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Things didn’t go exactly as planned at our September 27 meeting. Turns out our guest speaker, Dr. Jon Larson, President of Ocean County College, had a scheduling conflict and couldn’t make it. So we turned to Cindy Randazzo, Director, New Jersey Office of Local Government Assistance. Sadly, there was a death in Cindy’s family that […]

Community Medical Center, Toms River, N.J. At our May meeting, Stephanie Bloom briefed the mayors on the state of our region’s leading health care resource, Community Medical Center in Toms River where she serves as Executive Director. Stephanie described Community’s efforts to meet the needs of a growing population with increased medical competence and business

Welcome back! Due to technical difficulties, we were unable to post an update in March. So this month, you’ll find two updates — and at a new address on the web. You can now find us at www.ocmayors.net or www.ocmayors-nj.us. Thanks for your patience. And we hope to see you at our next meeting on

N.J. Div. of Local Government Services, N.J. Dept. of Community Affairs On March 15th, Marc Pfeiffer brought us some less-than-happy news from Trenton. For example, he noted that tax appeals are not adequately addressed in the 2% cap law. So revenue lost to tax appeals cannot be made up by through property tax increases over

N.J. League of Municipalities Bill Dressel told a well-attended meeting of the Ocean County Mayors’ Association that state government is asking municipal leaders to “commit political suicide.” The problem, he explained, is a tide of bad fiscal news and poorly conceived state initiatives and decisions. Along with reduced state aid and a state-imposed 2% cap

Program Scientist, Barnegat Bay Partnership Jim Vasslides brought the mayors up to date on efforts by Barnegat Bay Partnership to address the problem of stinging jellyfish, more properly known as sea nettles. He walked the mayors through the lifecycle of the creatures, which have lived in Barnegat Bay for decades but have recently come to

Chairman, New Jersey League of Municipalities Tax Reform Steering Committee On June 29 Mayor Tarantola told the mayors that the New Jersey League of Municipalities Tax Reform Steering Committee proposes to relieve New Jersey’s property tax burden in a very different manner than the proposed constitutional amendment limiting local budget increases to 2.5%. (the solution

N.J. Div. of Local Government Services, N.J. Dept. of Community Affairs Saying that municipal budgets need to reflect “consistency with the economy,” Marc Pfieffer updated the mayors on various proposals and actions in Trenton — including one effort to contain property taxes by severely constraining local government. On that proposal to cap municipal budget increases

Bill Dressel brought the mayors up to date on developments in Trenton. He said issues being discussed by lawmakers in the state capital include New Jersey’s property-tax-based school funding system and current COAH (Council on Affordable Housing) law. Major changes could be coming to the latter, he said. More specifically Dressel said the League supports

Dianne Gove Paul Brush Carl Block Mike Fressola Mary Judge Joe Lachawiec Assemblywoman Dianne Gove of Long Beach opened the meeting, introducing Paul Brush of Toms River who reported for the Nominating Committee. Brush introduced the proposed slate of new officers, which was adopted (the new officers are listed below). Ocean County Clerk Carl Block