Tom Maciejewski

Zero Based Budgeting and the Budget Process: After watching the Novembers issue of the Mayor’s Roundtable I am a bit concerned about some of the discussion that was on there.   This was mostly about two issues:   zero-based budgeting and the budget process.   Wikipedia definition of zero-based budgeting.   Wikipedia defines zero-based budgeting as the following ( from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-based_budgeting ) “Zero-based budgeting...
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Firstly I would like to thank all of the people that have supported me this election cycle.   It was quite an experience for me and I think that between us we definitely have awakened people in this town. About 6500 people voted and I received 1271 votes which means that just about 20% of the people voted for me.    This is a tremendous achievement for an Independent.   While technically I am a libertarian, the support that I had was bipartisan.  Personally I feel this is a great statement for the town.
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On to part 2 of my multi-part series on taxes and Berkeley Heights.    I would like to discuss tightening of our budget.    I believe it to be very important to run a tight budget.   Doing so provides more control to the Council and can cut back on spending.    There are 2 ways to add fluff to the municipal budget.  1) Overstating appropriations and 2) understating revenues.     Having fluff in a budget leads to unnecessary spending.
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Election Day is here and I would like to ask you to vote for me, and no one else, this is considered a "Bullet Vote" and helps me the most.   There is some confusing wording on the Ballot. The Ballot states, "Members of Township Council - Vote for Two". This is confusing because it is legal to vote for 1, you do not need to vote for 2. The text should really state: "Vote for up to Two". In fact, if you have a single candidate in this race, that you really want to win, their best chance is...
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It has been an excellent run for Berkeley Heights Town Council  and I would like to remind you about me and ask you once again for your vote!   I am not a politician, but a resident and taxpayer like you. I love Berkeley Heights. It is a great town and an ideal place for raising children. It offers the perfect balance, being close to NYC but far enough away from the traffic and noise of the city. Berkeley Heights is a great town, however I feel it could be even better.
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As part of a multi-part series on our taxes,  part 1 will focus on how Berkeley Heights deals with debt and in particular what usually happens at the end of a Berkeley Heights Bond’s Life. Introduction: The Berkeley Heights Council historically has a bad habit of re-ante-ing up every time a bond matures.   If we have $100,000 less in payments this year compared to last, they will write a new bond that will have roughly $100,000 in payments.    I believe this to be an undisciplined approach to capital expenditures.
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Bavoso on The Berkeley Heights Swap During the Berkeley Heights League of Women Voters Debate that was held on Oct 13, 2016 at Columbia Middle School in Berkeley Heights, Peter Bavoso stated the following during a rebuttal:  “OK Just to mention since Tom gets very excited about this Yellin, First of all the municipal redevelopment falls under the redevelopment law of the state.  This is not one of those issues that is a council issue.
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If Elected I Vow to Stop the Swap!  Many residents in town are confused about the status of "The SWAP".   Some think it had failed while others seem to think that the SWAP is a done deal and that it cannot be stopped.  Both are incorrect assumptions. In fact this single election will determine whether it goes through or not. I personally believe that initiatives of such scale absolutely need to go before a public vote and not be pushed forth by officials with conflicts of interest.
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What is the best way to address the poor state of the roads in Berkeley Heights?  There are actually more important issues going on in the town then roads, such as the lack of communication and trust in the town government, cronyism, and the $27M new municipal building that is being forced on us through the SWAP initiative, Poor road conditions are certainly an annoyance and we are constantly reminded of potholes and deteriorating storm drains.
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  Open Government: why do we need it? Berkeley Heights needs to move in the direction of Open Government.    A significant percentage of our town has a general distrust in our local representatives.  An even greater percentage does not feel informed about the major initiatives that are going on in town.    Many residents can not attend the regular meetings and have a hard time finding relevant documents or videos on line.
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