Brigantine City Council met on Monday night to OK additional borrowing & debt. On a brighter note and for the very first time, the festivities were broadcast live on the Internet. Kudos to City Manager Blumenthal for making this a priority. Click thru to watch video.
Some items covered at the meeting: $588,385 will be bonded, AKA borrowed, for payouts of retiree severance, accrued vacation and sick time. Brigantine will also officially break out the credit card for $1,465,000 in order to cover the loss of tax ratables, due to lowered property values via reassessment.
In other Brigantine Council news, local sculptor Greg Knight announced that his new sculpture is now on display at the northend seawall. Graffiti artists immediately welcomed this new addition to the beachfront. Many wondered what it was. A whale tail? A female body part? Nope. Greg says it’s a broken seashell.
Seems that Mr. Knight has already asked Mayor Guenther about placing another sculpture at the triangle fountain on 31st street. Council was shown a model of the proposed structure. At this point, looks like the Brigantine Garden Club and Cultural Arts Commission were kept out of the loop on this potential issue.
Brigantine’s PBA President & local police officer; Rich DeLeon, queried council about the public safety director; Dan Howard. DeLeon asked for a status update. City Manager Blumenthal said the city’s appeal of Police Capt. Cox’s reinstatement as acting chief has thrown a wrench into the works. Looks like an answer to that questions will be pushed to some future discussion.
Next city council meeting: 6 p.m. Wed, Dec. 4 at City Hall.
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You can cut $1.4 million out of the bloated school budget no problem. Start by eliminating the Superintendent position and cut all teachers salaries down to reality.
Why are we paying accrued vacation and sick time? Abolish this public sector nonsense and get with private sector practices.