SOURCE

/// a blogpost i found//

You Know What Governor Corzine: GO TO HELL!

On December 23 this past holiday season, my daughter was invited to sing Christmas songs at the NJ Children and Family School for Special Needs, Ocean County campus by my favorite Jewish-Lib-Dem friend. She works there once a week. Let me tell you, it’s something to see these children with helmets on to protect themselves, needing special units to move from A to B just filled with love for those people that are there to fill them with love. If you think you have it bad, try being the health care taker that cleans the diaper of a an 11 year old as he squirms around and fights the process. When I was there a worker came in on her day off (State worker mind you) because she wanted to share the morning with the kids who were being sung to. In case you missed it, this was the announcement this past week:



“As many as 560 students with special needs or circumstances across New Jersey must begin searching for new public education facilities because the state Department of Children and Families will close its 18 regional schools and two hospital centers...”



As horrible as that is; this was announced the next day...



“The Governor's Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Immigrant Policy seems intent on rolling out the red carpet for illegal aliens. Many of its recommendations, released earlier this week, should be ignored: chief among them, making illegal immigrants eligible for in-state tuition rates for all levels of education...” It went on, “as governor, I have to make difficult decisions in difficult times. This is the sort of thing that has me awake at night.”



Now let’s get this straight: Corzine is closing schools that house 560 New Jersey kids that were given a raw deal in life, whose care takers sacrifice and that performing work for less than the guy who can’t count change on the GSP that is a lesson in humility to pass the savings onto illegal immigrants. Operative word: ILLEGAL! This is 2009 and everything is looked at at a financial level. Corzine is saying, “you’re all retarded, you’re all a drain on the economy, you don’t matter.” He hides behind the tired phrase of “in tough times I make tough decisions.” Well this was not all that tough. Corzine sees educated illegals as potential taxpayers and it is that simple. Blue Ribbon committees charters are to come up with a return-on-investment (ROI) and this would not be a recommendation if there were no ROI attached. The only thing that had Corzine up at night is Carla Katz who was banging her way to the top (almost) of the CWA.



These kids have done nothing in life to deserve the fastball they caught under the chin at birth. They are not a burden. They don’t break the law. They don’t hurt anyone. For 7 hours a day they are given undivided attention from caring and committed professionals that maybe lacking at home. These are the professionals that come in on their day off and don’t punch in. These are the people that are literally elbow deep in shit while CWA and the no-load pension whores moan about not getting the day after Thanksgiving off.

SOURCE 04-13-09

PROPERTY TAX RELIEF policy during the eight years the Democrats have been in power in Trenton is like an old-fashioned shell game: place a pea under one of three cups, rapidly shuffle the cups, stop, and make the observer guess which of the cups hides the pea.

Is the hand quicker than the eye? Let’s see.

First, the Democrats raised sales taxes from 6 percent to 7 percent with the promise that the sales tax increase would fund a sustained property tax rebate program for most of us.

Then Jon Corzine went so far as say that over his first four years as governor he would increase those rebates by 40 percent.

Now, he says, this year there won’t be rebates for middle-class, suburban homeowners who are not senior citizens. He says there’s no money in the budget. The global recession — that could not be anticipated even by this former-Wall-Street-guru-now-governor — has put state government billions of dollars in the red.

But Corzine, despite this, reminds us that he’s nonetheless providing property tax relief by each year increasing state aid to education in each town in New Jersey, including your town.

Are you following this?

Corzine says, rightfully, that since school taxes on average make up about of 60 percent of your property tax bill, state aid to school districts helps hold the line on your overall property tax.

OK, at least that’s something back for your high state taxes. Well, not really.

Why? Because New Jersey will be receiving almost $2 billion in federal economic stimulus money to help fund state school aid and school construction programs.

Laundered stimulus money

It’s clear that much of the state school aid Corzine says he’s sending our towns to help hold the line on property taxes will be nothing other than “laundered” federal economic stimulus money – borrowed money. The federal government in the future will have to pay that money back. And, as you know, that means that each of today’s high school students will be paying off that debt in higher federal taxes and/or inflated retail prices for much of their working lives.

Then there are the numerous ways Corzine is actually contributing to our local and county property tax burden:

► Each year, Corzine has been decreasing state aid to municipalities while increasing aid to cities. To make up the difference, suburban residents pay higher local property taxes as they continue to subsidize city taxpayers.

► The state continues to mandate government responsibilities to Bergen and Passaic counties and demands that residents pay for those programs with county property tax dollars. For example, our county prosecutors are appointed by the governor and answer to the state’s attorney general, but county taxes pay for the tens of millions of dollars it costs each year for those state-run offices.

► Corzine is going ahead with the Council on Affordable Housing plan. That’s a state plan to place quota-based low income housing into each town in New Jersey. Experts say it will cost taxpayers $2 billion, much of that coming from increases in local property taxes.

► Now we hear that Corzine is closing down the three state special-needs schools in our area – in Paramus, Totowa and Wanaque. These facilities provide year-round schooling to about 170 kids with severe physical and emotional handicaps at an estimated cost of $30,000 a child. There is no doubt that these children need and deserve our help, but now that help in the future will have to come from local school boards at what promises to be added cost to local property taxpayers.

Watching the cups

Are you watching those cups as Corzine shuffles them around?

Are you thinking, why didn’t Corzine and the Democrats save money for these “rainy days?”

SOURCE 03-11-09

Good afternoon, and thank you all for attending today’s budget address. Reverend clergy; Senate President Codey; Speaker Roberts; Chief Justice Rabner; Judge Glen Grant; Members of the Legislature; Members of the Cabinet; Former governors Byrne and DiFrancesco; Honored guests and fellow New Jerseyans.

Every day, across New Jersey, across America, millions of people are sitting down at their kitchen tables and sorting out their family budgets. On the backs of envelopes … with pencils and calculators in hand … surrounded by stacks of bills and receipts … families are figuring out how to balance their income and expenses …And they’re doing this amid alarming economic circumstances.

You pick up the newspaper and see the national unemployment rate rising above 8%. You see neighbors losing their jobs, their homes and their health care. People worry they might be next.

The economy may not be “in shambles” as Warren Buffet remarked last week, but it is clear that this is no ordinary recession. And the costs of this economic crisis are exacting a serious, human toll.

People from all walks of life are tightening their belts. Around the kitchen table, every family knows what it means to make tough choices in these tough times. But people also understand the importance of making the right choices. They identify their most important priorities, and they change their spending habits to live within their means.

That’s exactly what those of us in this chamber must do in this budget season. I come before you today to speak candidly and directly about our state’s finances - not just to you, but also to the people of New Jersey.

Make no mistake: because of where the world is right now, we must move in directions we might not otherwise choose. Tough times require that we make the right choices, and that we do the right thing for the common good. By making the right decisions now, New Jersey can and will emerge from this national economic crisis stronger, sooner, and more prosperous.

To that purpose, the budget I am proposing for FY 2010 totals $29.8 billion - that’s $1 billion less than the first budget I presented in 2006. Stop and think about it, since 1947, every governor before me has grown spending over their four years.

With this proposal, we will have reduced spending two years in a row and will literally spend less than in the first budget I presented in 2006. This isn’t a matter of debate or nuance. It’s a fact.

It is also a measure of the times in which we live. It is a demonstration that here in Trenton, we are dealing with the state’s finances exactly as every family in New Jersey is dealing with theirs. We are living within our means. We are not spending more than we are taking in. We are making the tough choices to do the right thing. And … just like the choices that a family makes around the kitchen table about its spending, the decisions I have made in laying out this budget reflect a clear ranking of my priorities and a core values.

These priorities and values are the same ones that have guided my administration since I took office. Those values reflect a lifetime of experience and are informed by the voices of our fellow citizens, not just the loudest voices, but those who too often don’t have a voice.

Yes, we are cutting the size of government, but because of our values, we have made it a priority to continue: Nurturing our children, honoring seniors, protecting the most vulnerable among us, and I want to make it clear that we must maintain these priorities at the same time that we work to minimize the tax burden on our citizens.

We’ve been able to enshrine these values in a leaner budget because, for three years, we governed responsibly. We eliminated the gimmicks and one-shots that past administrations used to paper over the state’s debt. We reduced and streamlined state government. We funded state employee pensions and the unemployment trust fund. We were the first state in the nation to respond to the global recession with a comprehensive economic recovery program.

Because we chose to do the right things yesterday, we are able to keep doing the right things today. In FY 2009, declining revenues required cuts of over $2 billion in state spending, as it turns out, that was just the start.

The global recession took a further toll on our revenues, so we have cut almost $4 billion in baseline spending from this year’s budget. But before we cut, we made a value-based judgment to take some things off the table.

There are certain parts of our government’s work that we must sustain. In New Jersey, we recognize the importance of our children, they are our bright hope for the future. To that purpose, in this budget, we have increased, rather than cut, classroom funding for K-12 education. And with the federal government’s help, we’re giving our children a jump-start on a lifetime of learning.

This budget funds Pre-K education for 50,000 kids - an important down payment on our commitment to universal early childhood education. Our increase in classroom funding allows the state to press ahead with a new formula for school aid that is rooted in educational needs and fairness — not zip codes. Our formula recognizes that half of all “at-risk” children live outside of Abbott districts. The state’s school aid allows communities, rich and poor, urban and suburban, to hire talented educators who fire up our children’s minds and imaginations, because here in New Jersey we believe that every child has a right to be inspired and challenged every day in schools that are among the world’s best. School aid is just one reflection of the value we have placed on learning.

Today, I want to again congratulate the legislature for passing the $3.9 billion school construction program that is about to put 15,000 to 20,000 New Jerseyans back to work while modernizing schools for hundreds of thousands of children, Every generation of children has the right to schools that offer a clean, safe, and stimulating environment for learning.

Just as we value our kids’ education, we value their health. That’s why we’ve expanded our Family Care program to include a child mandate and enrolled many thousands more kids and their families - particularly mothers seeking pre- and post-natal care.

Providing health care for our children is a priority in this budget, just as it has been in years past. On this point, I have been clear. When the Bush administration tried to cut 10,000 kids out of New Jersey’s Family Care program, we said “no.” We even went to court and made it a “federal case”. Throwing kids off health care is not the way we do business in New Jersey.

Now, with the help of key members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, we can be certain of advancing children’s health in partnership with the federal government. And just as with education and health care, we are spending wisely to improve the lives of children who require placement outside of their homes. Our Division of Children and Families has gone from being among the most poorly-rated in the country, to among the very best. Our budget priorities make it clear kids count!

We are also protecting seniors in this budget because we believe that, as a community, we have a responsibility to honor our parents and grandparents. Not only does this budget preserve the senior property tax freeze, it expands it. We have also preserved all homestead rebates for senior homeowners and renters. We want to make sure that our parents have a choice of staying in the homes where they have raised their families. And we want to make sure that our grandparents can live where they’re most comfortable and where long-term care is most affordable. Seniors have a right to live in dignity and comfort …that’s why my administration has found ways to increase assistance for home heating and senior health care.

This budget also reflects the view that when people who have played by the rules fall on hard times. When they get sick, or lose their jobs, or stumble into a run of bad luck government will help them get back on their feet - with a hand up, not a hand out.

This budget provides that helping hand by maintaining emergency funds for food banks, avoiding cuts to charity care, investing in worker re-training, expanding the earned income tax credit, funding our groundbreaking efforts to stave off home foreclosures, through mortgage mediation and loan modification, and by preserving funding for the developmentally disabled and community providers.

We must not - and we will not - balance this budget on the backs of people, who through little or no fault of their own, have been caught in the rip-tide of the economic tsunami.

Let me repeat: Even as we cut the cost of government in unprecedented and historic amounts, we are doing so in the right way — the way that sustains our abiding commitment to those core values…

Again, nurturing our children, honoring our seniors, and protecting the most vulnerable.

These are the basic values I have held for the past decade as I’ve fought for New Jersey families on the floor of the United States Senate and here in the State House. Throughout those years, I have guided my judgment by doing only what is best for New Jerseyans. Whether the question has been balancing the budget, or sending our soldiers to war, or holding corporations accountable, I may not have always done what was popular in the moment, but you can be damn sure I have always done what I thought was right. But it’s not just me. I take great pride in my administration.

Even in the face of this dire financial circumstance, people have stayed true to our core values. From the cabinet members on down, this administration has refused to look for the easy way out. Even so, I don’t need to remind you that the current economic crisis has taken a sharp toll on our revenues, as it has in every state across the nation. The difference is New Jersey is weathering the storm with better outcomes than many.

Our unemployment rate is below the national average. And as of January, at least 18 states had higher jobless rates than New Jersey — often, significantly higher. Our incomes are nearly the highest in the nation, and while our budget gap is among the larger, we are managing that challenge without shuttering government, like California, or missing a payroll, like Kansas, or ignoring the unemployed, like South Carolina.

Now, let’s lay out the numbers in basic terms. This fiscal year, which runs through June, the state will take in about $30 billion - about $3 billion less than we originally planned. In the coming FY 2010, we’re projecting base revenues of only $28.5 billion.

Even with important help from the federal government — the declining revenue meant we had to make deep cuts in spending to balance the 2010 budget. With respect to budget cuts, there are two ways to compare the numbers: in absolute terms - as I just outlined - or in terms that reflect baseline growth. In absolute terms, we need to cut $3 billion to bring this budget into balance. In baseline growth, we need to find a “staggering” $7 billion in spending and revenue solutions. As you all can appreciate, baseline growth is a more practical measure of the state’s budget gap.

Baseline numbers include increases that are mandated by statute, contract, and the courts - contractual wage increases, for instance. A baseline comparison also includes increases in health care and energy costs, supplemental school funding, debt service and court-mandated actions that increase child-welfare expenses.

A family sitting around the kitchen table understands the real pressures in baseline growth. Their health care costs are going up every year their energy costs soared in 2009 and the cost of nearly everything else - from food, to child care, to college tuition - continues to rise. The state budget is no different.

In fact, if we did nothing to curtail growth or adjust our contractual, statutory, and court-mandated obligations, the FY 2010 budget would come in just under $36 billion. As I noted, that’s more than $7 billion over projected revenues. Fortunately, President Barack Obama understood the pressure on states to meet these shortfalls while still keeping teachers in the classroom and police on the street. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides New Jersey about $2 billion in aid to be used for current operations on education and health care.

That still leaves a $5 billion gap in the budget, which we have attacked with $4 billion in cuts to programs, rebates, pension payments, and state worker salaries, In all, over 850 line items in the budget have been cut. The largest cuts will come from reductions in a scaling back of homestead rebates by $500 million, and reducing by another $500 million payments to the pension fund.

I am proposing to save $400 million in personnel costs through a wage freeze and furloughs for employees. This approach calls for shared sacrifice but I believe it is far better for employees to share in these reductions and continue working than it is for savings to be achieved by the layoff of up to 7,000 workers.

It most certainly is better to keep people at work and insured, than in the unemployment lines and on the Medicaid rolls. I’m sure state workers understand the household principle, just as we do, that when a family’s income drops everybody has to tighten their belts.

We all have to share the responsibility of keeping our financial house in order.

Now, let me take a moment to briefly describe some of the options we sought to balance through this budget in hundreds of hours of meetings over the past few months.

In these discussions, we would have preferred not to reduce rebates or pension contributions but we chose to preserve our children’s health care and education funding.

We would have preferred not to cut funding for the arts and humanities but we chose in this financial emergency not to close hospitals or eliminate senior prescription drug assistance.

We didn’t want to cut funding for tourism advertising and beach replenishment but we chose to maintain safe neighborhoods, safe highways, and homeland security.

During those discussions, even as we cut spending, and cut, and then “cut some more”, we also came to a decision that we had to preserve as much property tax relief as possible, given the severe financial pressure middle-class New Jersey homeowners are experiencing.

For instance, this budget has less than a two-percent cut in municipal aid - a small amount in comparison to other line items but one that recognizes that municipalities took a big hit last year. Further, in order to help municipalities balance their budgets and stabilize property taxes, I recommended the much-debated, optional pension deferral. This deferral will provide many communities with enough breathing room to avoid layoffs of police and firefighters.

Following the same reasoning, my budget preserves homestead rebates for over one million moderate and middle-income families earning $75,000 or less. Protecting rebates as much as possible is consistent with one of the most basic priorities of my administration, providing direct property tax relief on a progressive basis. With this budget, my administration will have provided more direct property tax relief in four years than any other governor in New Jersey’s history - nearly $7 billion put directly into the pockets of homeowners.

This substantial commitment recognizes the heavy burden property taxes place on New Jersey families. It also recognizes the power and traditions of home rule. Obviously, no governor can single-handedly fix New Jersey’s local property tax problem. Our state’s 566 towns and 616 school districts need to rationalize their cost structures and hold spending under the cap. They need to share and consolidate services. Until these actions broadly take hold, the underlying problem will remain.

Simply put, New Jersey has too many layers of government. To the credit of many, the process of restructuring is gaining momentum across the state, and we will continue to promote consolidation and shared services wherever and whenever they make sense. There are incentive dollars in this budget that do just that.

In the meantime, however, rebates remain the primary tool by which the state can ease the property tax burden on individual citizens. That is why we should restore the rebates for higher income families as soon as the recovery of state revenues allows. Make no mistake — a $1,000 rebate check is more than meaningful for families who are working out their finances around the kitchen table.

We know that’s absolutely true for fixed-income seniors, many of whom could receive as much as $2,500 — combining both their senior freeze and homestead rebates. And, as family members lose jobs or see their hourly wages fall, the number of taxpayers making less than $75,000 grows. For those citizens, rebates count.

To help pay for the rebates, we have proposed eliminating the property tax deduction next year on state income taxes for everyone but seniors. Now, as I commented, New Jersey faces difficult challenges, but from a better position than many states.

One of the reasons is that, together, we’ve taken serious steps toward fiscal responsibility. As we all understand, for 15 or 20 years, New Jersey budgetary decisions had often gone in another direction - reflecting expediency rather than responsibility.

For many of those years, our government chose to meet its constitutional obligation to balance the budget by using one-shots and gimmicks. Whether it was raiding the unemployment trust fund, borrowing to fill unfunded pension liabilities or securitizing tobacco settlements for current spending. These gimmicks and others undermined the state’s long-term financial strength and stability.

At the time, they were easy fixes. They didn’t require tough choices about what the state could and could not afford. They were actions that didn’t require telling the public the truth. Even worse, they saddled future generations with the cost of that irresponsibility.

With your help, I stopped it.

You can’t correct 15 or 20 years of bad decisions in 38 months, but the steps we’ve taken have put our state’s finances on more solid ground. Over the past three years, we’ve contributed more money to the public pension system than did our predecessors in the preceding 15 years, combined.

Regrettably, in the current crisis we need to temporarily reduce pension funding so that we can sustain our first priorities - our children, seniors, and the most vulnerable. In better times, such an action would be unacceptable. But this is a time of unprecedented economic stress. It is the right choice to make.

Similarly, over the 14 years before I took office, repeated raids of the unemployment trust fund - totaling nearly $5 billion - were used to balance the state’s operating budgets. My administration stopped the raids and in fact bolstered the fund by over $400 million, which avoided sharply higher payroll taxes - over $650 million to be exact - that would have fallen hardest on small businesses.

The unemployment trust fund is now under even more stress, and it would take as much as $500 million dollars in additional spending to avoid a dramatic payroll tax increase.

We cannot make that kind of payment while still maintaining our priorities and preserving property tax relief. But we will make a significant payment that will soften the impact on employers. And we will also seek legislation to require a tax decrease when the fund recovers in a growing economy.

In this budget, we continue in our effort to make state government do more with less, and to hold ourselves accountable to the taxpayers.

My administration has reduced the payrolls of the state and its authorities’ by almost 7,000 employees. We have eliminated departments. We negotiated with public employees and asked them to contribute toward the cost of their health care. We extended the retirement age to 62 and capped the pensions of new state workers. We recognized that sustainable employee benefit programs require serious restructuring to avoid future breakdowns.

The measures we have taken will save the state and local governments $6.4 billion over 15 years. Those dollars count in a year like this. This kind of restructuring needs to be adopted across all levels of government in New Jersey.

We have scrubbed departments for inefficiencies - line by line - and implemented consolidations. We’ve sold cars, cut up state credit cards, and moved out of half-filled, leased warehouse space.

By measures big and small, we have reshaped and resized state government. We have also confronted and put an end to the entrenched ways of doing business in the State House. We ended Christmas tree spending. We approved a constitutional amendment to give voters a voice on state borrowing. And by executive order, I required that recurring expenditures be matched with recurring revenues. Other governors have talked about doing these things. I did them.

This budget continues a 4-year pattern of making the right choices - choices that may not be politically popular today, but which put our state on a stronger footing for tomorrow.
In a time of crisis, we must all share in the responsibility for balancing our finances and that’s why I’m asking those who are the most fortunate among us - the one percent of New Jerseyans with incomes of a half-million dollars or more - to carry a little more of the burden.

To this end, I am proposing a one-year, only, rate increase of ¾ of a percent for those earning more than $500,000. This new revenue, along with small increases in alcohol and cigarette taxes, will allow us to finish closing that $7 billion gap.

As I’ve said repeatedly, the unprecedented circumstances of our national economic crisis requires choices we might not otherwise make. Our responsibility requires us to have the courage to meet these challenges, deliberatively, honestly, with compassion and good judgment. And that is precisely what we have done in crafting this budget.

We faced down a $7 billion shortfall with roughly $4 billion in spending cuts, $2 billion in federal aid, and $1 billion in new revenue.

That left us with $29.8 billion in which to prioritize our children, our seniors, and those who play by the rules but find themselves in dire straits. I’m asking you all to review the proposed budget. Offer alternatives where you find them - as long as those alternatives honestly meet the challenges of full funding, meet legal requirements, and fit within the broad priorities laid out.

I welcome ideas from everyone. I only ask that the ideas be real, be specific, and be fiscally responsible. The last thing that New Jersey needs in today’s environment is political posturing. Posturing won’t save one job, it won’t help one family with property taxes, it won’t improve a single school or save a single business.

As I close, let me be clear, this budget is one part - only one part - of our responsibility to meet head-on the challenges of the global economic crisis. It is not our first step - and it won’t be our last.

Last fall, when the banking and credit sectors collapsed, my administration was ahead of the curve in dealing with the global economic crisis. We were the first state in the nation to pass a comprehensive economic recovery plan. I thank the legislature for your forceful and timely response in passing the nine pieces of legislation that made up that recovery package.

Our mortgage mediation and modification program is stabilizing our state’s housing sector, and now, other states - and the federal government - are making similar efforts.

With our Invest New Jersey initiative, we offered a $3,000 grant for every new job created and sustained for at least a year, along with a sales tax exemption for the purchase of new business equipment. In the ten weeks since that grant program has been in place, we’ve received over 800 applications representing 20,000 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in investment. Each of those 20,000 people represents a New Jerseyan who has the opportunity to wake up every day, knowing that he or she has a job.

We also reformed New Jersey’s corporate tax code to make our state more business friendly. We enabled businesses to carry forward tax loss benefits for up to 20 years. We eliminated the Throw-Out and Regular Place of Business Rules that penalized companies headquartered in New Jersey. We enacted permit extension provisions. We created a clean energy fund and put in place incentives for public investments in energy efficiency.

All of these measures have cushioned us against the blow of this global recession. These actions may even produce growing revenues for future state budgets.

Now, I’ve taken some heat from our neighbors — particularly up north. Some have accused me of trying to steal their companies. I get accused of a lot of things, but this is one offense I’m willing to cop to. Let’s be clear - our economic recovery plan sends a clear and unequivocal message to employers: New Jersey is a great place to do business.

When we move legislation to expand the urban hub tax credits, when we pass the revenue allocation district act, when we move forward on allowing license site professionals to certify brownfield cleanups, we’ll lay an extraordinary foundation for New Jersey’s strong economic recovery. When the global and national economy rebounds, New Jersey will be in a stronger position than its neighbors and competitors.

We will prosper tomorrow because of the decisions we make today.

Now, I’d like to close by citing President Obama, who reminded us two weeks ago in his address to Congress that we are in the eye of an economic storm, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the breadline days of the 1930’s.

That said — with a strong national recovery program, and with a true partner for New Jersey in the White House, we will come through this storm. While today’s crisis is challenging and often painful, we will pull together as a community and a nation and build for a more prosperous tomorrow. History is clear - the economy will turn.

With the talent, the work ethic, and the strong character of our people, New Jersey will lead the way. I believe in our common desire to do what is right. I hope and expect to see that spirit reflected in the final budget, a budget that values children, seniors, and the most vulnerable, and asks a little more from the rest of us.

Thank you.

May God bless each of you, and God bless New Jersey.

SOURCE

By DIANE D’AMICO Education Writer, 609-272-7241
(Published: Thursday, April 16, 2009)

NEWARK - The Education Law Center released a report Wednesday saying the state is underfunding hundreds of school districts by $303 million because of a provision that caps the amount of extra state aid they get next year at 5 percent.

The ELC said the cap will hurt mostly middle-class districts across the state that should be getting even more funding under a new state aid formula.

Affected districts include the Atlantic County districts of Absecon, Atlantic County Institute of Technology, Buena Regional, Corbin City, Egg Harbor Township, Folsom, Galloway Township, Greater Egg Harbor Regional, Hamilton Township, Hammonton, Mainland Regional, Northfield,and Somers Point.

Underfunded Cumberland County districts include Bridgeton, Deerfield Township and Lawrence Township.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine’s proposed budget does add $304 million in school aid next year, with virtually all of it going to the districts listed as underfunded in the ELC report. Some are growth or working-class districts that have been lagging behind in aid for years.

But the proposed budget also imposed an aid cap, saying underfunded districts could get no more than a 5 percent increase in aid each year.

So while Egg Harbor Township will get almost $2 million more in aid for next year, the report says the district is still owed about $5.8 million more based on the new formula.

“The ink is hardly dry on the new formula, and legislators are ready to break it,”ELC Executive Director David Sciarra said. “We are once again neglecting the needs of at-risk students in moderate- and middle-income communities.”

He said that this time the 31 urban Abbott districts cannot be blamed because most got no increase in aid at all under the new formula.

Assemblymen Vince Polistina and John Amodeo, both R-Atlantic, criticized the state for not giving all districts what they are due.

Amodeo said he is aware the governor put more money into education next year, but the districts that are owed more money should get it. He said he did not know if he could come up with $300 million in other cuts to raise the money but thought cutting health benefits and pensions for part-time employees could generate some funds that could be given to the schools.

Polistina said based on what they spend per student, he believes some of the urban districts are still getting more than they need.

“The system should still be more equitable,” he said. “We need to treat all kids fairly.”

E-mail Diane D’Amico:

DDamico@pressofac.com

Underfunded districts

The Education Law Center said hundreds of school districts should get more state aid under the new state aid formula. Locally affected districts and the amount still owed:

ATLANTIC COUNTY:

Absecon: $134,858

Atlantic County Institute of Tech: $229,302

Buena Regional: $2,028,552

Corbin City: $32,895

Egg Harbor Township: $5,822,644

Folsom: $90,080

Galloway Township: $279,120

Greater Egg Harbor Regional: $4,520,140

Hamilton Township: $3,190,514

Hammonton: $1,902,745

Mainland Regional: $762,572

Northfield: $571,264

Somers Point: $709,369

CUMBERLAND COUNTY

Bridgeton: $1,305,281

Deerfield Township: $313,172

Lawrence Township: $73,447

SOURCE

////he borrowed millions for "regular children" ////

Corzine To Approve Borrowing Billions For Schools

NJ Governor Signs $32.86 Billion State Budget (6/30/2008) New Jersey is about to borrow $3.9 billion for school construction.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine Wednesday is to sign legislation that would authorize the borrowing without voter approval. Corzine will sign the bill as he tours aging schools in Jersey City, Bloomfield, Newark and Camden.

The money would provide $2.5 billion for schools in the poorest cities and $1 billion for all other districts.

The state Supreme Court has ordered new schools be built in the poorest districts.

Critics contend the borrowing will drive up already mounting state debt and should go to voters for their approval.

SOURCE

05-06-09
SOURCE


TRENTON - The New Jersey child welfare agency's plan to close 17 schools and two programs that serve children with disabilities, at-risk youths, pregnant teenagers, and teen parents drew intense questioning from lawmakers at a budget hearing yesterday.

Department of Children and Families Commissioner Kimberly Ricketts spent much of the hearing defending the decision to close the schools and two satellite programs at hospitals.

Nine of the schools, including the Burlington campus in Mount Holly, are to close by August. The remainder, including the Cherry Hill and Gloucester campuses, are scheduled to close by the summer of 2010. The Burlington school has about 24 students, Cherry Hill 70, and Gloucester 14, according to department spokeswoman Kate Bernyck. About 560 students attend the schools statewide.

Ricketts said the department was closing the schools for policy reasons, not budgetary ones, and made the decision working with the state Department of Education. Department officials say the move is expected to save $4 million annually when all the schools are closed.

"We are absolutely committed to the appropriate transition to placements in the public sector for each child," Ricketts said. She said the department decided to close the regional schools in part to focus on child welfare and child protection and in part because of declining enrollment.

In the late 1990s, the state had more than 1,200 students in state-run schools with severe disabilities, compared with about 248 students today, Ricketts said. The remainder of the students are at-risk youths and teens who are pregnant or parents.

Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D., Passaic) asked whether local school districts would have the expertise and ability to deal with the children.

Ricketts said 7,000 students with severe disabilities were being served by local school districts. "We no longer see a need for there to be two systems" providing the same types of educational services, Ricketts said.

Ricketts said the department had sent parents with children in the regional schools two letters informing them of the changes. Next, school officials will meet with families to determine where a child will be sent after a school is closed, she said.

Ricketts said several local school districts had expressed "enthusiastic interest" in hiring state employees who are working with the students. Some school systems have proposed incorporating entire facilities within their districts, Ricketts said.

About 400 full-time state employees and 100 part-timers work at the schools and satellite programs, according to Bernyck. She said she could not say how many would lose their jobs.

Assemblyman Joseph Malone of Burlington County, the Republican budget officer, asked the department to consider extending the transition to ease the process for students and their families.

Much of the hours-long hearing focused on the school closings.

At one point, parents and staff members from some of the schools held a news conference in a room one floor below.

Parents, some in tears, said they were grateful to be able to send their children to the regional schools, where they said they receive special care from knowledgeable and responsive teachers.

Jocelyn Reyes, the parent of a child at the regional school in Essex County, said districts were scrambling to find places for the children.

"They are trying to slap together a plan," Reyes said. "They don't want our children. They keep stating they are only following orders. I think our kids deserve better. I believe they should be where they are wanted."

Nancy Brooks, who teaches at a regional school in Bergen County, spoke of the dedication required to teach students with special needs.

"We are teachers who have answered a special calling, teachers who are adept at forming relationship so that we may hear children who cannot talk, nurse hearts that are broken, build confidence where there is none, reach children who have retreated, and inspire children to work toward their greatest educational potential in the face of overwhelming obstacles," Brooks said.

Joe Finch, an 18-year-old Camden County resident who attends the regional school in Cherry Hill, said the district where he was supposed to attend school made it clear he was not wanted there, telling him he would not make it.

Finch, who has struggled with drugs and cut his wrists, resulting in multiple school suspensions, numerous hospitalizations, and a nine-month stay at a group home, said the teachers at the regional school helped him with schoolwork and problems at home.

Finch is graduating this year and hopes to attend college to study literature. For the younger students, he said, he is sorry to see the state close the schools.

"Even though I am graduating, I think it would be in the best interest to keep the group-home kids at DCF," Finch said. "It is not a want, it is a need."

I just posted about 4 different places where the afterschool money could have gone...

please call them.. post comments on your results...

SOURCE

About NJSACC
Our Mission

NJSACC promotes and supports the development, continuity and expansion of quality programs for children and youth during out-of-school time

NJSACC works to
Build a strong network for afterschool program professionals in NJ.
Provide training conferences, workshops and information services.
Offer technical assistance, at no cost, for the development, expansion and improvement of afterschool programs throughout NJ.
Work closely with state and local officials to define appropriate NJ State regulations and legislation.
Establish professional development opportunities.
Develop public awareness of afterschool issues
Be the state's national affiliate to the National AfterSchool Association (NAA).
Promote NAA's Program Improvement and Accreditation system by providing a strong infrastructure of advisors, endorsers and trainings related to the national standards for quality.

NSACC is funded in part:
by the NJ Department of Human Services, Division of Family Development as part of a Federal CCDF Block Grant Earmark
with federal funds from Title IV, Part B, 21st Century Community Learning Centers program of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 awarded to the New Jersey Department of Education.

SOURCE

Resources

The Map to Inclusive Child Care Training & TA Project is a project spearheaded by SPAN (Statewide Parent Advocacy Network) and funded by the New Jersey Department of Human Services. The goals of this project are:

- Increase the quality of early care and education for children with special needs.
- Increase the number of childcare providers that offer inclusive child care.
- Increase awareness among families, childcare providers, and resource and referral counselors of the Unified Child Care Agencies of the services available for children with special needs.
- Improve the delivery of services to children with special needs through collaboration among the providers of childcare services and special needs services.





The NJ Inclusive Child Care Project provides:
- Free information (in English and Spanish) about laws affecting inclusion and child care (early childhood and after-school programs).
- Free information about available services and resources in New Jersey for children with special needs.
- Free workshops (in English and Spanish) on inclusion awareness as well as 'how to' workshops for parents and service providers conducted by nationally acclaimed early childhood experts.
- Free telephone technical assistance regarding early childhood and after school inclusion using our toll-free hotline and/or the Resource and Referral staff of the county-based Unified Child Care Agencies (see list)
- Free on-site technical assistance and support to child care providers and after school programs on including children with special needs.

SOURCE

MONTAGUE -- A local battle is brewing over the education of special needs students, with several Montague parents joining together in protest of the Montague school district's limited number of special education options.

"These people need a lawyer. It's a nightmare," said Meg Snyder, a Montague resident and local childcare provider who moderates the Montague Buzz blog, where dissatisfied parents have taken to airing their grievances.

As a district, Montague educates students from kindergarten through sixth grade, sending older students to Port Jervis Middle School and High School in Port Jervis, N.Y. According to New Jersey Department of Education spokesman Rich Vespucci, it is the only municipality in New Jersey to send students over state lines on a daily basis for public education.

Longtime Montague resident Kathy Bullis said she and other parents have complained over the years that special education students are given the choice to attend only Port Jervis High School or Orange-Ulster BOCES career academy in Goshen, N.Y., due to Montague's out-of-state contracts. Recently, some parents discovered a more desirable option in Kentwood Academy -- a state-approved private school for the learning disabled in Lake Hopatcong -- and they're now fighting for the right to enroll.

"I went to Montague and said, 'Find me this perfect placement.' It was here all along," said Bullis. "(Kentwood) was exactly what I was looking for, for my son."

In the 1990s, Bullis fought for two years to get Montague School to release her son Rod from the BOCES program, opting instead for home schooling and a spot in the Vernon school district's special education program. She discovered Kentwood a few years ago and has seen vast improvement in her son's communication and interpersonal skills since his enrollment there.

Now 21, Rod is about to age out of the special education program in Montague, and Bullis wants to get back the years he lost in an ill-fitting individual education program placement in New York by extending his stay at Kentwood. The Montague Child Study Team and administration, who did not return several calls for comment, will not negotiate with her or the handful of other parents who are being denied transfers to Kentwood, despite allowing a handful of students to attend there in the past.

Lisa Wlodarski, mother of 18-year-old Christopher, a BOCES student, said her son, a high-functioning autistic, hates his long bus ride back and forth each day and hasn't been able to excel in his educational placement in New York.

"Maybe for some kids it would work, but for Chris it doesn't," Wlodarski said. "He hasn't learned one thing vocationally except how to mop and sweep. He needs the right education and I don't believe he can get what he needs up there. It would be much easier for us as a family to make contacts in Jersey for him. He needs skills that can help him in life."

Annamarie Macari, mother of two special needs children, moved to Montague in 2005 and was surprised at the lack of special education options made available to her family. In her previous school district in Hudson County, parents were given at least three educational options, and a member of the Child Study Team actively toured the facilities with her until they could agree on a placement. If the student's Individual Education Program requirements weren't a match with the offered schools, more facilities were made available, she said.

"You're supposed to make sure the placement is an appropriate one. Montague thinks that (New York) contract washes them of responsibility. They're out of compliance left and right," Macari said, noting that her now 16-year-old daughter, Ashley, was immediately enrolled at Port Jervis upon moving to Montague, without the parental consent required by New Jersey administrative code. "How is a child supposed to progress? They're entitled to a fair and appropriate public education. They're not providing that."

Roger Pittenger, father of 13-year-old Roger Jr., said he simply wants to keep his son close to home. He would like to send the teen to Kittatinny Regional High School instead of Port Jervis, noting that Kittatinny is only around six miles away from his home, but was denied that request.

"Why is my kid going to school in New York when I live in New Jersey? Montague School's only doing it because they've got contracts," said Pittenger. "It's a big money thing."

Kentwood Academy psychologist Ira Yorn said that in 40 years of working in the special education field, he's never come across a conflict like this.

"Montague is a unique situation. They have that contractual obligation with Port Jervis," Yorn said. "You're between a rock and a
hard place."

Vespucci noted that due to the different ways of interpreting state code and the subjective aspects of special education, disagreements between parents and administrators are not uncommon.

"If a parent disagrees with a placement decision, there is a whole process that parent can follow. Sometimes the placement decision is changed, and sometimes it stands," he said, explaining the steps of appealing the decision, beginning with mediation and an independent evaluation of the placement by a qualified person not employed by the
district.

However, parents say Montague has not been cooperative when they attempt to follow the guidelines. Macari recently requested an independent evaluation for her 3-year-old son Andrew, and was served legal papers denying her request.

"Instead of them addressing us directly, they sent an attorney after us, wasting taxpayer money. We still want these things addressed," Macari said. "They're denying me my rights to do that. It doesn't seem that they know the law."

"It's a very emotional issue about how to handle a special needs child," said Vespucci. "The parents are very close to it and very close to what they'd like to see their child get and what their child is entitled to. The decision should be made (based) on what the child needs. If the parents feel that the child's needs could be better met somewhere else, that's why they have the rights to appeal."

Unfortunately, Bullis noted, the appeal process is an expensive one. She has gone through several pro bono legal programs and has yet to find a lawyer who wants to deal with an issue of this scale and complexity. The fact that some parents are considering a class-action suit against the school has made it even more imperative to obtain counsel.

"I'm still desperately trying to find legal representation because I'm running out of time," Bullis said, explaining Montague's pressure to have Rod graduate this summer. "All these people standing behind me are going through the same thing. Once I get through this, I hope it can set a precedent."

"This is the second time I'm going through this and I've been here only four years. I'm not hopeful, but I want to be," said Macari. "It's so bizarre to me. You don't leave a child in a program that's not working for them. I'm at a loss at what to do now. We're only trying to do what's in the best interest of our children."
Created: 4/11/2009 |

In Ms. Ricketts eloquently worded testimony.. she stated that there is afterschool care for our special needs children in the 18 regional schools that she wants to close...

really....

take a look at this

page 2 lists all of the contact numbers to find said afterschool care... give them a ring... where are these programs.... where is the millions that she said where going... is it here? is it there? is it anywhere?

----------------

COUNTY
CCR&R
HEALTH CONSULTANT
CASE MGT UNIT

Atlantic
(609) 646-1180
(609) 646-1180 x612
(609) 645-7700 x4388
Bergen
(201) 336-7150
(201) 336-7168
(201) 634-2620
Burlington
(609) 261-6834
(609) 261-6008
(609) 267-1950x42882
Camden
(856) 374-6376
(856) 374-5147
(856) 374-6021 or
(800) 999-9034
Cape May
(609) 886-5164
(609) 886-5164
(609) 465-6841
Cumberland
(856) 451-6330
(856) 451-6330
(856) 453-2154
Essex
(973) 297-1114
(973) 744-4050 x1059
(973) 395-8836
Gloucester
(856) 582-8282
(856) 582-8282 x150
(856) 681-6497
Hudson
(201) 451-8888
(201) 451-8888 x117
(201) 915-2514
Hunterdon
(908) 782-8183
(908) 782-8183
(908) 788-6399
Mercer
(609) 989-7770
(609) 989-7770 x126
(609) 588-8460
Middlesex
(732) 324-4357
(732) 324-4357
(732) 745-3180
Monmouth
(732) 918-9901
(732) 918-9901 x140
(732) 224-6950
Morris
(973) 398-1730
(973) 601-6151
(973) 971-4155
Ocean
(732) 557-9633
(732) 557-9633 x132
(732) 341-9700 x7602
Passaic
(973) 684-1904
(973) 684-1904 x270
(973) 523-6778
Salem
(856) 935-0944
(856) 935-0944
(856) 935-7510 x8479
Somerset
(908) 927-0869
(908) 927-0869
(908) 725-2366
Sussex
(973) 383-3461
(973) 383-3461
(973) 948-5239 x3129
Union
(973) 923-1433 x122
(973) 923-1433 x141
(908) 889-0950 x2544
Warren
(908) 454-1078
(908) 454-1078
(908) 689-6000x258
COUNTY
CCR&R
HEALTH CONSULTANT
CASE MGT UNIT
COORDINATOR
MAP TO INCLUSIVE CHILD CARE
A publication of the New Jersey Department of Human Services. May be reproduced without permission.
rev. (9/08)

http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2009/03/educational_services_commissio.html

Although there have been layoffs, the county Educational Services Commission has no intention of closing its West Amwell or its Tewksbury schools, according to Corinne Steinmetz, school business administrator. The schools serve special education students and those whose behavior has been a problem in public school settings.

Rumors of a closing may have grown from the recent ESC decision to reduce its staff by 13 between the two schools. In West Amwell, one teacher and four teaching assistants were laid off. A nurse and two teachers who resigned weren't replaced.

At Tewksbury, a teacher, two teaching assistants and a secretary were laid off. A teacher who resigned wasn't replaced.

The commission's Tewksbury campus houses a special education program as well as an "alternative" program for "disaffected" students who aren't working out in public schools.
Its West Amwell Township school accepts pre-K through grade 12 special education students and grades 7-12 "alternative" students.
The layoffs were prompted by significant drops in enrollment at both, said Ms. Steinmetz.
Based on 2007-08 numbers, school officials expected 96 students in West Amwell this year. Only 78 enrolled. At Tewksbury, where there are 30 students, 50 were expected. School officials are planning for even fewer students next year: 28 in Tewksbury and 68-75 in West Amwell, Ms. Steinmetz said.
In the past, area schools sent alternative and special education students to ESC schools. But as school boards face spending constraints, Ms. Steinmetz said, "Local districts are pulling back." Rather than send students out of district for instruction and pay tuition to ESC, some are reinstating in-house programs.
That seems to be the case at West Amwell, where Trenton's decision to send fewer students than ESC officials expected had "the largest impact" on enrollment, according to Ms. Steinmetz. Enrollment is not limited to Hunterdon County residents at either ESC school.
The commission is considering other ways to accommodate local districts, according to Andrea Romano, ESC director of schools. For example, she said, it could expand programs and services, and send staff to instruct students at their home schools.

SOURCE

EWING -- When Christopher, 14, was home-schooled, he didn't play. He wasn't happy.

Just five years later, Elizabeth Castillo, Christopher's mother, said her son, who has cerebral palsy and sclerosis, has improved his motor skills, and he's smiling and laughing all the time.

"They treat him well. ... He gets physical therapy, he's part of the family," Castillo said in Spanish, calling the teachers and staff at the state-run Regional School Mercer Campus "tremendous."

Yesterday, Castillo joined a handful of employees at the Mercer Campus site at 1600 Stuyvesant Ave. hoisting up signs -- with messages like "What Happened to No Child Left Behind!!!" and "Save Our School" -- protesting the closing of the school.

Since the 1970s, the state Department of Children and Families (DCF) has run several regional schools throughout New Jersey, serving students with physical, cognitive and emotional disabilities. Since 2002, the schools have incorporated other programs for at-risk youth and pregnant and parenting teens.

But now the state is looking to phase out the schools by next year and the decision has drawn the ire of employees and parents at the Mercer Campus, which serves 38 students and employs 23 full-time and seven part-time staff.

Protesters argued that the school is necessary to meet the needs of students who they said would not get the individualized attention in mainstream schools.

"They get individualized attention year-round," said Adam Bierman, a teacher working with teenage mothers at the Mercer Campus for close to five years. "This is like an oasis. It's calmer, more structured than the high schools they're coming from."

DCF's Office of Education provides intensive 12-month educational services and support to children and young adults ages 3 through 21, according to its website.

Citing a decline in enrollment at all 18 regional schools and the increased capacity of local school districts to service students with special needs in-house, DCF spokeswoman Kate Bernyk said the 560 students at all the regional schools will be transitioned out to local school districts by July 2010. Students from two satellite programs run out of hospitals will also transition to local school districts, Bernyk said.

"We're trying to do the transition as smoothly as possible. We're also working with lead districts and employment opportunities" for current regional-school staff, Bernyk said.

Bernyk said there are no set plans for Mercer, and no dates have been confirmed, though employees said a letter from the department stated the school would close on or about Sept. 1. She also said if employees at the regional schools find jobs in local school districts, their state pensions and health care would transfer. Those who are unable to find alternative employment would be laid off, she said.

As for students in Project TEACH -- which stands for Teen Education and Child Health -- they will also be looked at on a case-by-case basis, Bernyk said. School officials will identify why that student population was not served in the local school districts and create individualized needs assessments, including what kind of program would best serve that child. She also said the licensed child-care centers that are part of some regional schools helping teen parents could be taken over by local school districts or counties to keep them running.

It costs the state $10.5 million in fiscal year 2009 to run the 18 schools, said Tom Bell, a spokesman for the state Department of Treasury.

The state would save $4 million in fiscal year 2010 when the schools are phased out, Bell said.

But some are not convinced closing any of the regional schools, particularly the Mercer campus, is a good idea.

"I think that's a lie," Thomas Palermo, president of CWA Local 1039, said about local school districts being able to accommodate students with disabilities.

Palermo said some of the teachers who work for the state-run schools have as many as 23 years of service.

"School districts already said they don't have room for other teachers. ... These teachers are state teachers that really cover certain areas," said Palermo, whose union represents 300 teachers and support staff at five regional schools.

by Timothy Walsh
Sunday April 26, 2009, 3:00 AM

SOURCE

The current recession is being felt particularly hard by New Jersey, its state workers and even more significantly by our severely handicapped children.


Five schools for these children operated by the state Department of Children and Family Services (DCF) in New Jersey will be closing on or before June 30. All 18 such DCF schools are supposed to close on or before June 30, 2010. These schools are in Cumberland, Atlantic, Cape May, Gloucester, Camden and Burlington counties, as well as most other New Jersey counties.

Schools like the one where I work fly under the radar. Most people do not even realize we exist.

As evidenced by a story that WPVI-TV (6ABC) aired on April 9, our children and their parents will be impacted in a major way. The TV news people did a great job bringing the story to light. The spin that was released by Trenton, on the other hand, was disingenuous. State officials implied that the reason our schools are closing is that "the enrollment is declining."

The reality is that enrollment has been declining because the state would not allow additional handicapped children to come to our schools. This sounds like the same old political garbage politicians use to achieve their objective. In this case, the objective is to close our schools.

You can rest assured that you will hear more spin. The spin will be that other, non-state schools will be stepping up to pick up the slack for our handicapped kids. It's not going to happen! It should be noted that our schools are open year 'round. No summer recess.

It should also be noted that the money saved by the state -- which estimates $4 million in annual savings -- will be borne by the local communities, whose school districts will become responsible for these children's education. We, as citizens, are not being served well by our government leaders both at a local and state level.

Kids at DCF schools have special needs and, as stated above, are severely handicapped. Some are on oxygen, and a nurse is required to ride on the bus with them. Others are on feeding tubes. Our schools have physical therapists, speech therapists and occupational therapists on staff.

A special bond has developed between our kids and the staff. It's that intangible thing called love.I have seen members of our staff purchase shoes and articles of clothing for impoverished children.

I would like to note that when Gov. Jon Corzine was in Millville earlier this month, he chose not to visit our school even though he was close by. Perhaps that would not have been a good "photo op," considering the mood of our people.

Corzine came to the area to announce $27 million in state funding for a new interchange at Route 55 and Route 49. Playing Santa Claus by handing out money for projects in South Jersey does not look as good when you also intend to close the schools for handicapped children.

Unfortunately, the decision by the state to close these schools was made quite a while ago. It is also unfortunate that this information was not shared with the people who have the most to lose, the children and their families. Neither was that information shared immediately with the local political leadership.

It is my firm belief that the governor, working together with local and congressional leaders, could find a way to keep these schools open.

I challenge Gov. Corzine to visit our schools -- and not for a dog-and-pony show, or a free photo op. I ask him to check us out and see what we do for these children. After seeing what we do, make a determination as to whether or not these schools should be closed.

Why is it that whenever there are difficult economic times, the people who are least able to have their voices heard are the ones to suffer? It is an old axiom that states:

"History will judge a society in the way it treats it people who are least able to fight back."

----
Timothy Walsh, after retirement from another career, drives a bus for the Department of Children and Family Services School in Cumberland County. He resides in Bridgeton.

Morning all,
Ive got to take my little guy to the doctors/nuero today so ill try to post all i can this morning before i step out.

Hope you all have a great day!