January 26, 2011
Central Regional referendum approved, just barely
The Central Regional school district will have early dismissals today due to the latest snowstorm. The high school will close at 11:30 a.m., the middle school will send students home at 1 p.m.
The old adage that every vote counts certainly applied yesterday, when the Central Regional school district's referendum passed by a mere 18 votes.
The final tally was 1,582 to 1,564, or 50.29% vs. 49.71%. The passage of the four-pronged question is good news for the district. Now school officials can go out to bid for the roof repairs and other punch list items, like city water, fire hydrants and new windows. And for those who complain about the slight rise in taxes, the annual cost for this particular question will run about what it would cost for dinner at McDonalds.
What is really sad is the paucity of voters who bothered to come out at all. Of the 35,828 registered voters in all five sending districts, only 8.78% went to the polls or mailed in an absentee ballot.
Anyone who didn't vote, and that is most of the voters, have no right to complain about the outcome.
Family and friends will say goodbye this morning to former Township Committeeman and Mayor Andrew Yurcisin, who died last week at 86. Yurcisin was mayor three times during his 18 years on the Township Committee, Berkeley's form of government before it switched to the Faulkner Act.
Township politics were gentler back in the 1960s and 1970s, says former Township Committeeman Gary Casperson, who sat on the dais with Yurcisin. Casperson is a Republican. Yurcisin was a Democrat. But the two men often had dinner together and met at social gatherings.
"It wasn't you're a Republican, don't talk to a Democrat," Casperson recalled. "We would play politics at the organization meeting in January, then we would all work together."
Yurcisin made establishing township recreation programs one of his priorities. His son Tim has run the recreation department for years.
"He was a decent guy, an honest guy," Casperson said. "I always got along with him."
Yurcisin was a World War II veteran who landed at Normandy and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He will be buried later today in a very appropriate place - the Brig. Gen. William C. Dolan Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Arneytown.
Dontpaythepropertytaxes
9:58 am on Wednesday, January 26, 2011
1. instead of blaming the 30,000 people who didnt vote, the honest thing to say, is there MUST be something WRONG with a system that less than 10% of the people would show up .....an HONEST person would say these results show that any school vote should be switched to the novemeber votes.....but than they wouldnt be able to pick our pockets of another $5 million , if they did that
2. is this a one year increase OR does this cost us a McDonalds meal every year of our lives , because the people who make the big salaries couldnt/didnt budget their money correctly (plus McDonalds is raising their prices so a school tax increase doesnt get as much as it once did ;)
3. how many people in SSP now have to scrape another $25 that do not send any children to schools there and are not allowed to vote
4. i look forward to the eventual collapse in NJ .....most of you foolish people just dont get it.....when your pensions disappear, dont come to me crying .......i will tell you it only costs you a year of meals at McDonalds