Locals react to merger plan

[Cranbury Press]

CRANBURY PRESS: Locals react to merger plan
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 12:43 PM EST
By Matt Chiappardi, The Packet Group and John Saccenti, Managing Editor

The days of tiny boroughs surrounded by larger townships in the state may be numbered if one state legislator has his way.

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-15th, says he will be proposing legislation in January that would merge so-called “doughnut communities” — pairs or groups of municipalities like Jamesburg and Monroe, where a small borough is surrounded by a much larger township.

With 22 such geographic arrangements throughout the state and 566 municipalities in all, Mr. Gusciora said consolidation is one of the best ways to offer residents property tax relief. The proposed legislation, which Mr. Gusciora says still is being drafted, would mandate all doughnut communities merge within 10 years, he said. Other than that, he said, he could not offer more details until the bill is drafted.

He did say the decadelong transition period would give municipalities enough time to work out how to combine services and figure out things as simple as what the new town would be called and where they’d conduct their business.

Jamesburg Mayor Anthony LaMantia and Monroe Mayor Richard Pucci both said they haven’t seen the proposal, but said that similar ideas have been floated in the past. Each said there is much more to look at than just how much will be saved and that things such as township identity, history and pride will have to be factored in.
”There is a misconception that, in fact, that because something is bigger it is better, but better is in the eye of the beholder,” said Mayor Pucci. “They have to really spend the money and bring in the right kind of entities to do the analysis of the financial, psychological and historical aspects.”

Mayor Pucci pointed to Jamesburg’s recent rejection of a referendum that would have closed the borough library and allowed Jamesburg to enter into an agreement to use Monroe’s as an example of something that may have looked good on paper, but didn’t work for various other reasons.

”Obviously, we would say that we have a superb library. Tied to that was the local decision of residents to say they didn’t want that, they wanted their own library, and I can understand that,” he said.

In November, Jamesburg residents rejected a referendum that would have discontinued funding, maintenance and control of the public library. Borough officials estimated Jamesburg would save approximately $30,000 had the public approved the referendum. The library received $185,614 from the borough as part of the 2008 budget and borough officials estimate that it will need approximately $200,000 in the coming year.

In addition, the Jamesburg Borough Council has already decided to lay off one municipal employee and reduce the hours for others as a way to cut costs in the coming year. In addition, services such as appliance, brush and Christmas tree pickup, funding to all borough sponsored events and certain programs such as the Recreation Department’s summer camp will be excluded from the 2009 budget. Officials also have said that cuts also may affect the local Police Department.

Mayor LaMantia said he thinks a merger could work if it’s done right.

”I don’t have a yes or no about it, it’s about whether it’s going to be viable. Yes, it could probably work out if everything is in line, if the small town keeps its identity, maybe by becoming a Ward, where people can elect their representative,” he said. “There is a lot of research and a lot of sitting down that needs to be done.”

Both mayors say they would oppose any legislation that forces municipalities to merge.

”I believe it should be up to the residents of the two towns that are merging,” said Mayor LaMantia. “If it’s somebody becoming a dictator, saying what we have to do, that’s not the kind of legislators we want. We want legislators that want to listen to the people and work with the people.”

At the state level, Assemblyman Gusciora already has sponsored legislation with a similar goal — one that would merge all of the six municipalities on Long Beach Island into one and four other nearby Ocean County communities into another.

However, that bill, A-3490, has been met with stiff opposition from both Ocean County state legislators and local officials from those towns.

No matter the fate of the bill, Mr. Gusciora said it’s worth the debate because, at the very least, it broaches what can be a touchy topic.

”At least mayors at the Shore are talking about sharing services now,” he said.

And the assemblyman adds he thinks the only way consolidation will get done is if the order comes from Trenton and not through a local approach.

”On the municipal level, you get into all these political problems with home rule issues,” he said. “If the state does it from the top down, consolidation has a much better shot.”
—John Saccenti contributed to this report.

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