People Before Politics
After reading the recent responses by Jeff Varnerin and Manny Couto on TAPinto, it is clear that politics takes precedent over people during election time. Both candidates also took the opportunity to disparage our Township Administrator, an employee and resident of the township – not an elected representative. Using the power of holding an elected office, with multiple outlets to...
COUTO DOUBLES DOWN ON CAMPAIGN LIE, DISPARAGES EMPLOYEES IN PROCESS
Couto Doubles Down on the Lie and Devalues Employees “I will only be approving professional service providers and those in leadership positions based on their capabilities, qualifications and demonstrated ability to get things back on track….” This is what Couto says he is responsible for as councilman for when it comes to hiring contractors. He’s right. It is exactly what...
Why I am voting for Mayor Devanney – Again.
In 2018 the community was battling the municipal complex. Residents who were against the building and opposed to the former Mayor’s Republican monopoly’s plan were ridiculed on social media by political operatives. I remember putting up an article that explained how the Mayor, at the time, appeared to be using a loophole to avoid a referendum and in my opinion,...
DON’T FALL FOR THE LIE
If you vote for Jeff Varnerin or Manuel Couto because of the lasting municipal complex issues or the stormwater/drainage issues or even any other issue in town, you’re likely falling for a campaign lie. Mayoral candidate Jeff Varnerin, in his latest TapInto dribble, is currently trying to blame Mayor Devanney for the problems Varnerin’s very own Republican Party, quite literally,...
Sliding Grades and Proficiencies
The historical trend of Governor Livingston High schools Math proficiency scores shows a disturbing pattern, and Science also appears to be in troubled waters. Many parents in the community are questioning how we got here. The short answer – one reason we are here is that measurement, for whatever reason and for the longest time, has been incorrectly viewed as...
Goals, PerfoRmance, and Metrics
Metrics should be embraced, not feared There has been much discussion recently about goals, metrics, and student performance in the community as well as at the Board of Ed meetings. After reading through comments and listening to differing opinions, I wanted to clarify my view on the topic. I believe in the use of meaningful metrics because we need a way to...
THE QUORUM QUIZ
The last BOE meeting on 9/22 was unusual in many ways including how it concluded. Or did it conclude? Ms. Pamela Stanley continued to read her prepared speech even though the Board president and the Board attorney reminded her that the content of her speech did not follow the allowed agenda items. Two members of the board walked out when the...
A PLAN IS NOT A GOAL
The dictionary lists the definition of the word “goal” as “the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.” “Budget” is “the amount of money needed or available for a purpose.” Let us focus on the first word for a moment. A school district defines the goals to set its ambition for the students and then...
THE HOW MANY GENDERS GAME
I need you you take a deep breath here and hear me out. I’m writing this after sitting back and not reacting to what has been a two day series of events that has become quite predictable in our community as the private messages rolled into my inbox: “why is he in your Facebook group” or “why didn’t you like...
BERKELEY HEIGHTS 2022 BOE ELECTION- CANDIDATE RESPONSES TO QUESTION 3
Since our last publication on responses to questions from BOE Candidates, several Candidates have dropped out of the race. Responses to our questions have gotten a good amount of traction and positive feedback from members of the community. Of the current field, we received responses from Natasha Joly, Dipti Khanna, Gale Bradford, Neil Herman, Sai Akiri and Doug Grober to our...
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