TOWNSHIP OF WEST MILFORD

POLITICS ARE AS USUAL
NOTHING'S CHANGED
 

This page is to INFORM THE EMPLOYEES and RESIDENTS. It is not for political BULL.

HERE'S SOME HISTORY. In 1989 the new council on the block did the same thing. At that time the former Council had been holding off on doing a tax reval for 8 YEARS. Why? Because although Paterson was insisting that Passaic County towns do revaluations, Paterson had not done one in twenty or more years and the Council felt that it was unfair to force towns to do what Paterson had not done. Then the new Council hired a company for $1million to do the reval. The reval was so incorrect, the company didn't even go to all the homes in West Milford, and so many homes had extra rooms added to their assessments that after all the appeals were done, our Tax Assessor and his staff had to redo many of the assessments.

THIS TIME the Council didn't even blink when Paterson insisted they do a reval. Why? Because in the current housing market, for what houses have been selling for, the assessments were going down. The only way they can get enough money for their budget from taxes is to do a property revaluation.

AND THIS TIME there are as many mistakes in the assessments as there were in 1989, at the cost to you of $1 million to hire the company! And much more to you when the tax rate comes in! It was determined after the revaluation in 1989 that it would have cost less to hire part-time workers in the Assessor's office to do the revaluation, workers that lived in West Milford, workers that would have had a stake in making sure the revaluation was correct. AND this Council, knowing everything about everything, did the same thing ..... spent your hard earned tax dollars on an outside city-based company that has no idea what the Township is about.  How can you believe politicians who never step inside Town Hall except on meeting nights? Who only listen to Administration, who in this case has been here a month. Who give lip service to your concerns only because it can get or cost them a vote.

People............. what is wrong with you? Are you that lazy that you can't even call your councilmembers to complain? Too lazy to give an opinion. Too lazy to appeal your taxes? YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO APPEAL YOUR TAXES EVERY YEAR. Is it that you want to finance this Council's penchant for buying open space property? Property they do noting useful with? Properties they don't maintain? Are you making that much money that you don't care about giving it to the government?  I DON'T THINK SO.  There are only TWO COUNCIL MEETINGS A MONTH, unless you want to attend the BUDGET MEETINGS which are advertised in the Herald News.

Can you not afford to go to the Council Meetings to show the Council that you are keeping on top of what they and administration are doing?  A better question is CAN YOU AFFORD TO NOT GO TO COUNCIL MEETINGS TO KEEP ON TOP OF WHAT THE GOVERNING BODY IS PLANNING?

TAX APPEALS ARE DUE MAY 1

THERE ARE LAWYERS IN TOWN DOING CLASS ACTION TAX SUITS.
CAN YOU AFFORD NOT TO APPEAL YOUR TAXES?

These offices have established programs with established and tested procedures; and with the new Department Head getting and taking direction from administration who does not know a thing about the department, these procedures and the staff who implemented them are being ignored and overruled. This is a safety hazard, like the "accident" that took place last year. When employees tried to tell the former dept head there was a hazard, they were ignored then also. Why? Because the department head knew better? Because someone lied about knowing that the hazard existed? Well, you all should know that if someone had cleaned up the area when it was revealed, the accident could have been prevented.

Are you residents going to continue to let Town Hall be ruled by a "clic" of people who are working only to benefit themselves, ie: keep their jobs, by getting employees who will defend the "clic" no matter what? Open your eyes, get involved, become aware of what is going on, you are paying for this with your taxes.

Here's a question for you people who claim to be taxpayer activists. Who is keeping tabs on which professional services

are necessary and which ones are not? Who is keeping tabs on what they are being paid?

I am telling you there are unnecessary professionals being hired and paid by you, and ones that are making

more than the workers they've replaced. If you can pay them more, then why can't you give us a raise and settle our contracts?

For my fellow employees

• One of the most vital functions of a Union steward is to prevent management from intimidating employees. Nowhere is this more important than in closed-door meetings when supervisors or guards, often trained in interrogation techniques, attempt to coerce employees into confessing to wrongdoing.

• In 1975, in NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc, the U.S. Supreme Court announced the rights of employees in the presence of union representatives during investigatory interviews. Since that case involved a clerk being investigated by the Weingarten Company, these rights have become known as Weingarten rights.

My Weingarten Rights

"If this discussion could in any way lead to my being disciplined or terminated, or affect my personal working conditions, I respectfully request that my union representative or steward be present at this meeting. If this discussion could lead to my being disciplined and you deny my request for representation, I choose not to answer any questions."

In 1975, the Supreme Court ruled in the Weingarten decision, that an employee is entitled to have a union representative present during any interview which may result in his or her discipline. It is up to you to insist on union representation. If you fail to do so, you may waive your rights.

Do the following:

• Ask your supervisor if you might be disciplined as a result of the interview.

• If he says, "NO," ask for a written statement to that effect.

• If he gives you such a statement, you must participate in the interview.

• If not, read him your Weingarten rights, remain for the meeting, take notes, and afterwards immediately contact your union representative.

• If he says you might be disciplined but will not allow you to have a union representative present, read him your Weingarten rights, stay in the room, take notes, and do not respond to any questions. Afterwards, contact your union representative immediately.

• If he allows your union representative to be present, you should participate in the interview.

Copy and paste the information below, print it out on cardstock and carry it with you at all times.

Contract negotiations starting on March 12. These are the negotiations that originally started in 2009,

but were delayed by the Council and Administration through 2011 with expectations of changes to be made by the State government to State, County and Municipal Pension and Healthcare programs.

Though these changes were made to employee benefits, they do not apply to Political appointments.

Appointments that earn much more than Municipal Employees do.

But I digress, though there are two suits against the Township for unfair labor practices they have been postponed by administration labor counsel in light of the expected negotiations, and because of the information that the former Administrator had NO AUTHORITY to negotiate contracts.

  This information, of course, is not true as anyone knowing the West Milford Code knows. Under administration of government, Administrator, Duties is expressly lists contract negotiations.

the former Administrator negotiated one contract to the finish, it being signed by him and all officers.

BUT with the Council refusing to pass the Resolution to confirm it.

RESIDENTS ........ this is what we have to deal with in public employment,

 how is it in private employment? If you're hired as a typist in an office do you get assigned to cleaning bathrooms, or depositing monies from another office, or supervising children in still another office? If you are hired to work in one office do you get the added work of two other offices? Do you accept this without compensation? Are you expected to work through your lunch hours with no compensation?

Do you know that the Department of Labor says "If you work the hours, you get paid for those hours". No excuses from officers for non-payment. Look it up on their website.

Yes, I know that working conditions are tough all over, but do your employers jerk you around

for two and more years for upgrades or raises?

Yes, we now pay more into our benefits on a sliding scale upward as time goes along.

Okay, we accept that.

We will find out soon if the Administration accepts that we are now starting negotiations from scratch,

since the former Administrator had no Authority to conduct negotiation meetings in the first place according to their labor counsel.

And we will begin from scratch. Wish us luck :)

Residents, you think that working for municipal government is easy? We hear you think we sit around and do nothing, that we can be replaced by people "off the street".  Let me just tell you that I've worked 25 years at Town Hall and I've had very few days in all the years when I was not busy all day long. I've taken all the classes for my position, and you know what ... I've learned more by doing the work than from the classes. Personally I think those required classes are mostly to provide more income to the State. I highly doubt, with all the laws and rules and regulations, that any of the councilmembers could step into an office position and go right to work, much less someone off the street. It takes months of training by current staff on all the federal and state requirements before they can do more than photocopy, log in mail, and answer telephones to pass the calls to the proper person to answer questions. If you think I'm exaggerating then ask some of the new hires. Oh, that's right you've been told the Township isn't hiring, don't believe it. Administration hires whomever they want whenever they want. But that does not necessarily mean replacing workers in understaffed offices. Not if they can browbeat the current employee(s) into taking on additional work.

I am working on getting information on the various offices that have lost employees through retirement or whatever, who has been replaced or not, and if not replaced who was given their duties. Oh, and what departments have gotten employees replaced vs. which ones haven't. Now that's an interesting subject, along with who gets friends hired vs. who doesn't, whose family members are hired vs. whose aren't.

More soon.

Hooray! We not only have an Administrator but also a Recreation Director.

Nancy C. Gage, Esq. - West Milford Administrator

Jayme Mulhern - Recreation Director

Welcome to Ms. Gage and Ms. Mulhern. We wish you the best, and hope you do the same for us.
West Milford is very important to us, we care about our residents, we work hard and do our best to present the Township in a friendly, professional way.
We simply ask that we are treated with respect and the same concern and empathy we show our public.
You will find that most of us don't care about the politics in town except when IT treats us unfairly, which
admittedly has happened quite frequently.
We think you will find that most of us should not be stereotyped as the "typical public employee".
And I believe I am speaking for the majority of employees when I say we hope you get  to know us, and we you.

§ 15-16. Absence or disability of Administrator.

How come WE know the rules but the people in charge don't, or don't use them. Or maybe it's just that they use them to advantage.

OH, AND A REMINDER

ARE OUR NEW ADMINISTRATOR AND DEPARTMENT HEADS GOING TO MOVE TO WEST MILFORD??

Are the employees working short staffed going to be paid extra stipends for doing work out of title. You bet your A_ _ NOT.  Does an employee who does secretarial work for three divisions, and used to have TWO full time secretaries and a part time receptionist in the office get at least ONE full time experienced secretary to help. Hell NO, this employee is not "preferred".

And what do the rest of us get .... bullying and threats ....... when is it going to stop?? LET US DO OUR JOBS, QUIT PLAYING FAVORITES and GIVE US A LITTLE RESPECT FOR THE GREAT JOB WE ARE DOING!

And you people say working for the Government is easier than working for Private Industry.

Get real.

And now here's a question for you West Milford residents.

WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO WAKE UP,  PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN
AND STOP THE WASTEFUL SPENDING BY THE COUNCIL, THE ADMINISTRATION
AND THE DEPARTMENT HEADS

BECAUSE IT'S NOT THE EMPLOYEES AUTHORIZED TO SPEND YOUR MONEY !