Officials rally to fight school consolidation Mayors stand against state bills that would combine schools BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer SCOTT PILLING staff Metuchen Mayor Edmund O'Brien delivers his speech during a bipartisan press conference last week on the fight against the state's proposals for consolidation while Metuchen parents hold their signs expressing their opposition against consolidation. METUCHEN - The signs that several borough parents toted in front of the local television cameras at the bipartisan press conference rally against the state's proposals for consolidation last week said it all. Some of the signs read, "Metuchen Is Not For Sale," "Metuchen - We Like It This Way," "Bigger Is Not Better," and "Metuchen and Consolidation Are Not Perfect Together." Mayor Edmund O'Brien and other borough officials were joined by mayors from some of the other smaller towns statewide, school officials and state Assemblyman Patrick J. Diegnan [D-18] and Peter J. Barnes [D-18] on Jan. 4 in front of Metuchen's Borough Hall to fight the state's proposals for consolidation. The mayors and school officials included Mayor Carl Bergmanson of Glen Ridge; Mayor Richard Plambeck of Chatham Borough; Mayor Malcolm Fraser of Cape May Point; Mayor Barry Zagnit of Spotswood; George Trapp, Metuchen Board of Education vice president; Larry Lhulier, public information officer of the Point Pleasant Schools; and Betsy Ginsberg, Glen Ridge School Board president and parent network volunteer for Garden State Coalition of Schools. SCOTT PILLING staff Mayor O'Brien confers with Spotswood Mayor Barry Zagnit before he delivers his speech. "This legislation is being pushed through the back door of the Legislature and the public is being left in the dark completely," said O'Brien. "We want more time and more information given so that people across New Jersey will understand exactly what effect this legislation will have on their communities." O'Brien and other small-town mayors and school officials are concerned with the S-1, S-38, and S-42 bills that were scheduled to be voted on in the state Senate on Jan. 8. "These bills that are floating around are dangerous," said O'Brien. For the last six months, state lawmakers have proposed recommendations on instituting fundamental property tax reform for New Jersey residents that could cut property taxes by an average of 20 percent. One of the solutions is merging services among the 566 municipalities and 616 school districts in New Jersey to save money. However, mayors and school officials of some of the smaller municipalities across the state said there is no proof on whether merging their towns will actually save money. "We can do what bigger towns cannot do," said Mayor Carl Bergmanson of Glen Ridge. "For example, if we need help we can turn to our next-door neighbor, Montclair, for, let's say, fire service. We can adjust and save in terms of what works best for us. Who can they [the bigger towns] turn to? This is a distraction and unfair to us. We do not agree with the legislation and will not submit to their nonsense." Highland Park Mayor Meryl Frank said the bottom line is the math does not work. "No one knows more than the mayors of our communities that property taxes are a problem in our state," she said. "We want what's best for our communities. If there were savings here, who do you think would be pushing for consolidation? It would be us. I would be first in line to support it and I believe every mayor here would be to." Mayor Richard Plambeck, of Chatham Borough, said his borough of 8,439 people is not afraid of consolidation and was among the first in the state to regionalize school districts when it joined with Chatham Township. "We're not afraid of looking at things that make school districts efficient, but we're not seeing that here," he said. O'Brien agreed. "I don't fear consolidation, I fear what is said in the S-1 bill," said O'Brien. "The bills are suspicious because the Legislature is using a military commission-type approach similar to what is used on military bases. In a blink of an eye the state can circumvent democracy." Assemblyman Diegnan said politicians get in trouble when they try to be smarter than everyone else. "We will continue and keep up the fight," he said. "We won't let this happen." Assemblyman Barnes relayed the same sentiments as his counterpart and offered the mayors and school officials a battle cry. "I encourage everyone to e-mail their legislator and tell them that they don't want consolidation," he said. "Two, 4, 6, 8 ... We Don't Want to Consolidate!" Metuchen Board of Education Vice President George Trapp said if these bills pass, "we will have to pick our poison." "These bills give us a faulty premise ... that is that we can automatically save money," he said. "Let's assume that the central administration merges with our neighbor Edison. The Metuchen teacher salary guides will total $1.5 million in contracts. If we vote against consolidation we lose our state aid for a five-year period, which has been $1.4 million. There's the slightest difference. The voters have to take a long hard look. We will have to pick our poison." Ginsberg, who attended the state Senate vote in Trenton, said even though she can't say anything, but sit in the gallery, it's important that people have an avenue to go to. "People voted me in as a parent network volunteer for the Garden State Coalition of Schools," she said. "It's my job to be there for them." Sharon Taylor, who is a parent in Metuchen and attended the rally, is appalled by the S-1 bill. "Just because one doesn't want to consolidate, they should not be punished," she said. "Isn't this [state] aid coming from tax money Trenton receives from me, the taxpayer? I should not be penalized for not wanting to lose the quality of life I currently enjoy in Metuchen by becoming a bigger town. I like the fact that my tax money is being spent in my town, not some other town." Local officials urge residents to contact state lawmakers and Gov. Jon Corzine expressing their opposition on the proposed legislation.