Open letter to Governor Jon Corzine

Honorable Governor Jon Corzine:

My name is Robert F. Viglianti.

I have been the Mayor of the Borough of Mountainside, Union County, for the past twenty years. I have been a member of the Governing body for thirty years. I and all members of the Mountainside Council are volunteers. We do not receive health care and are not in the State pension system.

As you know, having lived in Summit, Mountainside is a community of less than 10,000 residents.

What you may not know, is that Mountainside has always had a very low tax rate. In fact, we are proud to have the lowest effective tax rate in all of Union County and one of the lowest in the State. We also have the second highest property values in the County. In the latest  issue of “New Jersey Magazine”, Mountainside was rated as the number one community in Union County and sixteenth in the State as one of the best communities in New Jersey in which to live.

For years Mountainside has shared services with other communities and the county. We presently share our Board of Health, Welfare Director, Tax Assessor, Borough Engineer, 911 medical dispatchers, and all of our inspectors. We also have a part time Tax Collector, a part time Administrator, and volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad.  Mountainside also participates in a high school send-receive relationship with Berkeley Heights.

Governor, there is no waste in our community, and it is an insult to my community for you or Trenton to suggest that there is. In a recent speech you mentioned that one way that communities, such as Mountainside, could save tax dollars is through tougher negotiated contracts with our employees. Governor, this was not possible. As a borough, we entered into negotiations with a union offering a fair contract based on the CPI and the cost of living rates. We offered the employees a 3% per year increase for 3 years. They rejected the offer and filed for mediation and arbitration. The State of New Jersey appointed an Arbitrator that granted the union a 4 plus % award per year for 4 years and refused to mandate that the same union contribute to their health care cost at the same level as the private sector.  Thus, how do we save by “tougher negotiated contracts?”

Trenton’s reluctance to increase the public retirement age, mandate increases in contributions for health care, and to stop multiple pensions are a greater waste of tax dollars then anything else.

Governor, with all due respect your plan of stopping aid to the small communities is, in my opinion, Trenton’s way of having the younger brother, the small communities, pay for the sins of the older brother.  The small communities did not cause Trenton’s financial problems. The small towns are not a drain on the States budget. So why are all of the small towns being punished? You must look at each town individually on a “case by case” basis.

Why are you not including some of the large cities that receive the lion’s share of State aid? It is in these cities that you are likely to find the greatest waste of tax dollars? Why not look to the larger cities where some of their officials were found guilty of fraud? Why are you not looking at the larger cities that for decades have received massive State assistance and have nothing to show for it other than negative results?

Governor, please listen to the Mayors of New Jersey, especially those from small communities with populations under 10,000 residents. They can tell you what the New Jersey residents really feel.

Sir, you presently have the opportunity to start the State on the right path to recovery.  New taxes, new loans, toll increases, and the consolidation of all small communities are surely not the answers. Reducing State costs and waste, finding and prosecuting non tax-paying workers and businesses, mandating public employees to pay their fair share of health care, mandating retirement at age 65, stopping all elected officials and public employees from being enrolled in multiple pension programs, and eliminating unnecessary agencies would be a much better path to begin on.

Governor, if you begin on the right path this would not only ensure you a second term, but you could be known as one of the best Governors in the history of New Jersey. If you fail to correct the problems facing New Jersey, or insist on the consolidation of every small town, you will still go down in New Jersey’s history, but for different reasons.

Governor, if I may be of assistance I would be available at your convenience.

Sincerely,

Robert F. Viglianti, Mayor of Mountainside

Cc:NJ League of Municipalities
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