The Alternative Press

FANWOOD, SCOTCH PLAINS:  Stories in the media regarding Fanwood and Scotch Plains residents pushing for consolidation stemmed from a press release sent out by a non-profit group called  “Courage to Connect NJ” and some facts appear to be the misleading.

The press released stated that “the residents of Scotch Plains and Fanwood became the first two towns in the history of New Jersey to petition and submit an application to the state to create a Consolidation Study Commission…Despite the lack of local government participation, these citizens forged ahead in their efforts to begin a consolidation movement in their communities.”

“I don’t have any problem recognizing any legitimate citizen group’s right to petition the State Government to organize a consolidation study,” said Fanwood Mayor Colleen Mahr.  “The problem is this group is representing that we have not been communicating with them and that is completely false.  We have a paper trail that is many months long, consistently telling them what problems we saw with what they are trying to do with respect to the New Jersey State Statues that guide this process.”

Mayor Mahr went on to outline that the petition met the minimum in Fanwood by one signature, but the form of the actual petition was reviewed by the Borough clerk and Municipal Attorney and the petition was rejected due to the fact that it did not meet the New Jersey State Statutes.

“I have yet to meet anyone from Fanwood who represents Courage to Connect.  Mr. Fred Lange represents Scotch Plains.  There are over 7000 residents in Fanwood, three times that many in Scotch Plains and this group collects a few hundred signatures and say it represents 90% of the residents,” said Mayor Mahr.

According to Mayor Mahr, the Borough corresponded with Mr. Lange and brought to his attention numerous issues with what Courage to Connect was doing.  “It appears that they did not like the answer that they had not met the minimum criteria and there has never been a request to make a formal presentation to the Council by the Fanwood Courage to Connect representative.  This is a complex issue that is guided by very clear State Statue and regulations,” said Mayor Mahr.

Currently, the Borough of Fanwood has chosen to focus on shared services as a way to realize real property tax relief.  “As the mayor and the council, we pay taxes, too, and we understand that this is a tremendous burden on residents.  We are doing everything we can to reduce costs.  We believe that we can make a significant statement by focusing on merging our police departments - we do have some hurdles, but nothing that is too high to get over or around.  Consolidation is a very long process – shared services is a quicker way to savings, “ concluded Mayor Mahr.

Scotch Plains Mayor Nancy Malool has a more sanguine view of the Courage to Connect press release.  “I’m not sure whether or not the petitions are valid..,  I’ve heard that ours has a couple of issues.  However, Scotch Plains could pass a resolution as a way of getting this concept on the ballet.  Fact finding is a good thing, and ultimately a study would make a recommendation then it would have to be put to a vote by residents of each town.  At that point the public can vote it down if they so choose, so I see no harm in doing the study.  This group claims they can look for grants to get it done, so it would not cost the towns anything.”

As to the concept of saving money through shared services, more specifically the concept of a merger police department, Mayor Malool said, “We are still working on that.  There is no reason why these two issues cannot proceed simultaneously.  We are working through the shared services issue of potentially merging the police departments and the biggest issue is governance. We have to come to an agreement with Fanwood.”

Mayor Malool sees the concept of consolidation as “the biggest issue facing these two communities in 50 years.  It is a concept I am very much in favor of, but at the end of the day the people of each community have vote on this issue.”

When contacted for comment, Gina Genovese, Executive Director of Courage to Connect felt that what was sent in a very professional application. “My view is let the Finance Board decide on the validity of the petitions.  Regulations are not totally in place for this type of thing, where citizens take the lead.  I feel we left no stone unturned.”

In response to comments regarding the actual format of the petitions, The Executive Director stated that she was not involved in actual signature collection. “We at Courage to Connect simply act as a resource for citizens.  The same template was used as in other towns, we advise people, we cannot tell them what to do.  We all have to work together to make New Jersey sustainable.  These two towns are very similar and this is a non threatening study.  This is just the beginning of a journey; there are many more steps in the process.”

The State Local Finance Board is currently reviewing the submitted petitions and a ruling will be made in March on their validity.