The BRICK Times
Vol. 19 - No. 37
In This Week’s Edition
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
Normandy Residents Want Solution To Flooding
Referendum An Option For Schools
Community News! Pages 9-12
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 16
Dear Pharmacist Page 17
Wolfgang Puck Page 27
BREAKING NEWS @
Water flows over the bulkhead at Arrow Ct. in Normandy Beach. By Judy Smestad-Nunn BRICK – Rita Ciocca and about a dozen other residents from the Normandy Beach section of Brick asked for help with streets that f lood frequently and with such depth that school buses, mail and package delivery vehicles and passenger cars cannot pass through.
“It’s really become uninhabitable, and I live there year-round for t h is sit u at ion ,” she said. “It’s become quite critical to those of us who have to live with it.” This was the third council meeting the barrier island residents have attended to ask if the township has any plans for mitigating the
—Photo courtesy Larry Reid
flooded streets. Business Administrator Joanne Bergin provided an overview of a meeting that she, Mayor John G. Ducey, Councilman Art Halloran and some residents of Normandy Beach had with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on December 18. “We had extensive
discussions on potential strategies to help alleviate the problem in the short-term, while we examine long-term viable options,” Bergin said. “We absolutely consider this an issue for our town. It’s a global issue that is having local impacts, so that makes it more challenging.” (Flood - See Page 6)
jerseyshoreonline.com
The Perils Of Posting: Should Public Officials Play It Safe On Social Media?
By Kimberly Bosco OCEAN COUNTY – No one is immune to risks of social media, even those that lead us. Social media can be used for both the personal and professional. For example, your next door neighbor might be sharing funny animal
videos to Facebook while your local police department is posting updates on road closures in your area. While social media has become an easy and efficient way to connect with the community, it also breeds a new problem for local
officials with an online presence: where does one draw the line between the personal and the professional? What sort of content should be allowed on professional platforms? Jersey Shore Online recently used this very technology to poll the
Ocean County community on this issue, asking residents via Fa c e b o o k : S h o u l d politicians be held to a higher standard on social media than the average citizen? In response, an overwhel m i ng major it y (70 voters) agreed that
January 25, 2020
as public of f icials, they should be held to a higher standard. A small percentage (23 voters) compromised with the idea that public off icials should have separate accounts for personal and professional posts, (Social - See Page 8)
By Judy Smestad-Nunn BRICK – The Board of Education approved a $25,000 expenditure for pre-referendum services by Netta Architects if the district decides to go ahead with a spending question to be put up for a public vote. Board of Education President Stephanie Wohlrab has repeatedly stated that nothing is off the table while addressing a $22 million cut in state aid over seven years that has resulted in staff and program cuts and the closure of Herbertsville Elementary School. “This referendum - we have not decided, we have not seen it, we have just talked about possible things,” Wohlrab said. “Nothing will be done until we get a committee together.” The vote to hire Netta for pre-referendum services is in case the district decides to move forward with a referendum; Wohlrab stressed that no decision has been made. “We are waiting on a couple of different pieces, like the ESIP (Energy Saving Improvement Program) - what’s going to be included in there, so this isn’t 100 percent yet, but this gives us the ability to decide after we reconvene the committee, and after we have some discussions,” Wohlrab said. “We need to look at everything...and this may or may not be a piece of that.” The Board has not decided what would be in the referendum, Wohlrab said. “It just gives us options,” she said. Netta was hired by the district for a previous referendum in 2018 when residents were asked to vote on $12.5 million for security enhancements to the schools. That referendum failed by just 39 votes. The idea of a new referendum in Brick comes on the heels of a veto by Governor Phil Murphy of a bill proposed by NJ Senate President Steve Sweeney that would have allowed the school districts affected by the loss in state aid to waive the state’s current two percent cap on property taxes. The bill would have allowed taxes to be raised to the amount of the reduction in state aid. “Before middle-class property taxpayers have to again take it on the chin, we should be asking our wealthiest residents to pay their fair share through a millionaire’s tax,” said Governor (Schools - See Page 6)
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