The following titled article “Lodi referendum will not appear on November ballot” appeared tonight on northjersey.com:
From the
article:
“The BOE originally approved the $7.5
million project using money from capital reserves to demolish, rebuild and
house the staff during construction. However, after an engineer deemed the
building structurally sound, the board decided to suspend the project.”
Truth: The engineer always stated that the building
was structurally sound. Joe Licata and
others blatanly lied to the public when they stated otherwise. The papers never corrected the lies. Furthermore, taxes were raised for the project. The funds did not come from a typical capital reserves account.
The whole board didn’t vote to suspend the project. Only members Mastrofilipo, Telep, Mara, and myself did. If it weren’t for the four of us, the building would have been demolished on March 1st, and Lodi would have been out of $7.5M.
The whole board didn’t vote to suspend the project. Only members Mastrofilipo, Telep, Mara, and myself did. If it weren’t for the four of us, the building would have been demolished on March 1st, and Lodi would have been out of $7.5M.
From the article: “Board attorney Alisa Di Chiara said that
after reviewing the state statute she believed the ballot question can be
submitted to the county clerk only by a "governing body."
"Therefore, the Lodi Mayor and Council is the 'governing body' of the municipality,' " Di Chiara said in her email.”The Lodi Board of Education is not considered a 'governing body' and, therefore, does not have the authority to submit a ballot question to the county clerk for the November general election. Accordingly, the resolution cannot be adopted."”
Truth: I had requested since February that the
business administrator contact the County to find out what was required to get
a question on the ballot. I trusted that
he and Ms. DiChiara had done so. The
board followed the directions given to it by Mr. Capizzi (advised by Ms. DiChiara)
from January to June. A day before the
vote in June, Ms. Dichiara sent her email.
She didn’t attend our meeting. I
found the timing suspect.
Prior to me joining the board, Ms. DiChiara mishandled a vote regarding the $7.5M contract. Then she called a special meeting two days after Christmas. She was in Florida and Tony Sciarrillo was sitting in her seat.
Prior to me joining the board, Ms. DiChiara mishandled a vote regarding the $7.5M contract. Then she called a special meeting two days after Christmas. She was in Florida and Tony Sciarrillo was sitting in her seat.
The day before the June meeting, I emailed Ms. DiChiara many questions and concerns about her new opinion on the ballot question. She didn't respond. In Ms. DiChiara's absence, I thought we
should agree on the wording of the question.
If there was a problem, I thought the mayor and council should place the
question on the ballot on our behalf. I
didn’t realize they would be such obstructionists. Emails I received through an OPRA request
showed their true colors.
From the article: “Spiniello
based his decision on case law on a decision in 2006 between Bogota and former
County Executive Kathleen Donovan that stated "the public question on the
ballot must relate to a matter within the power of the local government
proposing, something over which it can act."
The suit was regarding a non-binding referendum making English the official language of the borough.”
Truth: The mayor & council, manager, and
Spiniello were unable to answer the questions I raised at the July
meeting. The papers didn’t cover
it. The papers didn’t report the other side
of the argument that was readily available. Click on link below:
