Six Days Before Christmas: The 12/19/2023 Town Council Meeting & Municipal Land Use Ordinance
On December 19, 2023, the Berkeley Heights town council unanimously voted on the final adoption of the Municipal Land Use ordinance. This is a 290-page document that was introduced for initial reading on December 5, 2023, and the planning board unanimously voted on this during it’s December 6, 2023 meeting. On the planning board agenda for December 6, 2023, it...
The Municipal Land Use Ordinance- Why Now And In This Manner?
Today on the town council agenda for final adoption is the Municipal Land Use Ordinance’s final amended version. We are SIX days from Christmas and in a lame-duck session. I have been writing to council members and the mayor since September 2023 on the sign ordinance. Natasha Joly also wrote to the council. Other than the initial response from the...
A Costly Gamble
The OPRA Custodian is missing the mark and it may end up costing the District more money. Many parents have received the following limited availability email from the designated OPRA custodian Mr. Hopkins: So the key question is, who is fulfilling the OPRA requests within the seven business day timeline in accordance with the Open public records act? Some parents...
Sai’s Notes on the 06/29/2023 Agenda
More Secrecy, More False Crises, More Potential Violations…….More of the Same Per our policy 0162 on notice for board meetings, a special meeting can be called for. In accordance with N.J.S.A. 10:4-9, upon the affirmative vote of three-quarters of the members present, the Board may hold a meeting notwithstanding the failure to provide adequate notice if: 1. Such meeting is...
06/13/2023 Town Council Agenda- Sai’s Notes
Will the Town Council Add More Fees and Bureaucracy to further push Middle and Working Class Families out of Berkeley Heights? Today on the town council agenda for final adoption is the following ordinance: An Ordinance of the Township of Berkeley Heights, County of Union, State of New Jersey, Amending and Supplementing Title 8 of The Code of the Township...
Policy 6220 – Your Right to the Budget Process
Is the District Violating Its Policies in Locking the Public Out of The Budget Process? Most Berkeley Heights residents can agree that the Berkeley Heights Public School Budget has been an embarrassing process for our community for the past two years. There is still much to unpack, and it is most helpful to parse out the concerns in a digestible...
Pamela Cosplays Board Administrator Kot
-Sai Akiri If you watched the 3/30 BOE meeting, it is understandable if some walked away with that question in their minds. There were multiple questions on the courtesy busing about the number of children, the cost included in the tentative budget, and so on. Julie Kot was unable to answer them. Rather surprising since the tentative budget she presented...
Julie Kot Continues to pretend the Budget is Classified Information
Access to the Budget Shouldn’t Be This Difficult. -Sai Akiri It’s March 29, 2023, almost two weeks since the preliminary budget meeting on 3.13.2023. The public saw the preliminary budget as a mere presentation for the very first time during the last board meeting. The presentation by the business administrator Ms.Kot should have been posted on the district website ahead...
2023 TOWNSHIP BUDGET PROCESS – We deserve better
When are this year’s public Township Budget Hearings planned? -Sai Akiri Update: Received a response from Liza, township administrator. In 2021 the public budget hearing was held on March 1,2021. The township budget was introduced on April 6, 2021, for approval. In 2020 three public budget hearings were held in the month of February and March. This year, there is...
Business as Usual: Still No Budget and Waiting on the Promise of a Public Meeting
It’s business as usual, with the current school district budget for 2023-24 – A state secret that can’t be released to the public. -Sai Akiri Last year the business administrator Ms. Kot, superintendent Dr. Varley, along with Previous Board President Mr. D’Aquilla and then Vice President Penna, denied sharing the complete tentative budget with the entire Board until the budget vote....
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