MIDDLETOWN -- Middletown Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger is putting out the call for more local officials to support proposed gubernatorial reforms that promise to give towns tools needed to control costs without sacrificing services.
Scharfenberger was the first mayor in Monmouth County to officially pledge his support for the governor’s tool kit of reforms. He was joined by other Monmouth County mayors following a meeting last week with Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno about the 33-bill package of legislative reforms.
“For too long municipalities have been at the mercy of collective bargaining rules and civil service constraints that have pushed property taxes steadily higher,” said Scharfenberger. “The governor’s proposals will finally give mayors something that has been severely lacking in the past – the ability to control costs at the local level,” Scharfenberger added.
The Municipal Tool Kit is a key component of the governor’s legislative reform package. More than half of the proposed reforms are aimed at helping local governments manage their budgets more effectively by reforming collective bargaining, pensions and benefits, civil services and unfunded mandates, Scharfenberger said.
Scharfenberger, a member of the governor’s transition team and the state League of Municipalities Legislative Committee, has been a vocal opponent of unfunded state mandates. Unfunded state mandates are orders given to municipalities like Middletown by the state with no funding to pay for their implementation. Examples of unfunded mandates that affect Middletown range from state-ordered certification for township employees, to the construction of a truck wash at the Department of Public Works, to the construction of low-income housing as ordered by COAH.
The Legacy of Thomas Lifson
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The Mayor seems to think he can't control any costs in town without his "care package".
The recession started 18 months ago, not in January when Christie took over.
Hey anon 10:29 - you musy be one of the clueless Democrats who post here. Only a Democrat would look at Christie's proposals as a "care package." Get your mind out of the government giving you something. If you read the proposals carefully, you will see that all it gives mayors is freedom - the freedom to run their towns without the overbearing s-bags in Trenton tying their hands. You must be mistaking Middletown, who cut its budget last year at the beginning of the recession, with Democrat run hellholes like Camden, Newark or Trenton, who get huge taxpayer handouts annually in the form of "aid to distressed cities." I read an article in the APP where Democrat-run Atlantic City, with a population of about 35,000, has over 1500 employees. Middletown, with double that population, has around 300 employees. This mayor, by any account, is doing a remarkable job.
Wrong again, I'm a Republican who's had enough with the Mayor's lack of leadership and fiscal responsibility.
Can't blame our $5 mil deficit on any Democrat. They've haven't been in power for over 25 years.
Anon 9:25... Where do you get this $5m deficit from Sean Byrnes? He is so clueless as to the Middletown budget that he is going to need a shovel to get the egg off of his face when there is not a $5m gap.
Are you by any chance full of baloney Avallone?
Hey anon 9:25 - lack of leadership? Are you kidding? This guy is a slimmer version of our magnificent governor. Chris Christie also has a deficit to deal with. Some of it is due to Corzine's insane spending and union giveaways, some is due to economic conditions beyond anyone's control. It's how he deals with the deficit that counts. And you're right about the Democrats not having been in power for 25 years. I'm old enough to remember when they were. It was a disaster. There was even an APP headline about the governing body, "A House in Disorder." So let's see, Middletown under Republicans - great property values, great parks, low crime, small budget, one of the top 100 places to live in the country, etc. Democrat run towns Camden, Trenton, Newark, Elizabeth, Paterson - bastions of waste, corruption and blight. I'd say a real leader stands up to the unions, cuts spending, fights COAH - now where have we seen that?
That guy Avallone is a joke - he actually had people from Holmdel sign his petition. He doesn't even know what town he's running in!
I also heard that some of the same people who signed the Democrats petitions signed Avallone's and that the Democrats had announced he was running two weeks before he even filed. Sounds like he's in bed with the Democrats.
Avallone wants to debate the Mayor at the town center. I'd like to watch that, where's the town center in Middletown?
He said, you heard? What kind of an answer is that? Where do get all your info from...Heresay,rumors?
The Mayor and TC admitted we have over a $5 mil deficit, so that's no secret.
Don't know anything about who signed what petition if that matters at all. I'm sure if there were any discrepancies, the petitions would be challenged and that would have been reported.
So what's your agenda? I guess it's the best defense is an offense. Attack and discredit so you can deflect from the Mayor's own shortcomings.
Sorry, don't buy it, and I'm not Tony, and this is the first time I've posted a comment.
Gee let's see anon 3:29, according to the mayor's bio, he's a Ph.D., three time mayor, college professor, public official of the year, governor's transition team member, mayor when Middletown was voted one of the top 100 places to live in the country, the safest town in Monmouth and Ocean, a AA bond rating, founded the support the troops program and the town's green initiative, and on and on. Yeah, those are some shortcomings. But I guess you would rather have a guy who is so clueless, he doesn't know he doesn't live in Holmdel, or that his Democrat supporters can't sign his petition.
Wow, the Republicans sure sound worried about Tony Avallone. I've got to find out more about this guy.
The anonymous comments out there with all their faiy tales supporting Sharfy must be the same ones stealing Tony Avalone's signs.
I quess the Republicans are worried.
What does Tony Avallone have to do with this article? I thought this was about the Governor's toolbox.
Talk about going off track.
Worried about Avallone? The guy's a buffoon. All he needs is a flower that squirts water. With all of the horrible news out there, he is the one light-hearted bright spot. Imagine being so ignorant that you end up getting someone who doesn't even live in the town to sign your petition? And the reason this thread deviated from the original article is because Avallone and his Democrat sleazebags can't stand the fact that the mayor is at the forefront of the state's turnaround being led by the great governor Christie. Their jealousy of his accomplishments is quite entertaining. Art, didn't you post something about him being appointed to a state legislation committee recently? It just goes on and on.
"Not worried" Then why are you stealing his signs?
Oh please, stop flattering yourself. No one could be bothered stealing that buffoon's signs. I've seen them being picked up off of public areas by trucks with an official seal. Add that to the list of things that this inept lightweight doesn't know. Political signs along public roads are treated like any other trash and removed.
No,wrong again... it is illegal and you can be arrested if you are caught stealing signs from private and public property. Check with the police dept. and they will confirm it.
If you've seen official vehicles doing that then I want to know if our workers are following orders!!!
Looks like the redundant hyperbole from the twisted sister is alive and well in the fantasy land of the sad joke of a mayor in this community.
Get real or get out. There are no excuses for the mayor's failures and the incredible distortions and mistruths that are uttered daily in Middletown.
I'm going to take a wild guess that Anonymous 8:36 AM is the same person that scribbles all over the Asbury Park Press site against the teachers and in defense of the Township Committee- that blurb about "Democrat run hellhole Trenton, Camden" sounds awfully familiar.
Needless to say, only someone on the payroll would say the Mayor is doing a "remarkable job". Stick with real estate.
Oh c'mon BT, your posts are getting boring. The same illegible drivel every time. For the record, I'm sorry that the TC can't turn the hands of time back to the horse and buggy times and I'm sorry you were so foolish to subdivide your property and build your house so close to the road. Imagine a life so empty and devoid of any meaning that all that is left is spewing mindless venom. How sad.
Replying to 5/22 8:35....
You are absolutely right on target about 8:36 of 5/20 and also more e.g.5/20 9:40 ,5/20 12:33 and
5/20 12:34 and makes us wonder just what the payback is for the nonsense directed against anyone who doesn't agree with how low government in Middletown has sunk in six years and getting worse.
The egocentric man currently mayor is largely responsible for that decline.
Thank you Anonymous 10:22PM for confirming, beyond any shadow of a doubt, who you are. No, I am not your nemesis, "BT", but I shouldn't be surprised you replied in that manner as you do the same all over the Asbury Park Press.
And no, I'm not Pat Walsh either-that's usually your next line of attack, isn't it?
It seems your modus operandi is to accuse anyone you disagree with of being either BT or a former school board member, or now, Avallone. Is it so hard for you to fathom that there are many people in this township who are disgusted with our local government?
Your attacks on BT and your stale "horse and buggy" rant are especially comical given that you recently bombarded your neighbors with letters erroneously claiming YOUR neighborhood was in danger of some additional traffic during
Swimming River repairs.
Are you the only one who is entitled to protect her turf in Middletown?
Personal attacks and mudslinging are certainly to be expected in
any political campaign, but this TC insults the intelligence of its
citizens by choosing such a transparent and tiresome mouthpiece to do their bidding.
10:22
Thank you! I completely agree.
9:39 I meant thank you! I completely agree.
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