In a Referendum, How Would Youth Shelter Fare?

Had the county’s Youth Shelter on Crest Haven Road been put to a referendum Nov. 3, would it have been “reelected” — unopposed — as was Freeholder Leonard Desiderio?
Like the Sea Isle City mayor-freeholder, who earned whopping 20,037 votes with no opponent, would the place on Crest Haven Road, where county youngsters in distress temporarily stay, have been a shoe in?
Not since this county was embroiled in the “mass burn” mayhem in the 1980s, when there was a notion to build an incinerator instead of a sanitary landfill, have I seen such heart-wrenching outpourings at public meetings, specifically, the freeholders’ meetings.
To sound cold and callous, the mess simply boils down to money. Frankly, there ain’t enough to go around. The county learned the steel-hard facts late last year that there would be somewhere between $3 million and $5 million less to spend in the 2010 budget.
Blame the real estate market, chiefly, which had been a cash cow for way too long, and the county got used to the good times. Officials there were no different than the rest of us. A rising tide lifts all boats, so, when the tide goes out, all boats go down. It’s simple, but not an easy sell.
So, county department heads were herded in, and the word passed: Find ways to cut next year’s budget. Better still; find a way to make money.
Of course, County Administrator Stephen O’Connor didn’t say those exact words, but that’s what he meant. Private business is going through similar hard times, so there aren’t many executives outside who haven’t, or soon won’t, share his grief.
As the crude saying goes, “stuff” rolls downhill. Those in the valley get the short end of the deal; always have, always will. That’s life’s other side, the one nobody thinks about on bright, sunny days in June.
Here we are in cold November, rubbing hands together, fretting old man winter’s arrival, physically and financially. Helping bring the chill is the most hated word of the year: Privatize.
For the past four freeholder meetings, a variety of Youth Shelter employees, a cluster of mothers and other supporters, including retired County Prosecutor’s Office Capt. Marie Hayes, stood before the freeholders and urged them: Bite the bullet, we need a county-run youth shelter for county youngsters.
The county sought proposals from the private sector to operate the 12-bed shelter. Cost was the driving force, $1.1 million. But one must understand, the shelter isn’t the target of a vendetta. All departments have gone through similar gut-wrenching decisions. Mechanics, for instance, were shifted to Fare Free Transportation, and motor vehicle work farmed out to private repair shops.
While the jury is still out, (there is a six-month window to see how the system operates in the private world), the action was taken in the name of saving tax dollars.
In so many words, the board has been told, “Forget money. They’re our kids. Cut the darn budget someplace else.”
As a taxpayer, I see one side, the side my tax bill is on.
As a family man with grown children (who never used the shelter, thank goodness) and now grandchildren, I can see the other side of the debate.
So, my friends, what would you do if you were a freeholder? You are elected, sometimes reelected with no opposition, to make tough choices, like saving tax dollars.
If keeping the Youth Shelter as a 12-bed, county-run department that cost $1.1 million a year, mostly in employees’ salaries, since operational expense isn’t too high, was up for a vote, would it be Yes or No?
Opponents, mostly employees, have cited privately-run youth shelters elsewhere in New Jersey where all sorts of terrible things happened, like sexual abuse and employees who let the youngsters do all manner of foul things.
The county partly blames the Youth Shelter’s director for not providing needed facts and figures. Her employees claimed she has. I won’t get into that feud. The county, as a result, had to find youth shelter operational figures from other Garden State counties.
Those statistics were damning, to say the least. They made the local shelter seem as if it were nothing short of Buckingham Palace, which, of course it is not.
But, number crunchers and bean counters never get many Christmas gifts from underlings, the ones they crunch. It goes with the turf, I guess.
Last Friday, O’Connor said the county was to receive the private proposals. They will be scrutinized by a county-appointed task force, which is comprised of some pretty heavy hitters in the juvenile system. Recommendations will be made.
Employees think they have already gazed into the crystal ball, and see the future.
By this time, they may have pink slips in hand. Offered county jobs, some accepted, others declined, saying they were not given equal salary in other departments.
Employees point fingers at their union, which hasn’t provided much solace in their time of need.
These are ugly times, and this is only the beginning. There are some die-hard Youth Shelter employees who say they’re in it for the long count. To them, in the words of the New York Yankees (sorry, Phillies), manager, coach Yogi Berra, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”