We hope you are having a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or at least a few days off work.
We’ll start this week’s newsletter off at the state level as Shauna takes a harder look at a proposed bill that would force pilot money to reach some of our schools. While this sounds like something everyone can support –it remains 10 years in the waiting, and the article answers some critical questions as to who and why this popular, bipartisan measure has been stuck in limbo. John moves to an explosion of lame duck bills that showed up on the legislative agenda and calls attention to four that residents should pay attention to that connect to municipal budgets, land use, civil liberties, and the Kean/NJCU merger.
We move on to NJ Transit and a process moving to ADA Compliance that’s taken 35 years and is still not complete. John looks at the issue locally – the context, reality, opportunity, and outlook on making stations in the 21st more accessible to folks who face mobility challenges.
We kick off the day after Christmas with a series that looks at our top 30 stories of the year based on readership – the first published yesterday covered the July storms and the questions on development, flood mitigation, and policy questions that soon followed.
Laura offers a Community Voices contribution that examines an ethics case which highlights a question government representatives have grappled with since Social Media became a thing – do government representatives have unfettered freedom of speech when using platforms like Facebook and Twitter?
Shauna provides another Community Voices update on a local Scout’s efforts in supporting a program that gives survivors of Domestic Violence an opportunity to holiday shop for their children with dignity and hope.
We end with a correction to our reporting last week on increases to municipal salary range increases. We incorrectly implied that ranges increased within 2025 when the increases were from 2024 to 2025 – however, the more substantial questions on the justifications behind these increases remain, and we are still pursuing answers to these questions.
On the Socials….
Assemblyman Brian Bergen eviscerates his colleagues on the cell phone bill legislation, and we point out how kids having their phones in school has actually helped make schools more accountable.
Top Three Articles in November….
Understanding Your NJ Government: OPRA| New Jersey’s Public Records Law
Open Letter to NJ State Senator Nicholas Scutari Requesting the Immediate Withdrawal of S-4924
From ‘Street Cop’ to State Oversight- NJ Launches Centralized Police Training Institute
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Related Articles
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The Week at NJ21st: Dismantling Education Data, Track on School Spending, Environmental Battle Looming and BHPSNJ Security Costs Spiraling…
