needed but we also need more than just those schools. We need honesty, integrity and the truth without the political spin.

We need:
1. Moratorium on development.

2. Stop approving new developments. 920 approved by the Mayor in September and another 260 last week. Are you kidding me? Stand up for something besides power and self aggrandizement, Mr. Mayor.

3. Stop parading our legislators through this town like royalty until they earn our support by ensuring that we get funding for our schools.

4. Stop the BS. Stop moving referenda for political gain, tell the truth and stop trying to sell us nonsense.

5. Be truthful about the affordable housing obligation. Judge Wolfson was an appointee and a shill for developers, and after he ruled on the affordable housing obligation, he went to work for JSM who is building that mess of townhouses on Rt. 33 and Rt. 522. Our Mayor bent over backwards for Master Plan changes with the creation of overlay zone changes for the same developer. The cozy relationship this administration has gone on for years, and we Tamburro was part of the Pucci administration, he looked the other way as Pucci had a consultation firm that had JSM as his sole client. Pucci sat on the Planning board and voted for JSM developments just like Tamburro is doing now.

6. We have to sue the state. The township and the board of education need to sue the state. I have been harping on this for years and it has fallen on deaf ears. Let’s have the township and the board work together to sue the state for a funding formula fix that removes the burden from our taxpayers. Instead, we would rather go to their breakfasts, have or legislators pat our heads for being obedient and soak our residents instead. Where is our leadership? Where are OUR REPRESENTATIVES?

7. The frustration is understandable on both sides but it is all borne from the same source, which is the lack of representation by our politicians from right here in Monroe all of the way to Trenton. Our local politicians are in bed with developers, specials services that support development and politicians like State Senator Bob Smith who represents those developers before our Planning and Zoning boards. The proverbial chickens are coming home to roost. That means that the cost of their power game, pensions for politicians, corrupt consultation firms, patronage jobs etc., are now being served as a bill to our taxpayers.

Do we need the schools? Yes. Have our leaders done what they needed to do to secure our support? Well, that is up to you to say but I say that they still have even scratched the surface. The attacks on each other, especially the illegal ones, like sign removal and vandalism have to stop. Let’s all use that energy to hold our politicians accountable because what they are doing is disgusting and the people being divided when our frustrations have the same root cause, just keeps them happily doing what they do, and that is destroying the quality of our lives, our children’s education and eventually our home values. We need the schools but we also need a moratorium on development, a lawsuit against the state and to hold our Legislators accountable for the years of taking us for granted and abusing us. They came around this year only because we revolted, and even then they offered us a mere pittance and our leaders happily applauded. We send 40 million dollars of our taxes to Trenton and they give us back $5 Million. Seem fair? Of course not but you wouldn’t know that from the fanfare they received from our elected officials.

We put the cart before the horse here. It is metaphorically similar to an unloving spouse who asks to continue their marriage but without offering any changes that would make the marriage worth saving. Of course, just like in a divorce, we cannot allow our children to suffer because the parents are selfish, inept, boobs. Please continue the fight…