WOODBINE – Borough Council members heard read into the record Feb. 19 a letter sent by School Superintendent Lynda Anderson. In the letter, Anderson offered her apologies for not meeting with the mayor despite repeated requests to do so “given my busy schedule and so many other meetings as well as school monitor James Riehman on vacation.”
Anderson said that she could meet with the mayor and other select borough officials, i.e. not the council as an entity and not during one of its regularly scheduled meetings. Per her letter, the objective of the meeting would be to “review the work we have for 2015 and the school budget.”
As reported earlier in the Herald, and to set the context for this letter, at council’s Feb. 5 meeting, members hoped for the appearance of at least one representative from the school board.
Council had repeatedly invited the board to present an update and its explanation about the status of the school district under state monitoring.
In January 2014, the N.J. Department of Education appointed a monitor, James Riehman, to oversee all fiscal operations of Woodbine School District as a result of a $700,000 deficit in its budget.
Riehman also was authorized to oversee any new budgets and internal controls, put into place a fiscal corrective action plan and supervise staffing. This invitation and the related hoped-for discussion was listed under “New Business” on the agenda for this meeting with the invitation having been extended for almost a year.
“Early last year and since then, when this problem first was raised, the school board promised to tell us about their plans, both long term and short term but they’ve been totally out of touch,” said Mayor William Pikolycky at that time.
Reacting to the Anderson letter, Pikolycky said, “It seems the school board does not want to address council even though they have asked us for $40,000 as an ‘extra advance’ to their monthly standard payment. In fact, there is no mention of this request at all in the letter.”
Solicitor Daniel Young noted, “Council has the ability to force them to come here to speak with you … and why didn’t they send this letter months ago when their funding request was first made and you asked to see them?”
Council member Michael Benson, chair of the Borough’s Health, Education and Human Services Committee, said, “I wonder if they think it’s a foregone conclusion that we will approve this extra funding for them.”
Pikolycky said he would set up the meeting Anderson requested, put together a list of Council’s concerns for discussion and report back to Council as to the issues discussed and next steps.
Coast Guard Community
The mayor then announced that Cape May County has been designated a “Coast Guard Community” and will be celebrating all that the Coast Guard does for the county May 8-10.
For Woodbine, the Coast Guard is particularly important in that its Distribution Center, a major source of local jobs and business, is located in the borough. An idea has been proposed that each of the 16 municipalities of the county invite the local Coast Guard commander to a council or committee meeting to recognize him or her and express their appreciation for the Coast Guard as an employment and local business resource.
Borough Historian and “Excellence in Service”
Council also approved the appointment in a volunteer position of Lawrence Levy as borough historian. Given the 350th anniversary of the state, there has been a push for each of New Jersey’s 565 municipalities to appoint historians so that there will be adequate coverage for any commemorative events.
“Lawrence is a local guy, I’ve known him a long time and he’s a big supporter of Woodbine having worked at the Sam Azeez Museum since its beginning so he’s perfect for the role,” said Benson.
Council Member Hector Cruz responsible for Public Safety announced that the N.J. State Police Woodbine Barracks reported a 46 percent increase in service calls January over December 2014. On a related note, Pikolycky reported that the borough received a N.J. “Excellence in Service” award of $750 terming it a “big accomplishment” for its best practices for safety which will allow it to purchase new equipment.
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.
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