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Post by Marc LeVine on Jan 30, 2007 17:48:57 GMT -5
On Monday night (Feb 5th), some time after 7:30pm, the Rental Property Advisory Committee will deliver its recommendations to the Mayor and Council.
Plan on attending! Support the Committee. Trash the Objectors!
Marc
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Post by andrewd on Jan 30, 2007 20:00:06 GMT -5
Marc...
The BOE has a re-org meeting in April, just after the elections. I will be contacting Jay Simms (since he is our new liaison to the Town Council) in an effort to alter our current meeting schedules. Obviously, I'll be bringing it up to the BOE as well, though we have mentioned it before.
It happens all too often (and I have heard it from several parents in town) that the Town Council meetings are on the same nights as school board meetings, and there are people who are interested and concerned enough about our town that they want to be at both. We have to try and find a way to make all of these meetings accessible to everyone who has an interest in attending.
Personally, I would love to be at this Town Council meeting, but we have a board of ed meeting that same night, so obviously I will not be able to go. I'll be relying on you to post on here the results of this Committee's work.
Andrew DeFonzo
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Post by admin on Jan 31, 2007 7:55:39 GMT -5
Marc,
Can you find out how public comments are going to be handled on this matter? Will the public have the chance to respond to the recommendations after they are released?
I ask because this initiative is very important to our town.
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Post by Marc LeVine on Jan 31, 2007 10:25:24 GMT -5
NO, IT IS NOT "Important" to our town. IT IS CRITICAL TO OUR TOWN'S FUTURE!!!!!
This meeting was supposed to take place last month, but a few key committee members could not make it to that meeting. This was a long and hard effort. We need most of them there.
To get this "off the table" we didn't want to wait until the next workshop, later in the month, so I asked that this special meeting be tacked onto the regular council meeting on Monday night.
I do not think that public comments (Q&A) are allowed during the presentation. But, since this is a regular meeting, there is a portion for public comment at the tail end of the regular portion, as usual. I think the special meeting comes before our regular business and, then, the public comments follow.
You will probably hear a 20 min presentation from the committee with some possible questions from the Mayor and Council. They have had the recommendations in hand for about a month and are pretty familiar with them by now. This presentation is mostly for the public record.
I disagreeumption is that the Mayor will accept the recommendations and turn them over to the Administrator, Borough Attorney, Code and etc. for critical legal review and for anticipated action item planning. I'm only basing this assumption on past, similar committee presentations.
Believe me, though, whatever input and concerns you and our residents have over the recommendations and how we proceed will be listened to AND VALUED - at that meeting or sidebar.
Why not formulate your questions and concerns ahead of time and bring them along with you Monday night. We need a strong attendance to support our efforts and to send a message to any dissenting advocates that it is the undeniable will of Freehold Borough's residents to clean up this mess.
If our residents won't turn out for their schools, I hope they will turn out for their streets.
Marc
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Post by Marc LeVine on Jan 31, 2007 10:58:51 GMT -5
I think that after this presentation, there will be many observations shared on this site, hopefully, not all by me. And, I hope that the comments that we hear are ENCOURAGING and MOTIVATIONAL, rather than be CYNICAL and HOPELESS.
The newspapers will also be covering this EVENT. So, let's hope all this hard work captivates the public's interest and, ultimately, serves the public good. We need TURNOUT an SUPPORT.
Marc
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Post by ourrit on Feb 16, 2007 9:22:51 GMT -5
Mr. Levine, I believe that you do truly care about Freehold Borough, but, the actions that you take and encourage others to do only serve to cause division and hostility in our community. What is best for Freehold Borough is to plan for Freehold Borough?s future now. The actions that are being encouraged or contemplated now only serve to divide our community. The Mexican population is here and they are going to stay. Pretty soon the immigration issues will be resolved and we will have to learn to live together. Please accept this reality. You have seen them here like me since the 90?s. We need to begin learning to work with them and their culture. We now live in 2007, it?s not the 1970?s anymore and if we fail to recognize this our beloved Freehold Borough will suffer as it is now. You need to please understand this before more damage is done to our community by these recommendations that history will soon remember as bias based not immigration based.
You could serve as a leader of a unified Freehold Borough, a Freehold Borough that embraces its diverse community and demands all of its residents to contribute to the betterment of the town. Once immigration reform is enacted, we need Freehold Borough to be unified so that this place can begin transforming into the community that we all desire to live in. Mexicans will be walking Main Street among us with the same pride that you and I have. Please see that in the next few years, if not sooner, immigration reform will be passed and the Mexican community in Freehold Borough will live no longer in the shadows. Don?t you want them to see you as a leader of unification rather than a leader of division. They will be walking along side of you on Main Street in a few years with legal status and a legal say about the community they live in. Why not have history remember you as the leader that united this community and delivered it to the greatness that it deserves with all ethnic backgrounds welcomed.
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Post by Marc LVine on Feb 16, 2007 9:52:16 GMT -5
Ourit, I don't disagree with some of your thoughts about the future, but there is NOTHING in the rental committee's recommendations that do anything more than protect life and property of our residents...and I am not their author. I only presided over the committee. 7 others reached their own conclusions an they were good recommendations geared to code enforcement. Do yo want 35 people trapped in a fire as was the case in Asbury Park earlier in the week? Should we have illegal restaurants in homes serving alcohol to minors or serving foods not refrigerated properly? Do you want people sleeping in attics or basements? How could you find this acceptable.
Not every property in the Borough from which immigrants rent is in violation and very few are ever fined. It's MOSTLY repeaters. Landlords (and tenants) who don't give a d**n. Those who do the right thing are never heard about, are they? Yo seek to protect people who disobey the law? Come over and borrow my League of Municipality CD on "Overcrowding" and hear from other Mayors an officials around the state, who are even more aggressive than Freehold Borough.
Item 15 was a mild suggestion from the committee - not by me. It recommends that FB DO NOTHING pending the outcome of the courts. And if the courts decide it is valid, all towns should consider it. It is no different than what employers must o with regard to the Immigration Reform Act of 1986 (I-9 verifications).
I will go on record as saying that I WILL NOT support the Hazleton ordinance in FB, at this time. But, I do support the other recommendations designed to make our housing safe for all. There is nothing wrong with wanting to uphold the law.
As for the future of relations with people, who may one day have legal status in the US (but they do not, yet). As for the diversity piece (which goes for all populations), see me after our upcoming Maplewood trip - a totally different issue. All bases are being covered, but not at the expense of anything else.
This issue is about code enforcement.
Marc
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Post by Marc LeVine on Feb 16, 2007 10:44:22 GMT -5
...and, the folks in West Long Branch challenging their "Animal Houses," will be remembered as Anti-College Education not code enforcement based. Pull...ease!
So, I must add this to defend the rental property committee members and their volunteer efforts. They (nor anyone else) do not deserve such a threat from you or from anyone. These kind of words only damage the spirit of volunteerism in FB and may cause these fine people and others not to volunteer for future community service NO! These people need to be respected and praised for their efforts. And, the whole town has been vocal in supporting them and appreciating them for their hard work.
This was a diverse committee. Note that, both, Mrs. Barbara Oliver and Ms, Arlene Smith are both African Americans, who sat on the committee and agreed that the rental property situation in Freehold Borough needs immediate attention. Even Frank Freyre agreed on all of the recommendations except for Item 15 and a necessary word change, which everyone also agreed needs to be tweaked. By the way, this latter recommendation (empowering public works employees) came to us from:
Susanna Wilson
Community Development Coordinator
City of West St. Paul
1616 Humboldt Avenue
West St. Paul, MN 55118
Office: 651-552-4144
Fax: 651-552-4190
Their CASE/PACE code enforcement program is a successful model for the entire nation. They share and have successfully tackled the same issues that we are facing, here in Freehold Borough and their demographics are very similar, though they are a bigger city than we are.
Please do not dishonor the committee members for looking out for the community and doing what other towns are required to do to control their rental properties.
Marc
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Post by Marc LeVine on Feb 16, 2007 12:46:02 GMT -5
Calliope:
Thank you for your support, but this recommendation (Empowering Borough Employees to Report ALL Code Violations) needs no additional defense. It is simply a good business practice that our taxpayers deserve. We don't need to become a police state but, residents shouldn't have to call in many potential violations that our mobile borough employees witness as they move and work around town. The City of West St. Paul is successfully dedicated to this effort and Hank Stryker's office can certainly use the extra eyes on the street. In fact, this is already being done by many of our employees. We might just want to improve their approach and increase patricipation.
Not everything our employees see is an immediate violation, by the way. West St. Paul supplies their city employees with a form letter designed to inform residents and landlords of possible violations they may not be aware of. It recommends they take corrective action, immediately. Though, their code office DOES take more immediate action with serious offenses that could result in personal injury or worse, as they should.
Residents still call in complaints, but an extra sofa or mattress removed from the sidewalk, in advance of their calls, really enhances community spirit and - let's face it - curb appeal. We're talking community pride and that is contagious.
As for citizen watch groups. This is separate from the recommendations, as is continuance of the Rental Property Maintenance Committee, who's term expired with the release of their report. These are among the issues, yet to be discussed as we continue to wrestle with the rental property juggernaut.
Marc
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