Opposition is starting to form to the state’s attack on small towns and their right to self determination.
From Centraljersey.com:
Monday, the Hightstown Borough Council approved a resolution opposing the bill by a 4-1 vote. The lone dissenting vote came from council President Walter Sikorski, a strong proponent of consolidation with surrounding East Windsor. Councilman Jeff Bond abstained with no explanation.
Councilman Mike Theokas, also a supporter of consolidation, voted to oppose the bill.
He explained his vote by saying, “If (consolidation) were to go to referendum, and East Windsor rejects it, then Hightstown gets punished. It’s unfair.”
Councilman Dave Schneider echoed his sentiment.
”It leaves taxpayers vulnerable to the will of a few people (on the commission),” he said.
In East Windsor, Mayor Janice Mironov also voiced opposition to the bill.”It would not be right to penalize East Windsor for a required arrangement,” she told the Herald. “The bill gives thorough credence to the commission’s findings without any opportunity to discuss or question them and does not in any way ensure that any proposals are reasonably based and provide for fair treatment.”
It cannot be argued that taxpaying voters who democratically reject an option offered by an agency of the State bureaucracy should, thereby, forfeit the right to property tax relief funding. As taxpaying citizens of the State of New Jersey, they must be allowed the unencumbered right to determine the future government of their communities. And they must be assured equitable access to the benefits secured by their own tax dollars.
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