Sparta board of education is asking for a lawsuit 

May 3, 2012

Editor:

Here's another warning to the Sparta Township Board of Education and the new business administrator, Linda Alvarez. The taxpayers in Sparta cannot afford your lack of common sense. Remember, your pay scale is only $150,000 per year.

All public meetings in New Jersey can be video-taped or livestreamed by any member of the public without prior notice to the governing body. Ms. Alvarez should stick to what she thinks she knows and stop trying to enforce so called "Sparta Board of Ed policies" that are unconstitutional, violate the Open Public Meetings Act, violate New Jersey state law and infringe on individuals federal rights.

Ms. Alvarez, read the following Supreme Court case "Tarus v. Pine Hill." We live in the United States of America, not in North Korea.

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/nj-supreme-court/1425005.html

and

http://federal-circuits.vlex.com/vid/tarus-v-pine-hill-19779306  

I am looking forward to the next livestream by the New Jersey Herald and not the next lawsuit to be filed against the Sparta Board of Ed.

To the reporter Jessica Masulli, keep up the good work. It's not your fault that the majority members of the Sparta Board of Ed, Superintendent Morton and now Ms. Alvarez think that they can push the public and the press around.

Jesse Wolosky

Sparta

Vote no on extravagant Sparta field proposal

March 11, 2012

Editor:

The letter from Philip Lid in the March 5th Herald is must reading for every Sparta resident. He mentions our very poor economy and foreclosures. Just a week or so ago there were 3 Sparta foreclosures published in the Herald. Sparta Township has published more than 200 tax liens for the past 3 years.

Recent articles in local papers announce The ALICE program introduced by the County United Way. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained. Their research shows more than 15,000, 27% of families cannot afford the basics of food, shelter, transportation, health and child care. Combined with those below poverty, 36 percent or 20,000 households are not self-sufficient. If Dr Morton and our School Board think these conditions do not exist in Sparta, they are wearing blinders!

When Jennifer Dericks was voted off the School Board with two others she wrote an op-ed and stated she and others "cannot imagine that a supposed affluent school district like Sparta would reject a 2% budget" Did she think all residents are affluent? I am very concerned that DR Morton and other School Board members have this same attitude!

Mr Lid points out the $500,000 turf field will need replacing in 10 years. I have also been informed a machine similar to a Zamboni at a cost of $18,000 will be needed to maintain the fields. He mentions a cost of $1,800,000 for blasting rock and excavating. He does not mention the new proposed stands.

The Home stands now seat 720. They want a new one seating 2,000. Visitors stand seating 1000 to replace ones that seat about 600. I could not learn the cost for these. Also not mentioned is this $4,583 million cost is not part of the 2% cap. It is over and above.

The 2% Cap is meaningless. Many residents saw the 2012 taxes rise as much as 7% The School Board must be told loud and clear, NO TAX INCREASE!

Driving around town many signs have been planted stating vote yes. Who paid for them who put them up so quickly?

VOTE NO for this new extravagant proposal put forth by our big spending Dr. Morton and our school board.

John Townley
Sparta

Sparta field project needs to be questioned

March 5, 2012

Editor NJ Herald:

Do the Sparta taxpayers want a sport facility upgrade at $4.583 million? Why are we being presented with this question again? In 2006 the Sparta Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Morton, wanted $2.45 million for field upgrades.

As of December 2011, he was going to do the job with the $3.7 million of leftover building funds.

Now it is up to $4,583,000. It is easy to spend money when you have it. The facts are, we do not have it now. It appears that spending taxpayer money comes quite easily for Sparta's Superintendent Morton. In a worse economy than in 2006, the sports upgrade costs have nearly doubled that of 2006 ($2.133 million higher). Do construction costs increase that quickly or is it simply that the appetite for more has dramatically increased?

Are we being taken for a vindictive financial ride? Here we are in an economy where salaries are down, people are searching for jobs, all of us are being asked to sacrifice economically, every neighborhood is witnessing foreclosures, and yet, this superintendent wants extravagant spending. Do we really need everything that is in this package? Whatever happened to the logic
of needs versus wants?

What kind of thought and analysis has gone into this sport project upgrade?

It is obvious that there is no one with construction experience overseeing this project. What is actually involved? Clearing land, building spectator stands, putting in some electricity and a sound system, and oh yes, the turf field.

The first red flag should be the artificial turf. There is no logic in spending $500,000 on artificial grass that will need replacing in approximately 10 years with another $500,000 repeated cost. In other words, having this turf instead of grass carries a "material only" cost of at least $50,000 a year ... forever! We can buy a lot of sod grass for that money.

Then, of course, the turf will be exposed to the elements, consequently, keeping it free of debris will require constant care and we all know what that is like when you live in a forest area. Of course an investment this large will have to be insured. This is a "soft cost" because the insurance rate is mingled in with other insurance coverage.

The second red flag is an apparent cost of $1,800,000 for blasting rock and excavating in order to bring the land down to the correct level.

This is outrageous and unacceptable! If it costs that much to blast rock and excavate, stone would be selling at more than gold. Thousands of excavating machines are sitting idle, dump truck haulers are selling off their rigs, quarry men have little work and we are still asked to spend $1.8 million to move dirt and rock. Someone has built in a heck of a profit into this job at the taxpayers' expense. Keep in mind that the stone and rock that is removed is not waste, it is sold somewhere down the road by the contractor.

This entire project needs be questioned and re-analyzed as to our real needs, not this pie in the sky, 24-karat gold package. It appears that the Sparta superintendent of schools has given new validity to the phrase "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

Phillip Lid
Sparta

Understanding rights of public petitioners

February 16, 2012

Editor NJ Herald:

Four years ago registered voters in Sparta Township were circulating several petitions regarding different issues.

After having one confrontation where the manager of the Stop and Shop Supermarket asked petitioners who were collecting signatures in front of the store to leave the property, I decided to have a visit with the chief of police of Sparta, Ernest Reigstad, and explain the petitioner's rights.

At that time I had with me a printout of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling for petitioner rights and I gave a copy and informed the chief about our First Amendment right to "petition the government for a redress of grievances."

He agreed with me and stated "I know you are allowed to petition everywhere." I asked him if he could let the rest of the police force know our rights. Immediately after our meeting he informed the rest of the Sparta police force about our petitioner rights.

In the days and weeks after that meeting the group had more incidents where police were called in, to ask petitioners to leave the premises.

In one case it was in front of the 7 eleven where the Manager called the police, the next was in front of the CVS Pharmacy also where the Manager called the police, another was in front of Panera Bread where the owner of the building called the police and the last location was in the Sparta Public Library where a Township Employee called the police.

In all cases the police officers were polite and understanding to the petitioners and their rights and instructed the complaining callers that it was our right to be in front of any privately owned business, on private property that is open to the public, with our clipboards and collect signatures on our petitions.

My message is to every future petitioning group of citizens in Sussex County and especially those in Vernon Township right now, who are collecting signatures for their petition is to Google the following: U.S. Supreme Court ruling of "Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins, 447 U.S. 74 (1980)" and take a copy of it to your local police station and do what I did, and then turn around and collect as many signatures as you want, wherever you want to politely, except for, inside of the post office.

Good luck to all of you out there, who question and challenge your local government.

Jesse Wolosky
Sparta

Board has no right to spend ‘leftover’ funds

December 18, 2011

Editor NJ Herald :

In the New Jersey Herald, the editorial “Intimidation tactic in Sparta” said that the New Jersey Herald submitted an OPRA (Open Public Records Act) request to the Sparta Board of Education asking for “details of the board’s bond counsel’s recommendation regarding use of ‘leftover’ referendum funds for athletic fields,” and that that request was denied. It made me think! So I decided to look into this matter and discovered the following:

Two referendum questions and the explanatory statements on the Sept. 26, 2006, ballot read:

PROPOSAL NO. 1: “The Board of Education of the Township of Sparta in the County of Sussex, New Jersey is authorized (a) to provide for construction of additions, alterations and renovations at Sparta High School, including acquisition and installation of furnishings and equipment and sitework; (b) to appropriate therefore $71,513,519; and (c) to issue bonds of the school district to finance the project in the principal amount of $71,513,519.The final eligible costs of the project approved by the Commissioner of Education are $24,242,865. This project includes $11,076,437 for school facility construction elements in addition to the facilities efficiency standards developed by the Commissioner of Education or not otherwise eligiblefor State support pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:7G-5(g). The State debt service aid percentage will equal 40% of the annual debt service due with respect to the final eligible costs of the project.”

The vote was 2,988 yes, 2,771 no.

PROPOSAL NO. 2: “This Proposal No. 2 will only go into effect if Proposal No. 1 is also approved by the voters at this election. The Board of Education of the Township of Sparta in the County of Sussex, New Jersey is authorized (a) to provide for acquisition and installation of artificial turf, bleachers and a press box at the Sparta High School athletic fields, including acquisition and installation of equipmentand site work; (b) to appropriate therefore $2,496,575; and (c) to issue bonds of the school district to finance the project in the principal amount of $2,496,575. This project is not eligible for State support under the Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act.”

The vote was 2,504 yes, 3,218 no.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT:

“These proposals will authorize the construction of additions, renovations and alterations at Sparta High School, including equipment, site work and athletic field improvements. If both proposals are approved by the voters at this election, the total aggregate cost of the project will be $74,010,094, and the aggregate final eligible cost of the project approved by the Commissioner of Education is $24,242,865. ...”

I then reached out to an attorney in the field of bonding and asked if Superintendent Morton and the Board can spend leftover monies from proposal No. 1 to “rehabilitate and improve the athletic and sports facilities.” That’s how Morton worded it at the Sept. 29, 2011, board meeting.

The attorney replied: “The simple answer is no. The provisions of NJSA 18A:24-1 et seq state and have been clearly interpreted to limit the expenditures to those approved by the voters. The referendum approves both the purpose and the amount of bonds. Unless the wording of the first question that was approved can be interpreted to include the additional purposes, then the excess bond proceeds from the one purpose cannot be used for a different purpose.”

“Financing and construction of school facilities projects,”found under N.J.S.A. 18A:7G-5(o) which was referenced in proposal No. 1, states:“In the case of a school facilities project of a district other than an SDA district, any proceeds of school bonds issued by the district for the purpose of funding the project which remain unspent upon completion of the project shall be used by the district to reduce the outstanding principal amount of the school bonds.”

It’s obvious to me that the unspent monies of $3.8-plus million need to be applied to pay down the bonds and if Morton and six out of nine Board members are not going to do that, then the question to them is:

What is the specific analysis prepared by the Superintendent or Board of Education that analyzes the rulings, court decisions, court interpretations, etc. that has allowed them to determine that they can continue to use the bond proceeds the way they are?

I would like the superintendent and board to adequately answer the above question and make that answer public knowledge.

Jesse Wolosky

Sparta

Here's a warning to Sparta school board

December 01, 2011

Editor NJ Herald:

"He's always filing court actions against municipalities and boards of education.""Why doesn't he warn them first" and "give them a chance to correct their violations?" That's what I have heard in the past, so I decided this time to warn this board before filing a complaint in court.

Will they take my warning seriously this time and avoid another lawsuit? We'll see.

The Sparta Township Board of Education has adopted a new practice as of Nov. 28, 2011, of publishing on its website under its agenda, on page 23, a so-called list under the heading "Unfinished Business" titled "OPRA Requests."The "OPRA Requests" lists Open Public Records Act requests by selected political opponents and critics and the purported time spent and legal fees of those OPRA requests.

The purpose and effect of the "OPRA Requests" list, is apparently to intimidate the Board of Education officials' political opponents and critics from filing OPRA requests in violation of their First Amendment freedoms of speech and association and the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause.

I request that the Board of Education halt the maintenance and publication of its "OPRA Requests" list of individual New Jersey citizens' names.

Please contact me or remove and halt such publication, if you wish to resolve this matter short of litigation in Federal Court.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Jesse Wolosky
Sparta

Extremism is always our enemy

June 29, 2009

Editor NJ Herald:

Extremism is life’s greatest enemy. It never matters what topic or situation we might choose. When we take on an idea and press it to the level of fanaticism, we become divorced from all reason and the checks and balances of living in a harmonious society vanish.

I was reminded of humanity’s natural capacity to accept and live with extremism after reading Darlene Scarince’s comments of June 11 in the Letters to the Editor section of the Herald. The subject was Catholic women in the priesthood. I realized how vehemently I opposed her position of keeping things as they are. I could not remember any biblical text where Christ required subservience of women, except with the marriage contract. And yet, even that interpretation of the original Greek is questionable.

On the front page of the same paper was a simpler article regarding an additional tax on liquor. How absurd. Why is it that liquor is always the bad guy to receive excessive taxation? Of course, no one will dare to say that it is a bad thing to do. But then the restaurant industry is saying that this will hurt their business. In this economy of failed businesses, do we want to contribute to small business failures? Just like the taxation on cigarettes, has that worked? When I go to my local convenience store, I see droves of people plop down their seven dollars to buy one package of cigarettes.

Someone, somewhere must begin to realize that extreme measures cannot correct and sanitize humanity. All we are doing is preying upon those who cannot help themselves. That to me is preying upon the disadvantaged. Is this something that we should do as a society? We cannot stop the immigration from Mexico? We cannot stop the traffic in drugs? We cannot sanitize society.

But education, on the other hand, does appear to make a difference. Maybe our government should focus on how we must perfect our approach to education instead of abusive matters against the people. Fear is the chief stimulator of extremists’ actions. After 9/11, fear allowed us to give up huge portions of our civil rights through emergency legislation. Our complacency and acceptance of these extremist measures has already taken our United States of America into a recognizable level of socialism. Is that where we want to go?

Now we are facing extremism in corporate bailouts. Is that what we need? If you were to consider that 10 years ago GM knew that they were in trouble with the big gas-guzzlers but did nothing, then should we give them new life? These are difficult financial times and yet the banking industry, because of free ticket legislation from your congressmen, is raping the low and middle income Americans, causing a level of monetary slavery. Should your congressmen fix this?

We do not have to go far to find governmental extremism. My dear Sparta is present and proud because of the possible $5 million a year income from the proposed electric power plant. Simply speaking, this is extremist greed thinking. This project presents a very great risk to everyone in Sparta. Most people are offering their concerns about the power line expansion and the enormous mess from the construction, but the greatest of all catastrophic effects upon our lives will be the sound. Every person who lives within a 15-mile radius (possibly farther) of these gigantic electric turbines, as big as a house, will be subjected to the subliminal hum from the motors, which will travel through the bedrock into your bedroom every night. The sound that these massive machines make will be your constant companion. The bedrock can act as an amplifier, which might even increase the sound and distance carrying capacity. It cannot only have to the potential to cause sleep deprivation, but it can also cause a significant harm to the real estate values of the entire region. Why do you think huge systems like this are found out in the middle of nowhere? It’s the noise, boys!

Checks and balances are important in order to avoid extreme results. Sparta’s history of misguidance proves the need for great caution. We did not follow the checks and balances when the 517 bypass was proposed. The sales job by our town management stated that we needed to make the bypass in order to reduce the traffic from the downtown area. That sounded great, but never happened. As we all know, once the bypass opened, it was like a magnet for every commuter west of Sparta to drive to Sparta for the fastest approach to Route 15. Now we have the biggest traffic nightmare in the county.

When someone tells you “this is the only way” or “the best deal ever,” please do yourself, your family and the future generations a favor and say “No!” Maybe there is another way. Maybe we don’t need it. Maybe the other guy is right. Maybe that’s a bit extreme. Maybe we should put a woman in charge.

Phillip Lid
Sparta

Sparta Day 2008

Two grandparents were sitting in front of the Sparta Library exercising their civil rights by collecting signatures at the “Recall Petition Table” when then Mayor Spekhardt and Councilman Goldberg spotted them armed with a camcorder and charging towards them across the library parking lot.

I told my wife, not to say anything that they were looking for a confrontation.

After about an hour of banging our table and marching up and down in front of us and shoving their camcorder in our faces , shouting at us, all that was missing were the bright interrogation lights. I stood up and announced I would call the police to stop their harassing us and keeping citizens from signing our petition.

Spekhardt, in a sarcastic manner, said “he would call the police for us.”

That is when my wife had enough and I was sure she was going to tell Spekhardt what he could do with his camcorder and for Goldberg to help him put it up there.

We were saved by Phil Lid who came by and resolved the situation by walking Spekhardt and his shadow away from us.

We are not folks to be easily pushed around. We moved to Sparta about the time Spekhardt was in his diapers. His bullying manner, to older people and others, is appalling and Goldberg’s enabling action does not help.

My wife in her lifetime contributed to the creation of a rocket engine, and other engineering achievements during her career.

Last year for my 80th birthday I went to Sussex Airport and Skydived.

In June, 2008, we were at the “Recall Petition Table” in front of the Sparta Post Office when Councilman Brady stopped at our table. Brady, a law enforcement officer, in civilian clothes and without a jacket had a rather large black gun in full view at our eye level.

We kept the chatter light and my wife asked Brady to sign her petition and not to shoot us.

What could be behind these efforts to harass us?

By Harold Shane

IT’S TIME TO CHANGE

To Sign the Recall Petition today call 973-729-9035.

Dear Neighbors and Friends,

For many months we have been meeting with residents and have found that there are several areas of confusion about the recall process. Please let us clarify some of the most important points concerning this Democratic process.

First, we are undertaking this recall effort for one reason: the best interests of Sparta. There are no selfish gains or personal benefits motivating our effort. We love the natural charm and character of Sparta, and the long-standing friendships of our neighbors. It is our conviction that because of the magnitude of dissatisfaction with the township council, “The People” should have the opportunity to select new leadership who uphold our community ideals of “fairness for everyone.”

Last week’s election proves once again how disenchanted people are with the out of control spending and accelerating property taxes. Less than 19% of the registered voters went to the polls on Tuesday because so many people feel that no matter what they say, the controlling majority of the town council does not listen to them. The recall process is our chance to participate and change our township’s future.

The people of Sparta brought harmony by voting to change the majority of the Board of Education (BOE) for infighting such a change is needed with our town council. We are concerned with the abuse of power exhibited by the township council and the lack of fairness that they have displayed towards the citizens.

The authors of the State Constitution recognized that all too often, elected officials do not live up to the promises they made while campaigning, and felt it was necessary to provide the people with this right to recall.A short time ago, in neighboring Hardyston Township, residents exercised this right and recalled the President of the board of education. A similar process was held a few miles down the road in neighboring Mount Olive Township where the Mayor was recalled. In both instances, the people were heard.

Back here in Sparta, recall began out of the great frustration experienced by thousands of residents during the creation of the “Utility” for garbage. Since that time, however, many other issues of equal or greater alarm surfaced including discriminatory water and sewerage billing practices: different areas in town and different residents are charged at different rates. There is no “one price for all” in Sparta. This is the worst kind of discrimination: discrimination by our own township leaders.Thousands of your neighbors and friends feel that waiting until 2010 for a chance to bring changes to this discriminatory system is simply too long to wait.

While it is true that special elections cost money, it is far less than the $1,243,000 budget increase for 2008 or the $3,200,000 we pay each year for our non-union managerial staff.We have the right of self-governance. It is essential to Democracy and a strong Republic. We ask you to please join with your neighbors and friends to exercise this right. It is important to note that by signing this petition, you are simply allowing the recall process to go forward to a vote. We are doing this effort because we envision a better tomorrow for Sparta.

Join us as we imagine a Sparta that offers:· a new council that will select talented management capable of cutting township spending and focusing on reducing your taxes and service fees.
· a government that will go before the people before spending any large sum of money.
· a non-discriminating plan for basic services.
· a system where you are only charged for the actual cost of service, no extra profit add-ons for special interest agenda.
· a leadership that will honor the township laws thereby avoiding excessive legal costs and reprimands by a Court of Law.
· a governing body that will not interfere with the generous volunteers within our township.
· a management team that doesn’t incur huge cost over-runs with every building project.
People will be gathering signatures all throughout Sparta and we encourage you to sign.If you would like someone to bring a copy of the petition to your home or office,
please call 973-729-9035.
Your neighbors and friends need your participation in this important community effort.

Sincerely yours,
Philip Lid, your neighbor

To begin with, NO-ITS NOT ABOUT THE GARBAGE!!!

In looking back over the Town Council's actions prior to the "Great Garbage Debate" we uncovered more and more unsettling facts. There were things that they promised us-but never delivered.

There were back-room dealings that we were never privy to.

There were 7AM meetings with no public oversight. There are the ever-increasing costs that they continue to heap upon us, as they recklessly spend our money with wild abandon.

We all live here because we love Sparta-the peace and tranquility, the old-fashioned ethics of watching out for one's neighbors, the rural feel and slow pace of life here, and the camaraderie of all working together to keep and improve what we have.

But when we found out about all the shady things going on in our local council, we felt we just had to speak up, and tell everyone what's been happening here.

Unless you actually GO to the Town Council meetings-and only a handful of people actually do-you'd have absolutely no way to know any of the information that we present here.

We want to make Sparta a place we can all call home, and afford to stay in.

We want everyone to have their own rights of choice, to not have their lives mandated to them in any form whatsoever.

We want to be an integral part of the decision-making here in Sparta, and actually reign in the outlandish spending.

We don't want anymore lawsuits to have to pay off; the only ones getting rich are the lawyers!

We want a Sparta that we can all be proud of!

Please feel free to browse, and learn. As you will see, everything is documented, and verifiable.

We invite your comments, and welcome the chance to let you know what we've found out.

Please join us in our attempt to make politics here in Sparta open and transparent.

We all deserve that!

Me!

Unpublished Letter

Unpublished Letter to the Editor