RAIN and COUNCIL

Your vote counts

Don’t let the rain decide the election

Back to the Council meeting: Once again the previously rejected request for a grant of $30,000.00 to Kean College to maintain an office in the “Incubator” (Dunn’s Building) was rejected for placement on the Agenda.

This time Nathanial Sims(?) the Director of the Small Business Center at Kean appeared  instead of Jacques Howard  to support the Resolution which would pay for rent in the sum of $9000.00 for the year plus $11,000.00 for 4 consultants at $50.00 per hour. At that cheap rate it would equal to 55 hours for each consultant during the year, or a total of 220 hours of consultations. That would mean roughly an average of 4 hours a week. Big Deal!!!

Sims was vague on the usage of the “Incubator” office and could not answer if any other municipality paid for Kean’s space rent. All in all no one has justified this rent and consultant grant which has been supported by the enterprise zone for over a decade.

The two new Ordinances will require studying of the support material before any comment. However; one the formation of a Community Emergency Response Team is something that is overdue and should have been in place long before Sandy.

From blogs and pictures of the City’ NNO celebration and statements made at this meeting the CERT is an actuality and has undergone basic training. Last week is the first that members of the public who could have input into these units functions had any knowledge of its existence. The old Cart before the Horse syndrome.

The Emergency management team is part of the Department of Public Affairs and Safety.