Monday, June 22, 2009

Why I Still Support Raises for the MARSD Executive Team

(Note: The article was originally removed because, despite public notice of the hearings of the contractual changes, the actual changes were not yet posted on the school website. They have since been posted. However, once you remove an article on Blogger, you lose the comments. My apologies. I have edited the article slightly to hopefully address some of those comments.)

The Matawan-Aberdeen School Board has proposed giving the following raises to the district’s three top administrators –
Dr. Richard O’Malley, Superintendent - $173,000 -> $185,000 (6.9%)
Mr. Joel Glastein, Deputy Superintendent - $151,000 -> $156,489 (3.6%)
Ms. Sue Irons, Business Administrator - $119,000 -> $130,000 (9.2%)

Excluding salaries, no other changes will be made to their contracts.

The net cost of the board’s action is $ 28,489, minus $3,000 we’re contractually required to give Dr. O’Malley, plus such niceties as pension contributions, social security, and the like. For the sake of argument, let’s round the total cost to $30,000.

I intend to vote for the salary increases at the upcoming school board meeting, this Thursday.

I’d now like to address questions and comments from the public.

1st Question/Comment – What the #$%@? In this economy? Have you lost your mind?

Thank you for asking and no I have not.

Dr. O’Malley and his team cut school spending by $600,000. This isn’t one of those fictitious numbers that politicians like to throw around by first raising spending by millions of dollars and then cutting from the inflated number. Our district is spending $600,000 less than we did last year.

Look at what happened last year when the administration proposed we raise the school tax by the legal limit and the school board praised the administration for showing fiscal restraint. Look at the surrounding neighborhoods – Holmdel proposed raising the tax levy over a million dollars. So did Hazlet. Old Bridge held the line at just a $560,000 increase. Only Keyport, a district less than a third our size, was able to cut taxes.

Dr. O’Malley could have simply frozen spending at 2008-09 levels and the board would have sung hallelujahs. He could have hedged his bets by cutting less and leaving room for more cuts in case the district rejected the school budget for the 8th consecutive year. O’Malley could have but didn’t.

We’re spending $30,000 more on a team that saved us at least $600,000, including the cost of their raises. We didn’t use any gimmicks such as delaying pension payments, cutting services, or increasing class sizes. Plus, our accounting procedures are finally in compliance so the money that is spent is definitely going where it should.

Will that extra $30,000 be spent every year? Yes, just like that $600,000 annual savings will continue forever.

As for the economy, are you referring to the private economy where unemployment/underemployment is over 15%, where the housing market has crashed, the stock market has crashed, gasoline is creeping back to $3 a gallon, and property taxes keep going up? Or are you referring to the public sector where school administrators continue to get pay raises despite dismal records?

Dr. O’Malley and Ms. Irons will still be making less than their peers in comparable districts after the raises. We got them on the cheap because, at the time of their appointments, they only had K-8 experience. That’s no longer the case. Just like teachers get monster increments upon reaching a certain level of experience, so do administrators.

By comparison, let’s look at Middletown’s superintendent. She’ll be making $189,000 plus $3,600 to cover her gas and tolls driving to work, and get full health insurance for $100 per month. (Dr. O’Malley, like all administrators, pays 1% of his base salary.) Not to mention, Middletown recommended raising taxes 2.6%, “the lowest increase in a decade”.

Again, look at what O’Malley and Irons accomplished during their short tenure. Do we really want to run the risk of having them shop their resumes to other districts? If we lose them, not only do we lose two highly capable professionals, their replacements will likely cost at least 10% more than we’re currently paying.

2nd Question/Comment – The budget had been inflated for years. We’re thrilled they cut spending but that’s their job. They would’ve done the same thing without the raises.

I recognize the teachers union would like to convince us that financial incentives don’t improve job performance but we all know that’s bunk.

This past year, Dr. O’Malley had to struggle with a powerful teachers union, a board leadership that voted against his appointment, and a school district in disarray. Despite those challenges, we’ve seen numerous improvements from finances, to educational initiatives, to staff changes, to improved communications. For the first time in many years, education has become our top priority.

Examples include the new academies, revised curriculums, new testing programs, multiple staff changes, and the palpable drive to achieve measurable results.

Would Dr. O’Malley have worked just as hard, fought just as hard, knowing he would get the same $3,000 raise no matter what he did? Probably but I’m not prepared to test that theory.

If there’s even a 5% chance that Dr. O’Malley or Ms. Irons wouldn’t have pushed so hard knowing there was no financial incentive for them to do so, then it would have cost the district more to not give the raises.

3rd Question/Comment - This is just an excuse. The board gives raises every year regardless of performance.

That may have been true but it isn’t any longer. Before agreeing to any raises, Marty Ruprecht and I argued for and won a consensus from the board to define measurable goals for the superintendent and make future raises dependent upon him achieving those goals. We expect to have those benchmarks in place before the end of the summer.

If we do not have those benchmarks in place before the start of the school year, I will be issuing my own criteria by which I will measure Dr. O’Malley and Ms. Irons’ performance.

This year, Dr. O’Malley will be judged upon his initiatives, cost cutting, and perceived ability to advance the district. Moving forward, however, the superintendent will be rewarded based upon the district’s performance.

4th Question/Comment - Cost cutting, new programs, that’s all nice but O’Malley’s main job is education and there’s been no improvement there whatsoever.

There’s a good bit of truth to that comment but it needs to be put into perspective.

We have received preliminary state results from the high school state exams and it’s a bag of mixed results with incomplete information. A higher percentage of students achieved advanced proficiency on the HSPA exams but the failure rate is unchanged. Freshman and sophomore years show no statistical change. Another problem is we don’t have the state averages so we can’t factor any possible changes in the exams themselves. Also, this is only the high school, not the lower grades.

More students applied and were accepted to 4-year colleges but fewer students are attending, likely because of the economy. Still, far too few of our seniors are enrolling in 4-year colleges and that needs to be addressed.

Another problem is that the changes are incremental. Do they represent the start of a trend or are they just random blips?

Toss in the facts that Dr. O’Malley has only been with us for little more than a year, he’s had to battle with the unions and a culture of complacency to get his programs in place, and the state exams are administered in March. How do we grade Dr. O’Malley’s leadership in the academic arena? We can’t. All we can do is look at his initiatives and ask ourselves if we believe he’s on the right track.

In the past year, we’ve introduced Realtime (parental online access to student academic reports), Naviance (online college guides), the high school academies, introducing algebra in 7th grade, NWEA adaptive testing in the lower grades, and an enhanced music program. The district has not had a single special education related lawsuit since it eliminated the supervisor of special education position. There have been significant reductions in criminal activity across the district. Administrators have raised the bar for contract renewals of untenured staff. There’s been a marked increase in the number of in-class observations. Staff are being assigned to where their skills are most needed.

This is a lot for one year and I believe we will see the payoffs in the near future.

So, to respond to your comment, I believe it is too early to hold Dr. O’Malley accountable for academic improvements. However, I can make preliminary judgments on his first year accomplishments. As for next year, the board will definitely demand to see more evidence that the district is improving academically.

5th Question/Comment – O’Malley is the chief administrative officer, Irons is the business administrator, but what did Glastein do to deserve his raise?

Our district is managed by a three-person team at the top. That’s Dr. O’Malley, Ms. Irons, and Mr. Glastein. We, the board, are pleased with that team’s performance. Dr. O’Malley recommended the salary adjustments to reward and retain his team.

I cannot discuss confidential personnel issues but I assure you that Mr. Glastein, our deputy superintendent, is an active member of that three-person team. Though his role is less defined than the other two, Mr. Glastein’s contributions can be attributable to our district’s progress as well.

(The notion that I had publicly criticized Mr. Glastein’s past performance is untrue. I reserve my criticisms for head honchos and elected representatives.)

6th Question/Comment - How can you negotiate with the unions if you’re giving fat cat bonuses to the top dogs?

Easy. These raises are performance based. The board would be eager to negotiate significant salary raises with the unions as well in exchange for cost-cutting measures and improvements in performance.

Additionally, teachers would have the opportunity to earn more money if the union allowed them to receive performance-based pay. Unfortunately that’s not the case.

(How to measure a teacher’s performance could be a subject of negotiation but the unions won’t even entertain the possibility.)

7th Question/Comment - This is all bull. You’re just another politician and you don’t care how high our taxes go.

Don’t treat me like some Cadillac politician who doesn’t feel the pain of the common man. I’m a small business operator. Three of my top four clients have unpaid bills over 75 days past the invoice date. I have another two completed projects that can’t be billed because I’m still waiting for authorization.

Meanwhile, I pay over $10,000 a year in property taxes, I watch my 1-year old at home and pick up my 5-year old from school at 3:45. I drive a ten-year old Ford.

I have friends in this town who lost their jobs.

I am acutely aware of the enormity of our property taxes and how many of us, particularly now, are having a very difficult time making ends meet.

Knowing that and sharing the pain, I say these raises will help our district lower costs and improve education.

I recognize these raises are controversial and that people will hope to change my vote prior to Thursday’s board meeting. I can think of three arguments that could sway my vote - evidence that we’ll be paying them more than their peers, evidence they’re undeserving, or evidence that financial incentives won’t improve performance.

Any other questions and comments? Feel free to fire away. I’ve never retreated from a tough question or comment and I never will.
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193 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember in an earlier post you stated you don't know if you will be sending your children to the public school system in Aberdeen. Since you have been on the BOE,has your position changed? If it has not, why? If you are willing to dole out such high increases?

Aberdeener said...

Fair question.

My wife and I have discussed whether to enroll my five-year old in the public school for next year. Ultimately, we decided to enroll him in a local Hebrew day-school for the religious education.

Our decision is not a commentary on the public schools but our desire to have our son become fluent in Hebrew and religious studies.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your reply, I hope it is an honest one and will take that as your reason.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the insight on why you think it is important to give these raises - however I still think it is the wrong thing to do on many levels. I think that 30,000 is a lot of money - it represents a salary for some in this district, and to trivialize it by telling us we finally hired people who do their job and so they deserve this reward is rubbish.

Anonymous said...

Aberdeener,
First, I would like to say I support merit pay. Secondly, I am happy administrators have raised the bar for contract renewals of untenured staff. However, I would like to know what if anything has been done about raising the bar for tenured staff. I know this is a bit off the subject of "Executive Raises", but would appreciate a response.

Aberdeener said...

You raise a good and difficult issue. How do you reward good teachers? We're contractually prohibited from offering financial incentives. Nor can we create "teacher-mentor" positions or offer them other duties as rewards. It's also my understanding the teachers union objects to any formal recognition for teaching excellence.

One place would be the comments section in the teachers evaluation. Another possibility is a personal thank you note from the superintendent. As lame as these sound, what more can we do?

I believe the teachers do want excellence rewarded and I hope they feel free to express themselves to the union leadership.

Anonymous said...

Well your answer as to Glastien was a sad surprise. We are supposed to reward O'Malley and Irons with 1/12th the amount of money they saved from this years budget which is their job to do. So every time they do their jobs we will reward them for JUST DOING THEIR JOBS AS THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO?

Then you throw out their pay in comparison with other districts, yet your example is of a district three times our size. I do not understand the rational you use IN rewarding yet ignoring the pasts VERY NEGATIVE AND VERY COSTLY EFFECTS relating to Gross and Glastein.

Like someone said to me yesterday "good thing he was unopposed". I may not agree with that statement but that is the feeling of some out there, as you represent your decision making process.

Glastien and Gross must go!

Aberdeener said...

Middletown is a much larger district. The reason I used that as an example was because one of the comments to the original article used that superintendent for cost comparisons. So, I included her as a partial response to that post.

If anybody knows of a superintendent of a large district in our area earning less money, please let me know.

Anonymous said...

So that's your plan . . . for teachers incentives is to give them 'thank you' notes and give the administration 9% increases! PS Why do the increases now cost $30,000 but in your original post you quoted $40,000. Do you just make this stuff up as you go?

Anonymous said...

Why compare them to other districts, didn't they know what their pay was before they took the position? If I was to take a job, perform well and then tell my boss that others in the same position at another company get more is he obligated to pay me the same? Are their qualifications the same? Do they have the same experience? Size of school district? All these things need to be factored in to comparing people from the other district. O'Malley has done a good job in his FIRST YEAR, give him his $3,000 and wait to see what he does in his second year. As for Glastein, NOTHING! He is lucky to still have a job in the district!

Aberdeener said...

The original post had an incorrect calculation that I fixed long before it was taken down.

As for the teachers, please let me know what reward beyond a "thank you note" that the teachers union will permit.

I want to reward excellence. If you want good teachers to earn more, I suggest you direct your comments to the teachers union.

Aberdeener said...

The boss isn't obligated. But if he doesn't reward the employee, he shouldn't expect the same performance the following year.

Anonymous said...

He went in knowing what he was being paid. Do the job for more then 1 YEAR and then let's re-address it.

Anonymous said...

I pulled up the info on data universe and in 2007 Ms. Irons was earning $115,000 and was 19 out of 57 school districts in Monmouth County. She does have a bachelor's, not a Master's as many other's on this list do have. I think giving such a large increase is outrageous.

Anonymous said...

Here is aconcept....why not punish the good teachers by moving them to other postions, you know so they can bring good to others as well. That would be a great reward! Oh, that is what they doing now in the district for them.

The problem with merit pay for teachers is not all teachers get equal classes. WE all know that certain teachers get the "good classes" and certain ones get the "bad classes" for different reasons. Some teachers get bad classes because they can control them better, some teachers get better classes because they cant control the difficult ones.

How about adminsitrators who dont like certain teacher for political reasons? How about special ed. teachers? gym teachers? how about poor teachers who are liked by administrators? what about the admins. being told to keep a short list of "merit pay teachers" due to the economy?

I'd also like to know Mr. Warren if you are going to be comparing teacher salaries to areas around Matawan when the time comes? Are they goign to get 9% as well. Haha.

The longer you've been on the board the bigger hypocrite you have become!

Anonymous said...

Aberdeener,
You missed my point. You stated, "administrators have raised the bar for contract renewals of untenured staff." Therefore, implying that in past years, it wasn't as difficult to obtain tenure. And therefore, the district possibly gave tenure to staff that might not have been tenured with these new "raised standards".

My question is, is anything being done to make sure all previously tenured teachers meet these new higher standards?

Secondly, as a district, what can be done to ensure all tenured teachers maintain higher standards?

Anonymous said...

How much costly help did Irons have with getting the numbers down. I hear there was outside help brought in for some accounting and investigative duties. True or false?

If true that amount should be considered as it adds to the costs to get the $600,000.00 number to begin with. Everyone can do more if they get costly help.

Aberdeener said...

The only way to hold tenured teachers to the same standard we are applying to the new teachers is through the performance evaluation. But it has no teeth.

Regarding Ms. Irons, I don't know her academic record, only her performance record. The only "outside" help we have is the annual school audit.

As Dr. O'Malley and Ms. Irons earn less than their peers, I don't believe it would be advisable for teacher advocates to suggest we do the same for faculty.

Anonymous said...

Anon.,

"Some teachers get bad classes because they can control them better, some teachers get better classes because they can't control the difficult ones."

Isn't this one way to tell who the better teacher are, and which ones aren't that good? Can't this be used in determining merit pay, along with academic achievement. That is, if merit pay was allowed by the union.

Aberdeener said...

No, I think you award merit pay by measuring a student's improvement from one year to the next.

Anonymous said...

Joey,

Your statement that this will cost MARSD only $30,000 is ridiculous. Did you calculate the increases in: 1) these individuals' pension disbursements upon retirement (payable to surviving spouses for life); 2) payroll taxes levied upon MARSD; or 3) pension contributions from MARSD? Finally, did you account for the fact that these raises now increase the cost of hiring replacements for these individuals when they leave their positions because the starting salary will necessarily be the same if not greater than current levels? Honestly, "rounding" the "net cost" to $30,000 is absurd. Try pulling out an actuarial table and calculating the increased costs going forward for MARSD...

Beyond the calculations set forth above, it is simply unfathomable to me that the BOE is proposing $30,000 in raises for three MARSD administrators when most households in the township and borough won't be receive any raise or bonus this year from their private sector jobs. While I commend these administrators' efforts in keeping the school budget in line, they have a fiduciary duty to do so, i.e. it's a part of their job description...

Anonymous said...

2007 William Folk from Neptune with 15 years experience made $107,500

2007 Susan Irons with 17 years experience made $115,000

2007 Debora Avent from Shrewsbury with 12 years experience made $104,189

It looks pretty fair to me?

Anonymous said...

PS. "Regarding Ms. Irons, I don't know her academic record, only her performance record." is what you said, aren't you the one who puts so much into academics? No on-line learning, etc. You claim to know all, biut when questioned play dumb. How could you not know her academic background?!?

Anonymous said...

Joey,

You mean to tell the community that over the past two years when you attended all the school board meetings and spoke so badly about several former board members you were not getting informed on current administrators. You mean to tell me a member of the community that my school board member does not know the educational background of the district business administrator.I guess you were too busy investigating the hiring of Cathy Zavorskas's daughter. In fact that is the same daughter that the board renewed the work study for for another year. So all you bashing of a mother of five ended up with nothing being wrong. Wow Joey things are starting to crumble.

Anonymous said...

Hey Aberdeeneer,

You sound like Barza more and more each day. They claimed to not know the educational background of HR. Know you turn around and offer up a 9.7% raise for a business administrator without knowing her educational background. Isn't it your job as a board member to know the educational background of a non tenured business administrator, not to mention the 9.7% increase you are supporting for her. You also forget to mention that unlike other school district Sue Iron is not a CPA and therefore the district is forced to spend over $50,000 a year on a CPA. Wouldn't it be a lot cheaper to hire a BA with a CPA in stead of fill Sue Irons pockets? The $50,000 saved from having a different BA could be better used in raises but I am sure you know this already because your Joey Warren and you are never wrong, just ignorant.

Anonymous said...

I apologize I meant for my last comment to say 9.2% raise not 9.7% i apologize for making Sue Irons raise even larger than Aberdeener wants it to be.

Anonymous said...

Doesn't sound like anyone is behing giving these raises. Being a one term lame duck, are you or any of the other Board going to listen to your constituants?

Anonymous said...

If you follow your logic of increasing salaries to median salaries for administration (what other schools in New Jersey pay}, would you agree that we should use that same process for lowering the salaries of the principals and athletic director. The median principal salary in New Jersey is $85,000 and $75,000.00 for athletic director. We currently pay considerably more. You can't use a different standard to fit you needs. If you lower those salaries to the median than your raises could be justified based on that is the standard for which you use for salaries.

Anonymous said...

The asst principal in town makes about $115,000 a year. This is the middle school, with 9 years experience.

Anonymous said...

http://php.app.com/edstaff/results2.php?pageNum_Recordset1=0&totalRows_Recordset1=389&county=MONMOUTH&district=MATAWAN-ABERDEEN+REGIONAL&school=%25&lname=&fname=&job1=%25&tfm_order=DESC&tfm_orderby=SALARY

anyone interested in seeing 2007 salaries just cut and paste this.

Anonymous said...

No, I think you award merit pay by measuring a student's improvement from one year to the next.

Ok what about all the external factors involved? What if a class has a few disruptive students in it that prevernt the other students from making progress/

Please don't tell me they will be removed, because that won't happen.

Sch. Bd. members please read this said...

To: Matawan-Aberdeen School Board

Dear Madam/Sir,

I write this letter in hopes that the taxpayer reality in regards to the vote you are to undertake this Thursday may require some input from a taxpayer, school alumni and husband of an underpaid educator with over thirty years of professional service in teaching.

I write this to you in regards to the outrageous raises being considered for our less than one year perhaps a little more in position school superintendent and a Quinn left-over business administrator whom Dr. O'Malley inherited. For some unknown reason these two may now somehow be "gifted" with raises that dwarf the vast majority of our local community, a community who are almost to the person struggling to merely survive and in many instances struggling to keep their homes.

I ask all of you to very seriously consider the following.

1. Ms. Irons at $117K is the B.A with an assistant at $75K and a CPA at lets say $55K total $247K. Under the Quinn/BARZA dictatorship only two positions as such were held at a maximum of $176K. Granted the Quinn/BARZA "fictitious" budgets were laden with "secretive" and to say the least "well hidden closets" all with very "overly inflated numbers" to justify and allow such monies to freely be spent, or more precisely overspent, which of course was all our tax dollars, year after year. That is the main reason I feel this supposed $600K savings, could come so easily. I do not think it was as hard to find as we are supposed to believe or as you have been told.

2. I also stand with others in saying that Joel Glastien needs to go, along with Atty. Gross. I feel most strongly about this as they were on the forefront of the decisions, corruption and outright fraud that was perpetrated by Quinn and Co. all those years against the taxpayers. Such crimes against the taxpayers came year after year after year with every budget they presented as well as the $38M construction mess and the $1.8M athletic field that screamed for a taxpayer vote before approval. Remember we taxpayers pay all the bills and the bill is still too much to bear. It has been too much for far too long.

You are scheduled to vote this Thursday on "rewarding" these two people for "just doing their jobs". I am insulted by such an outrageous thought to even have been considered. Had these two saved $2-3M I would say maybe consider such raises. I say the $600K was found easily and without Ms. Iron's having to have any additional and expensive help, that seemed to never before be needed in this district in the past. $600k out of a $64M with out showing what was cut, positions consolidated or eliminated or programs unfunded to have garnered such supposed savings is just wrong. That percentage from that large a budget is a trivial percentage in these supposed savings. It seems to be a slight of hand magic trick in my opinion.

I also do not agree with Mr. Warren that this was a team effort supposedly involving Mr. Glastein, Ms. Irons and Dr. O'Malley. I think this is a situation in the case of Mr. Glastien for Dr. O'Malley to "keep your friends close and your enemies closer".

These Quinn/BARZA budgets were so fraudulent as well as purposely disguised in ways that the average person or school board member could not even begin to understand the intricacies. That budgetary fraud along with the BARZA patronage handouts and Quinn routinely putting people in positions they did not deserve to be in or as we recently found out were not really even qualified to hold such positions at inflated costs and benefits only added to our mistrust.

To reward these two people for saving $600K out of such a monumentally inflated budget is wrong, insulting and borders on criminality.

I urge all of you to strongly reconsider this vote during these tough economic times. I thank you for your time in this regard.

Joseph P. McAleer Aberdeen

Peter said...

Joey,
If the room is packed with taxpayers on Thursday night not in favor of these outrageous pay increases, you still will not change your vote?

Anonymous said...

Joe M. hit the nail on the head once again. Thanks Joe from someone on the verge of moving out of town due to the taxes, 70% of which goes to a school district I never ever will need the services of. That is $6400.00 a year that would be nice to have saved to retire on. Not in Aberdeen of course. My house will probably be sold to a family with children and then the never ending and costly cycle of more kids in the system will continue unabated.

Anonymous said...

Merit pay for teachers will never happen as the NJEA always protects their own no matter the reason. Plus the governor would never push for it as the NJEA fills his pockets and pulls his levers every election year. I know as I'm a member. Remember this is NJ and a REP hasn't been elected state wide since Whitman.

Eddie on Lloyd said...

N sectiin Joe -

wow. Good job. I commend you calling out those you sometimes side with.


This site is becomeing VERY interesting by the day.....

Aberdeener said...

So many questions, so little time. :)

In truth, I appreciate your questions and comments. They keep me honest. I’ll try to answer each one but if I forget any, please let me know.

1) The $30,000 estimate is a bit on the low side. The true cost is in the $31-32,000 but that’s assuming zero salary increases for everyone but the superintendent. For example, if we assume a 2% for Ms. Irons, then the net effect of the vote would be below $30,000.
2) I will look into the BA salary comparables and get back to you.
3) I don’t know Ms. Irons academic record but I do know she’s fully certified for the position she holds and she is judged solely on performance. In contrast, Ms. Rappaport did not have proper certification for her position and teachers receive a salary boost for their own academic achievement rather than their students’ academic achievements. My opposition is not to online learning but awarding raises for degrees from programs of dubious merit.
4) Ms. Zavorskas’ daughter will be re-appointed to a work-study position. Her daughter applied for the position, which was well publicized, and went through the same process as everybody else. I see no conflict of interest in hiring a close relative of a former board member who is no longer active in district politics.
5) After expanding the business administrator’s office, the district cut expenses and addressed all audit findings of non-compliance. Wouldn’t reducing the BA’s office at this time risk undoing what was accomplished?
6) I listen to every one of my constituents and take great pride in doing so. Which other local elected official subjects himself to as much scrutiny as I do? However, it is my responsibility to use my best judgment, not stick my finger in the wind and flow with the polls. Nor do I consider comments posted to a blog to be a representative sample of community sentiment. I am swayed by arguments. I’ve explained my position. You can change my vote by showing me where I’m wrong.
7) The principals and directors’ salaries are determined by contract with a collective bargaining unit. However, I wish everyone’s salaries were tied to performance.
8) No reward system is perfect but merit pay tied to a student’s achievements through the academic year would be a vast improvement over the current structure.
9) Mr. McAleer, thank you for contributing to our discussion. As I mentioned, expanding the business office reduced expenses and brought us into compliance. I think eliminating one of the positions at this time would be premature. The $600,000 spending cuts are in contrast to the 2% tax hikes proposed by other districts. Plus, we did not use any gimmicks, such as cutting services or pension deferrals. Add it all up, and we’re over the $1.5 million mark. I agree the budgets in prior years were inflated but that doesn’t make them easy to cut. Plus, that $1.5 million swing is above the other cuts we make every year as salary hikes outstrip budget caps. I share your belief that smaller raises would probably not impair next year’s performance but the risk v. reward calculations argue for awarding the raises. Also, we should not discount the many other district initiatives. I understand your angst but I believe the raises make economic sense.
10) The board is sensitive to community opinion but I trust each board member to make his own determination of what is in the district’s best interests.
11) A last point – I believe rewarding performance is always appropriate, even during times of economic distress. Most of the comments appear to suggest we take a hiatus from rewarding performance. I think that would be penny wise but pound foolish.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Warren, I gave you three examples of salaries for people with BA's and similiar years of experience. I am sure Ms. Irons and Dr. O'Malley are doing a fine job, but are not underpaid. If O'Malley believed that why would he have accepted the job not even 1 year ago for the salary he is making? Raise, sure, 6%-NO! Let's see what happens going forward and not base this on 1 year. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

"I know as I'm a member."

Yes, and I'm Doris Day!!

Aberdeener said...

Here are the comparable business administrators you provided -

William Folk - Neptune, $115,000, 400 students
Debi Avent - Shrewsbury, $114,000, 500 students

Our district has about 3,800 students and operates a budget about 8 times the size of the other two districts.

I think for comparable salaries, we should be looking at districts that have at least 3,000 students or an operating budget of at least $50 million.

NsectionJoe said...

Eddie I appreciate your comment. It should not be shocking to you that I feel strongly on this and other varying subject matters. If one truly looks at all sides of issues before their decsion or opinion is formed, we are able then to speak on both sides of such an issue having looked at all sides of it as we formed our conclusions.

I have had no problem telling Mr. warren and others in leadership positions "my opinion", I can assure you. We all should voice our opinions far more often to those that are chosen to lead by the majority or by the political powers that too often unfortunately manipulate power from the dark shadows and good o'l boy networks.

On this specific issue, my most opinion is firstly that Mr. gross and Glastien need to be accountable and held to task if in the same breath Mr. Warren can say Dr. O'Malley and Ms. Irons can similarly be rewarded for minimal efforts in cutting such overly inflated budgets of years past. If two are rewarded where is the accountability for those who stood by sheepishly while "Rome burned" and our school budgets grew with flawed and fraudulently bloated budgets, flawed and absurdly expensive and unnecessary building and athletic field projects to "keep up with the Jonses"? The fields were supposedly needed after others allowed our grass fields to degrade to "supposedly unsafe levels" due to lack of proper maintenance, perhaps some have said purposefully. Some say I should move on from those subjects as the money is already spent.

I say there needs to be accounting to the citizenry for the costs and damage such vast amounts of money did to many in our communities. The budgets went up an incredible amount in less then ten years and now sit at $64,000,000.00. I think during the Quinn/BARZA dictatorship
it grew by $20,000,000.00 in less than ten years.

Far too often what is "pay to play" or just "the way it has always been done" comes too often without accountability or a clear thought process, as I strongly feel is my point in this case.

Mr. Warren I feel in his initial choices as a new board member is wrong on some fronts and needs to understand that a contract is a contract is a contract. Merit pay for questionable and ghostly financial cuts is very questionable. Finally the people deserve a new direction on this school board not merely a change in names or a dominant and too controlled voting pattern as we have seen in the past. Many people do their jobs everyday. To reward such significant monies in such a short term is not prudent in my opinion. President Obama makes $250,000.00 for running a country not a 3,100 student school district. Dr O'Malley would be making $185,000.00 with this "reward" for doing the exact job he was hired for . The contract he signed should be held firm and completed under the terms he signed up for. If after that term he is able to improve the test scores, cut three budgets significantly and really makes this district turn a corner, than you can have him carried into his office on a chariot for all I care.

To reward such limited progress so soon is just wrong for the reasons many have stated. Save two or three million dollars out of these still bloated budgets and I will be impressed. As of now I am just disappointed in this board and its leadership if these raises and lack of any accountability is passed over.

Anonymous said...

If these salary increases are granted it will be a morale buster for every other district employee. Many do their jobs so where is their merit pay raises? This vote should be tabled ! If Irons and O'Malley don't like the money they are making then show them the door. Is the grass always greener? The reality of various school workers is not the same as the board members on these two as to their qualification, supposed successes and more. Look closely before you vote board members. Really look close all is not as it seems.

Anonymous said...

Joe, while you say you may listen to your constituents and that postings to this blog may not be representative, I think you will find out how representative it may be at the meeting.
As noted, Joe M, again hit the nail on the head. Joe, again, you say the savings are really 1.5mil but we only see the 600k. Don't start throwing out numbers and say "your taxes are really 10k but you're only paying 7k". You should be happy. We are not stupid and I know you have not called us stupid but your answers in defending these raises are so political.

Again, very disappointed, now in almost every issue that is coming forth.

Anonymous said...

Joey, Here's a question that i propose should change your vote. How come when Dr. O'Malley and Ms. Irons took the new positions and salaries offered in a "bona fide" contract, those salaries ( and contratactually obligated raises)are now not good enough? I find this so hard to believe in today's economy. You really need to listen to the taxpayers here on this one, it's not right. People have made some great arguments against these raises, perhaps you should re-read them.

Aberdeener said...

The school district has built-in annual budget increases, such as salaries and benefits. Mr. McAleer had referenced total cuts. The district cut about $1.5 million beyond the commonplace spending hikes other districts proposed. However, I prefer to focus on the 600K since that's how much less we're spending this year than last year. Both numbers are legit.

Regarding the contracts, the question for me is risk v. reward. The "reward" of denying the raises is $30,000. The "risk" is at least 20 times that amount, not to mention the academic programs. I feel the risks of denying the raises outweigh the reward.

Anonymous said...

Mr.Warren those numbers are incorrect. Neptune High School has 1580 students alone.

Gables Elem - 479 students
Green Grove Elem - 513 students
Neptune Middle sch - 1104
Ridge Ave Sch - 297
Shark Ave Sch - 469
Summerfield Elem - 448
Neptune HS - 1580

Roughly 4890 students, please get your facts straight. I am shocked at how sloppy you are with your reporting. If this was the township you would be all over them.

Here is the link if you doubt it:

http://www.publicschoolreview.com/schools-by-distance/07719/3/0/0

Anonymous said...

PS. The number you gave us was from Neptune City, which I didn't even include in my post above.

Aberdeener said...

The business administrator for the Neptune Township school district is Peter J. Leonard.

The earlier comment compared Ms. Irons' salary to William Folk, who works for Neptune City.

We're talking about two entirely separate school districts.

You may want to recheck your facts.

Aberdeener said...

By the way, if you're interested, Neptune Township has about the same number of students, though a bigger budget. Their BA earns $143,000.

Anonymous said...

Let me know if I got this right.

You want to not only give them their raises as per the contract, you also want to add bonuses to it?

You want to do this while just about every other agency in Monmouth County is seeking pay freezes, furloughs, layoffs, etc?

Are you out of your mind?

Anonymous said...

Does our BA really earn her salary by merely finding $600,000.00 out of $64,000,000.00? Little silver was not going to renew her contract. Keansburg is also where she may have worked is an Abbott district where money is no problem. Finally she worked under Quinn and that Disney World atmosphere. that is not a just reward

Anonymous said...

Can you just cut your grass and stop all your BS you lazy guy You really don't care about your neighbors you are a complete phony and I also bet your kids never go anywhere near a Matawan school.

Anonymous said...

hey people of Matawan/Aberdeen who will be paying for these increases what salary increases did you receive this year. I received a 0.0% this year and was trilled to be able to keep my job.

Anonymous said...

Aberdeener, you are courageous to be voting in 7% increase for superintendent during these economic times with NO actual data on test scores this year. Why not just wait until the test scores come in the fall. If they are good then you could give an even bigger increase.

Anonymous said...

This is what you get when you have a lawyer as board pres followed by other elitist professionals on the board. They vote large salary increases because they are out of touch with what the average workers can afford to pay in taxes, and they completely disrespect public opinion. Joey has to vote this way to appease those who bought him on board. This is not the fiscal conservative guy we used to know. He is a politician now who doesn't eve send his kids to public school.

Anonymous said...

A blast from the past, written by the Aberdeener in 2008:
-----------------------------------
Amid a faltering economy and housing crisis, skyrocketing oil prices, and rising taxes, our teachers will be receiving annual pay increases ranging from 4.25% to 13.75% over the next two years. Not only are the teachers not giving any work concessions, the Board of Education made their job easier by setting performance goals that meet the absolute minimum legal requirements. Pay more, expect less is MARSD’s secret formula for success.
-----------------------------------
Different perspective now that you are a politician.

Anonymous said...

Peter Leonard has a Master's by the way, not a bachelors degree.

Anonymous said...

How about this? How about we expect Mr. O'mally et al to step up and do the right thing. Forfeit their raises and endure this economy by living on their current six figure incomes. That would make all this talk a moot point. They can think of it as a gesture of solidarity with the people who pay their salaries. Cause we're suffering out here!

Anonymous said...

JOEY WARREN PEOPLE ARE SREAMING AT YOU OVER THIS PROPOSTEROUS INCREASE FOR LITTLE IF ANY EFFORT.

PAY ATTENTION!

EVERY BOARD MEMBER NEEDS TO PAY ATTENTION.

Anonymous said...

Mr Warren you went from a warrior to a wash woman , these people are being paid to do a good job , they are just meeting there expectation of there job. I would never say not to give anyone a cost of living raise as times are tough. Satisfaction and pride in there work is reward enough along with a great salary , most people in town would be happy to find a job making 32,ooo a year .

disappointed in cliffwood

Aberdeener said...

I believe the argument, perhaps best articulated by Mr. McAleer, is that the prior year's budget was bloated and therefore easy to cut despite mandated increases in salaries, pension payments, and insurance.

Can anyone offer evidence that he's correct? I assume we're not the only district that spends too much. Does anybody know of another school district in our area that cut spending by 1% without any service reductions or pension deferrals?

Anonymous said...

You are not listening. It is not what YOU believe or where other districts are. It is about where Matawan/Aberdeen IS and what it's taxpayers can afford. Everyone knows that your budget process is not transparent enough for us "regulars joes" to respond to your question. There are many things unofficially cut by not being funded that don't come out until well into the school year. You can try all the "double speak" you want but that will not make these increases any less outrageous. The buck can stop with you. Just Say NO!

Anonymous said...

Mr.Aberdeener, I think the better argument is that in these times people are LOSING jobs. I would support a cost of living increase for O'Malley and Irons only, Glastein is lucky to have his job and I am disappointed that you don't see that. While there was a slight decrease, which we are all happy with, let's see what is done in the up coming year.

Anonymous said...

NO!

Aberdeener said...

You and I have the identical budget information before us. Dr. O'Malley said there were no service cuts and I believe him. As for taxes, the amount we're discussing is .05% of the budget so I think the issue is more principal.

Anonymous said...

Lower the school budget next year and we will talk about it. Didn't O'Malley know his salary before he started? 3% in this economy is enough, people are getting fired, laid-off, etc.

Anonymous said...

The Republican Party also seems to have trouble finding serious candidates. Garaguso are new to Aberdeen, have no prior government experience, and it shows. In the arena of big ideas, Garaguso wants to broadcast town meetings over TV

Anonymous said...

I would also like to thank Republican Tom Aljian for explaining his party's positions.

Republican - Use the power of the bully pulpit to influence the Board of Education

WHERE IS MR ALJIAN?? Why doesn't he comment here, Why isn'y he at board meetings

Anonymous said...

"Dr. O'Malley said there were no service cuts and I believe him."

LOL!!! Too funny Joe.

Go up to the schools and talk to the teachers if you dare. See what hasn't been cut!

Some of you might also want to become aware of the HS test scores. There was no improvement on a whole. Some went up and some went down. But, heck 8.9% is nothing it was well earned. LOL!

Anonymous said...

Broadcast town meetings. Why do you not want that> Did NORMAN KAUFF tell you he did not want to do that? How about the people deserve it? Norman Kauff not want the public to known what his puppets do behind closed doors?

We are waiting for your answer.

Norman said...

Yes, I now have complete control of the Board of Education, at last my evil plan is coming together...MUAH HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

It's not pricipal and I don't care if you were talking .01%. They did their job period. I am not a teacher but the fact that you negotiate with the MRTA around the 3% range increases each year (and I know there are more teachers than the 3 admins we're talking about) but an increase is an increase. LISTEN, not one person has supported this increase, NOT ONE!

Anonymous said...

Mr. Warren:

Out of curiosity, will any of the negative comments or concerns posted on here sway your position come time to vote?

It is obviously clear that the residents of this district do NOT want their hard earned money to be thrown away.

If Dr. O'Malley, Mrs. Irons, et al had a lick of sense in their heads, they would refrain from accepting such raises. The hard-working people in this town are fortunate enough if they make a fraction of these over-inflated salaries. To accept a raise now is akin to stealing from our residents and rubbing salt in our wounds when we, ourselves, are in dire need of every dime we earn.

I know they read this blog, so I know this is a comment that will "stick" in their minds. Let's see if they intentionally accept a raise knowing how the majority of citizens/tax payers feel about this hot topic.

If you continue your swift "about face" on so many hot button topics, we can only deduce that you, Mr. Warren, have become the loathsome pseudo-politician that this town so despises. Let your conscience be your guide. The taxpayers are watching.

Aberdeener said...

In my post, I wrote the following -
"I can think of three arguments that could sway my vote - evidence that we’ll be paying them more than their peers, evidence they’re undeserving, or evidence that financial incentives won’t improve performance."

With all due respect, I don't believe any evidence has been presented.

Anonymous said...

There has been no evidence regarding what the test results are, yet you are overzealous in your pursuit for salary increases. All we are asking is for the results. That is perfectly reasonable and necessary for a school district that has become the laughing stock of Monmouth County. You require evidence yet when we the taxpayers require it - we are penny wise and pound foolish?

Anonymous said...

You want evidence try this.

They supposedly cut $600,000.00 no proof to substantiate from where and at what cost going forward.

They have contracts and now for some unknown reason they should get far more. Why?

They sit with Glastien and Gross who know where all of the Quinn and Klavon bodies are buried with their BS budgets and now we are supposed to trust them?

They have been paid more then the prior people in the exact same positions and want more for just over a year in position and a trivial savings pulled out of a bloated budget. No Way!

If this board votes for these bonuses how are these same people supposed to negotiate with the unions going forward.

When was the last time such an outrageous pay adjustment was made?

The evidence is that in the initial stages of their power play they had all of the tools, additional help and finally a bloated budget from which to pull from. That is not a monumental achievement it is their jobs to do on behalf of the taxpayers that employ them.

Whats next on the educational wish list?

Mine is the following;

Better test scores
Higher graduation rates
Better opportunity for activities
More secure learning environment
Stopping disruptive students
Equal funding for programs
Better principals

What did they do about these problems to earn these bonuses?

Joey do the right thing let another year pass with more results then a paltry $600,000.00 out of $60,000,000+.

Anonymous said...

Most posts (if not all) on this blog are against these outrageous raises. It would be safe to say that most of the community feels the same way. Welcome to the new wing of the board of education. The Elitist Wing- there views and actions are to be taken more seriously because they know what is best for us and we are not capable of making an educated decision. They will make it for us because they know what is best for us. They say they want the public more involved but don't believe it. We are not smart enough to understand how our money should be spent so they will decide for us.

MRHS Alumni said...

The people are telling the school board something. Are they listening?
They better be.

On a side note I would like to express my appreciation to Mr. Steve Hutnik who must be retiring according to the sign in front of the high school. His dedication and very even teaching method will be missed. This was a fine teacher and a good human being. Good Luck to you and thank you for your years of dedicated service.

MRHS Alumni said...

Norman go back into the corner and put your pointy hat back on.

Stop doing that Norman.

Didn't your mother tell you that doing that too much would make you go blind?

You A_ _ _ _ _ E !

Norman said...

I can't help myself, you, and the extra money the Aberdeener is voting to give me get me excited

Anonymous said...

Looks like the check is in the mail. Well, maybe they will take a measure of the political and economic climate and refuse the raises. Hey, they could be stand up kind of people!

Anonymous said...

Aberdeener,

Is it not the role of an elected official to voice the concern of those who elected him. Granted only 180 people voted for you and you ran unopposed so I would hardly call you elected more like the only choice. Evidence is not needed in policitis opinion is all that is required and clearly the public's opinion doesn't matter to you. I will be picketing Friday morning Outside any and all school board members who vote for the increase. This form of opinion voicing worked for the teacher unions less than two years ago when then President Larry o'Connell caved in to the union and allowed them to contribute nothing towards benefits. But Mr. Warren alwyas supports what Dr. O'Malley recommends and since O'Malley recommended the raises we can all but Guarantee they will be approved. So feel free to meet me 9 am on Ithaca Court at the house with the Tallest grass. We will be noticed, the school board doesn't have to listen but we will be heard.

MRHS Alumni said...

Touche Norman touche.

Anonymous said...

What is with the grass? Don't you idiots know it has rained 15 out of 20 days. If you cut your lawn when it is so wet it can cause significant mold and worse. Relax with the grass think you anal retentive jerk. The sun will come out tomorrow or the next day your resale value will be restored you idiot. I'll bet you walk your dog and don't pick up after it. But don't cut your grass and that makes you a low life? Idiot!

What do you work for the Scott's Lawn fertilizer company or some local landscaper going broke? Get a life!

Anonymous said...

Evidence that financial incentives won't imporove performance - every abbott district.
Evidence they're undeserving - 78 comments on this blog from the people they work for (taxpayers)who don't feel the increases are deserved.
Evidence of what peers get - don't need it, we have a contract that he agreed on. Check back in three years.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Warren regarding Ms.Irons and what she will be paid, you must also factor in what her highest degree is to others in the same position. Is it also true that she uses a CPA, do others? That is another cost. I would also like to comment on the point you made earlier that if you don't give these raises performance will suffer, hat does that say about these administrators? We are all lucky to have jobs, I myself received a 2% increase this year which was a surprise and greatly appreciated during these times. I agree a cost of living 3% increase is enough for them. Continue to do the job and I would support a greater increase in the future. One year is not enough! Show it to us again.

Anonymous said...

How many of you angry people actually voted in support of the budget. Probably none. I believe that you don't even support your own kids never mind the administrators. Quit blaming everyone else and start supporting your schools instead of bashing them or your kids will wind up jobless and complaining like you!

Anonymous said...

Imagine you ran your own business and it had a bottomless pit of money that was dependent on your performing one measurable act of achievement. Without making a single improvement, a single sale, a single cost savings, as a matter of fact, what you accomplish may be just the opposite of anything worthy of a raise, you are able to GRANT YOURSELF a hugh raise, 12 paid sick days, 20 vacation days, paid travel, personal days, disability insurance, increased pension, and health benefits for life. Imagine you had a business like that.
I guess none of this is "outrageous" if its not your money.

Anonymous said...

NJ ELEC
Aberdeen GOP $622 in DEBT that right they have no monet

Aberdeen Dems over $20,000. in thier fundS

NsectionJoe said...

I voted against the budget proudly. There was not enough cut and I voted no for the budgets of the past that raped this community by the telling of lies of different administrations, merely with different names attached and signing for on the bottom line. This budget whether it be today, tomorrow or two years from now will still have monies hidden away.

I have no doubt.

What you all must realize is that in a budget, any budget, there are hidden monies in huge amounts in every nook and cranny, that once the budget is defeated, approved or toyed with by council leadership the money so well hidden makes it right back to where it was intended to go in the first place.

This is especially true in any form of governmental and educational budget especially in New Jersey. The money is there and it is so confusingly hidden that Albert Einstein could not find it with 100 accountants to help him.

Anytime a school board member says "we have been working night and day" they are lying to you. All such budgets are merely a game of hide and seek. Quinn was a master of hide and seek. As for O'Malley and Irons they do not deserve one thin dime for only finding $600,000.00, coupled with their signed contracts on which the ink is barely dry.

The fraud that is suggested in the supposed $600,000.00 in savings is only second to the idiots Corzine, Roberts and the very bloated and pompous Codey, who just told us they found $500,000,000.00 for property tax relief. Sure and I invented post- its.

We should never be shocked by such a lie during such a critical election year like this one. If the Corzine pole numbers sink any lower you can look for the 3 musketeers to claim they also found the holy grail, the lost city of Atlantis, the fountain of youth and finally that they just found out the secret of turning bullshit into gold too.

The supposed $600,000.00 in savings put forth by O'Malley and Iron's is 14K.

justsotiredofthelies said...

The Aberdeen Dems only have $20,000.00? What happened? Did CM&E not make their past few monthly payments to Kauff Inc.? The last election had the Aberdeen Dems with almost $50,000.00. How are they going to be able to pay there candidates like they paid Vinci last time to run his own campaign? And they say crime I mean politics does not pay. It sure pays for our local Dems.
On the subject of educational raises I think the number of posts on this subject in this short amount of time should be telling Joe and Liz where many people stand. Me I am insulted. If they take the supposed extra accountants and other possible help Mrs. Irans had, plus what they want to give these two in bonuses, the savings wittles down to 505 thousand. The savings disappears quite quickly going forward also or if fuel costs and energy rise again. If a roof leaks or another such costly occurrence arises. It is an insult to the taxpayers and shows an underlying pattern of elitism.

Aberdeener said...

We're spending 1% less this year than last year. If it's so easy, please provide examples of other districts in the area that were able to do the same? As Mr. McAleer suggests, other school districts must be overspending as well.

Also, this spending reduction includes the costs of the raises and happened after enlarging the financial office.

Anonymous said...

Aberdeener,
So far, not one person has endored the raises. We'll see tomorrow night!

Aberdeener said...

I hope we get a good turnout.

Peter said...

Aberdeener,
According to the superintendents contract he must be evaluated at least once a year on or before April 1. Was that done and is that information available to the public. There must be a job discription and the criteria by which he is being evaluated for salary increases and continued employment. The public should be privy to this information and see how he did in attaining the districts goals.

Aberdeener said...

The form is publicly available but not the board's actual evaluation.

Here's what I wrote about it last year.

Anonymous said...

The writing is on the wall.

I hope the school board members all read it.

Do right by the overburdened taxpayers when you cast your votes tomorrow night.

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

BTW, what location is the meeting at and time. Is it the Admin Bldg @ 8PM?

Anonymous said...

Was the superintendent evaluation done by the board and when?

Aberdeener said...

The prior board did an evaluation. I think it was in March.

Anonymous said...

In less than three days 100 posts in regards to this vote is screaming for recognition by our educational leadership.

The percentages in savings versus the percentages in raises does not compute.

NsectionJoe said...

On Fathers Day I was given tickets to tomorrows Rascall Flatts show at the PNC in Holmdel.

That is the only reason I will be unable to personally attend tomorrow's school board meeting and voice my opinion on this very flawed idea of salary increases at monumental and insulting levels to Dr. O'Malley and Ms. Irons. Such an idea to even be considered is wrought with preferential treatment for two employees, whom while they may be atop the leadership structure of our operational staff, such a move, if approved, sends a dire message to all other staff and the taxpayers of a community abused and lied to repeatedly in the past by its educational leadership, far too often.

I strongly feel that if this school board allows for such outrageous salary increases at such a difficult economic time, a time when these two individuals have only just begun to peel away the layers upon layers of the budgetary trickery of the past, our leadership will be shamefully putting the cart well before the horse.

If you want to give these two an incentive to do the jobs they were hired to do, I urge someone to read these posts put forth from some of their employers, the taxpayers of Matawan and Aberdeen, before the vote tomorrow evening to all in attendance.

On the other edge of the coin, to not acknowledge the very minimal $600,000.00 in supposed savings is wrong as well. An acknowledgment for a job well done is one thing. This outrageous proposed increase is wrong in many ways.

I stand by my prior statements, concerns and opinions on this entire subject and urge the school board to not make this mistake. These increases so quickly given I think will damage employee and staff morale, as well as the opinions and faith of a positive change to our educational leadership that was so desired by the taxpayers who pay the bills.

This district and its $64,000,000.00 budget is laden with monies that can and should be cut. Their is far more work for these two to do. They have not yet earned such increases, nor have they distinguished themselves in other educational categories to warrant these amount of monies with a only a mere $600,000.00 in savings without real proof of from where it came.

I stand by my statement that there is another $2,000,000.00 in there yet to be found or put forth in substantial cuts.

If this school board wants to take important and decisive action this Thursday evening I would urge a complete and total rebuke of Joel Glastien and Michael Gross and would urge our educational leadership to show them the door out of our district. Their bloated salaries which are above $300,000.00 a year of course pale in comparison to the monetary damage they were a part all of these years with the trickery and fraud committed against the taxpayers in the form of annual school budgets. If they want to move this district forward get rid of these two immediately. That would truly be decisive leadership. Their history and involvement in the flawed and almost criminal acts and budgets of the past warrants such action to restore the faith of an abused community, student body, staff and taxpayer base.

To those who attend the meeting tomorrow I urge all of you to be loud, louder and loudest.Let your displeasure be heard loud and clear.

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Please lord forgive me- I agree with Joe for the first time in my life.

iusuallypickonthetruth&friends said...

Yeah, me too, go figure...

Anonymous said...

Amen

TandB said...

To the previous three posts we make the following statement.

When Big Joe was fighting to improve the Cliffwood and Cliffwood beach area, fighting for more police officers, fighting for speed alert devices near schools, writing many letters to local newspapers highlighting and embarrassing bad politicians, ensuring video surveillance for local arcades frequented by our children, going to countless council meetings, spending hours upon hours making those whose job it was to ensure our quality of life and resale values do their jobs, just so most of us were not harmed financially by those who do not maintain their homes and properties and hurt resale values, and much more over the last sixteen years. We ask one question of you.

What were you doing for your community?

You may not agree with one word he says, writes or speaks about in person. We know the man and he gives more to this town than any other resident in town. He has been there in the trenches and we are very glad he is there for all of us. Yes we are his friends and we are proud to say so.

We await your ignorant response and teasing.

oneoftheprevious3 said...

Going into burning houses..now s.t.f.u. Computer toughguy.

Anonymous said...

I was at a graduation party. The school was in another district, there were a few of that district's employees at the party and all the talk was of school closings and cut backs. Some were ofice workers doing twice the work as before, they had been told on numerous occasions to work extra hours without pay! Now, these people know what others are paid. They are outraged! Outraged! This sense of injustice is bubbling up from the bottom. Its on a simmer now. God knows why it hasn't erupted. Reagon ended welfare as we knew it. I think the time is now for the "uppercrust" to wake up and smell how bad their sense of entitlement reeks!

Anonymous said...

This blog has become irrelevant. You can post your thoughts here - but it won't matter in the end. It is the perfect place for the elected officials to test the waters and prepare tactics on how to address every single remark you make. That is shown in the blatant disregard for any relevant and reasonable requests for more information by their constituency. Then you are bullied into silence by thugs who question your allegiances, what you do in the community and the like. Entitlement indeed.

I don't agree with you rationale regarding pay increases. I feel that if you need to waste this amount of space to prove to your constituency that you are correct in your thinking - then you are making the wrong decision. I also think that when you spend an inordinate amount of time telling people you are right and they are wrong you ultimately come off as arrogant and obnoxious. I'm sure you are a well meaning person. But your blog will repeatedly come back and haunt you.

NsectionJoe said...

T & B thanks once again. Respectfully I would like to say that there are many people who give far more than I have given in service to their community. Those who are on various boards and committees and many other people who work behind the scenes that never get the recognition they deserve. People like Adaline Arnold and Frank Huza, the Pauciellos, Augie Caruso and many others who have given many years of service to our community in various ways.

Displayed inside town hall there is a type of community recognition plaque that until 2002 annually recognized members of our community for outstanding work, involvement or other distinguished services within Aberdeen. Sadly it has not been given out for some time. I have no reason as to why our community stopped recognizing such individuals in that way. It is unfortunate that such recognition failed to continue as such service and commitment did not cease to exist.

Once again thank you for your kind words. I hope you can attend the meeting tonight as we discussed the other night.

Anonymous said...

nsectionjoe, at the town council meeting, I believe a month ago, they discussed giving that award out again. The person they mentioned was Frank Huza, who you had just mentioned, maybe they will start again, just thought I would let you know.

Anonymous said...

How is it that the award is only now going to be offered. Man, they are doing anything and everything to get people out there for every vote. Shameless!

Give e'm hell tonight. I have to work my second job. Got to pay those Kauff taxes you know.

Anonymous said...

Kauff, every time I hear the word I want to throw up. F. U. N. K. !

Anonymous said...

It had nothing to do with a vote, there were only 5 or 6 people in attendance, get a grip. I just wanted to inform nsectionj.

Anonymous said...

Norm Kauff killed Michael Jackson. That bastard.

Norm said...

I did it for the children.

NsectionJoe said...

If anyone could report what happened with the vote tonight I would appreciate it. Thank you.

As for the award to Frank Huza being done suggested just as I had spoke of the award or recognition not being given recently, it is merely coincidence. I can assure you that Frank deserves this honor. His diligence and dedication is without question. In fact he recently discovered a serious contamination site, which was addressed immediately and abated in an environmentally sensitive area, thanks to his help.

Thank you again Frank.

matawan advocate said...

Sorry Aberdeener, this is one of the very few times we disagree with you. No raises.

Anonymous said...

The $12,000 raise was approved.

Anonymous said...

What a farce!

Anonymous said...

Can anyone summarize the comments made last night (sorry could not be there as had to attend a Wake). Noting the comment that the raise was passed, it doesn't appear that any one of the Board members was listening to the taxpayers (unless a bunch showed up to support it).

Aberdeener said...

I believe the votes for the three contracts were as follows -
O'Malley - 6-2-1
Glastein - 9-0-0
Irons - 7-1-1

Three members of the public spoke against the raises, all regular attendees of the board meetings. Nobody from the public specifically came to protest the raises. However, there were a number of people present to object to staff and program changes.

Anonymous said...

What happened on the staff changes? Aberdeener, you voted for Glastein too? Huge disappointment.

Anonymous said...

What was the voting breakdown?

Anonymous said...

Certainly a disappointment. Finding $600k in an over-inflated budget, as we all well know, and getting rewarded. As NSection says, there is more to be found (as much as $2mil), so if they find it next year, are they going to be rewarded again?
On another note, why don't they find some funds for a crew to clean-up the football stadium/track. Take a look, it's pretty disgusting. Can't imagine what the other schools that attended games/meets this year thought. Maybe they were saying "All that money that they dole out and yet they can't keep their grounds clean and respectable".

Anonymous said...

Are our taxes going up or is education getting cut. Where is the money coming from? Can't take $12,000 from $0.

Aberdeener said...

The budget already accounted for the raises. Had they been declined, the monies would have gone into surplus and been used against tax increases in the 2010-11 budget.

Voting for or against made no difference budgetwise for the upcoming year.

Anonymous said...

SHAMEFUL IS ALL I CAN SAY AND TO OVERWHELMINGLY APPROVE GLASTEIN WAS A SIN.
THANKS FOR NOTHING!

Anonymous said...

Aberdeener,
You're a schmuck. All you do is bitch about taxes and then you admit that the suplus money would have gone to go against tax increases in the 2010-2011 school year and you STILL vote to squander that money? You're a master manipulator who thinks that your stint on the BOE is some popularity contest and you have to win "approval" from your buddies. I think it is time for someone to start a blog about you. You can dish it out, but can you take it? You should be ashamed about how easily you fell into the quicksand of BOE politics.

Anonymous said...

Again, who voted for - against and against the increases?

Anonymous said...

O'Mally-
Gambino, Rubino voted NO
Delaney obstained and the rest voted for the raise.

Irons-
Rubino No
Delany obstained
everyone else voted yes

Gladstein-
Gambino NO
everyone else voted yes

J Section Ken said...

I attended last night’s meeting and spoke out opposing these large raises.

I support Dr. O’Malley and Ms. Irons they have done fine work over the last year. They deserved a performance increase. However, I could not support, $11,000 and $12,000 pay increases, this just plain irresponsible given the present economic climate. I would have been in favor of the 4.25% that the teachers, custodians and bus drivers are getting. What would be wrong with that? It would still be over $500 a month!

I will be the first support a large raise when a commensurate increase in student achievement is delivered. That still remains to be seen.

The vote broke down as follows:

O’Malley Contract:

Donaghue – YES
Delaney – ABSTAIN
Gambino –NO
Kenny – YES
Loud-Hayward –YES
RUBINO-NO
Ruprecht- YES
O’Connell – YES
Warren- YES

Irons Contract

Donaghue – YES
Delaney – ABSTAIN
Gambino –YES
Kenny – YES
Loud-Hayward –YES
RUBINO-NO
Ruprecht- YES
O’Connell – YES
Warren- YES

Glastien Contract

Donaghue – YES
Delaney – ABSTAIN
Gambino –NO
Kenny – YES
Loud-Hayward –YES
RUBINO-NO
Ruprecht- YES
O’Connell – YES
Warren- YES

My message to the board members who voted YES:

I am sure that some of you were annoyed that I opposed the contracts. My principles will never change based on the individual who occupies the superintendents chair.

J Section Ken

Anonymous said...

Aberdeener has Glastein 9-0? Which is correct? Anon has Rubino voting yes and Ken has a no, can we even get this correct? This is why we can never know anything unless we are there.

Anonymous said...

"In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made School Boards." Mark Twain

J Section Ken said...

Sorry my mistake:

Glastien Contract

Donaghue – YES
Delaney – ABSTAIN
Gambino –NO
Kenny – YES
Loud-Hayward –YES
RUBINO-YES
Ruprecht- YES
O’Connell – YES
Warren- YES

Anonymous said...

Thanks Ken. Still sucks, but thanks.

Anonymous said...

Unbelievable

Anonymous said...

We know Kenny and O'Connell will support anything the superintendent wants because they feel he is their guy and probably promised this big raise when he was first hired.
Delaneys abstention I don't understand - did he explain?
Joey made his position clear on this site even though his credibility has suffered.
Donoghue probably said what her always says, "I'm for the kids", or some other brilliant response. We know where Gambino and Rubino stand.
Does anyone know if Ruprecht and Loud-Hayward explained why they voted the way they did? A public explanation was warranted for such an unpopular decision.

Anonymous said...

If the public understood that we voted on a 0% tax levy increase, and it was a bare bones budget and was cut as low as it could be cut, someone has to explain, were is this new found extra money coming from to support such high raises.

How much more money do these administrators need? When is enough enough? When will it end? What will be the raises for them next year?

I better get another side job to pay my taxes so I can support these raises which the board hands out without thinking about the working person.

Anonymous said...

My daddy taught me that in this country everyone’s the same. You work hard for your dollar and you never pass the blame. When it don’t go your way, Now I see all these big shots whinin’ on my evening news About how they’re losin’ billions and how it’s up to me and you. To come running to the rescue. Well pardon me if I don’t shed a tear ‘cause they’re selling make believe And we don’t buy that here

Cause in the real world there shutting Detroit down while the boss man takes his bonus pay and jets out of town. And DC’s bailing out the bankers as the farmers auction ground, Yeah while they’re living it up on Wall Street in that New York City town,
Here in the real world there shuttin’ Detroit down.
They’re shuttin’ Detroit down.”

Nick in the A Section said...

Unreal.....

And people made comments about the "other wing" of the BOE.

It took ALOT of ca-hone-ees to vote these new increases.

Aberdeener, I thought you were a man of the people? Your people who frequent this blog said -no!!!!

You were voted in to speak for the people - oh thats right, I forgot, you were not voted in... you won by default. You promised to bring change to politics as usual - and I guess your change can be swayed by the people you are surrounded by - not those who have been loyal from the beginning.

Anonymous said...

at least now i understand why you are only going to be a one termer. you might even lose the next time running against yourself.

Anonymous said...

The silence is deafening.

NsectionJoe said...

To say i am disappointed is an understatement. The fact that this district awarded a merit raise or whatever they called it so it seemed palatable to the oppressed taxpayers simply put just SUCKED!

The list of opinions and fact as to why this should not have even been considered amazes me. This situation will haunt all of you for a very long time. And if I hear this bare bones bullshit one more time concerning an educational budget it won't be too soon. Liars is all i can say. So much for the representatives of the people. You are all just hacks all of you who voted for the raises and Glastien YOU SUCK and I wouldn't trust you to walk my dog.

Anonymous said...

I guess $173, 000 for O'Malley was not enough. There is a word for this which is G R E E D....!

Anonymous said...

What a phoney bunch this administration and board is.
To say they want the public more involved is a total lie, which by the way is the only way to fix this broken system, yet the podcast of the meeting won't be until next week. The student recognition part is up for viewing but the regular meeting has to be "edited". What a joke.

Aberdeener said...

Fascinating. Last year I wrote an article criticizing the school board for raising taxes to the legal limit and only got five responses sharing my outlook. This year, I get a hundred comments criticizing raises for the people who cut spending and froze taxes.

Anonymous said...

Correct me if I am wrong but weren't you up in arms a few years back about Kelly and Coren getting thataboy raises? Is what you voted to do here not the same thing?

Anonymous said...

You really have no right to be shocked or "fascinated," Aberdeener. Before the vote, over 100 people posted comments urging you not to vote for the raises. Not now. Not so soon. Not in these economic times. What do you do? You go against all the bullshit you fed us all over the past year or more, and voted "yes."

You are a liar. You can't even play the "dumb" card and state that you weren't aware that the surplus would go to lower taxes for the forthcoming school year. You stated so on this very blog on June 26 at 8:33 AM.

Who's yanking your chain? What do you have to gain from all of this pandering? Dr. O'Malley and the rest would have no reason to doubt a "no" vote. Especially as such a new hire and especially knowing how the average homeowner in this district is struggling to pay their taxes as is.

If they had any balls or consideration, they would have thanked the board for the gesture, but would have declined the raise. O'Malley, you just screwed yourself with regard to parental support.

Aberdeener, you should get off your high horse and stop acting as though you're some "gift" to the district. You ran unopposed by using your bully pulpit, and slithered your way under the wire. I'm glad I used the "write in" option during the election. I've never been more disappointed or disgusted by an individual.

Anonymous said...

Just type "YES" if you think the Aberdeener lied to us. Maybe he will begin to understand what a dissappointment he is,

"YES"

Anonymous said...

OHHHHH YES, YES, YES. Aberdeener continues to use "double speak" to justify giving 9.3 and 6.7% raises to administration who already make adequate salaries during these economic times. In addition, they were not flight risks since THERE IS NO WHERE FOR THEM TO GO, in this economy. Districts are consolidating. Aberdeener, had to vote this way to prove his support to the "MEN" and I use that term lightly. Did you get your estimated tax bill? This budget or next, we are all paying for those raises, Not only this year but every year continuing on. They don't go away and can't be cut. He should have waited for RESULTS and not voted on performance. Let me say it again. YES YES YES.

Anonymous said...

"Flight Risks" - if this is one of the reasons that was considered as so far as raises - then we are a desperate bunch indeed. If they want to go - then go! Why would we want to "keep" people in this district that are "flight risks"?

I say YES. I think we were lied to. The main reason we hired a new superintendent was for results. Based on these premature raises, I don't expect the results to be good.

Anonymous said...

They voted these raises just to be simply anti-barza. They just can't move on. By the way, has anyone actually had a conversation with BA Irons. Think about it.

Anonymous said...

Big mistake voting Ken Aitken off the Board. How do we get him back?

Anonymous said...

Aberdeener,
Last year it was O'Malley who raised the taxes to the legal limit. What a short memory. Now you reward him. In fairness, Joey needs to be held accoutable, but don't forget the others who voted for this outrageous slap in the taxpayers face.

Anonymous said...

The Aberdeener is "fascinated"...So honored to provide you your amusement. What a tool.

Anonymous said...

I would strongly suggest that Dr. O'Malley give our former Mayor Brian Murphy a call and find out what happens when you piss Big Joe off. I thoroughly enjoyed his agnry post just before mine in regards to Joel G. He says it how it is.

The comment that he would not trust Glastein to even walk his dog was killer. Now Glastein can sit in his office and continues to do absolutely nothing. That is precisely what is wrong with giving people tenure. You can't get idiotic scum sucking bottom feeders like Glastein out of the fish bowl.

Did anyone look back and see what the number that O'Malley was trying to negotiate when they first approached him about coming to our district. I am willing to bet it was almost exactly the number he just gave himself. That is right gave himself. The board vote was just a technicality. I agree with MAcAleer you are all hacks.

O'Malley you really better call Murphy and get the 411. Like the Boy Scout motto says *be prepared*.

Anonymous said...

It was board president Larry O'Connell who negotiated this contract. I'm sure O'Malley was promised his $185,000 after one year because they knew it would be hard to get that number past the public the first year. Remember it was this board president who sold us out on the union contract and I'm sure he didn't want his boy O'Malley starting with no contract in place. The taxpayers have lost for years to come when it comes to these people negotiating for us. Amateurs in a world that has eaten them up.

Anonymous said...

We've had a number of good adminsitrators with tenure leave us.

Anonymous said...

Aberdeener has let us down. The other board members have let us down. Glastein, c'mon, a raise. He is lucky to have that job, he was on the same board Mr.Warren killed on a daily basis, blasted at evry board meeting and now oils him up and gives him an increase. Buddies around with him after board meetings! Mr. Warren, you have let us down most because you talk the talk, but don't walk the walk! You loved to critize on the blog for years and now you are part of the problem.

Anonymous said...

Aberdeener,
These people you criticized in your article for raising our taxes to the legal limit and repeating a mantra of 2% when we all knew it was a lie, just got rewarded with huge pay increases thanks to you and your cronies. Whats fascinating is that you can't see the hypocrisy.

Anonymous said...

To quote from Aberdeener's Dec. 18, 2007 Post:

"Plato asked an interesting question – Why are intellectuals so often ineffectual leaders? He answered by saying that intellectuals are accustomed to the light of day while most of the world operates in darkness, i.e. ignorance. Intellectuals, according to Plato, find it difficult to work in darkness.

I disagree. The problem isn’t that there’s not enough light. The problem is that too many intellectuals choose to close their eyes to reality."

Who knew he was prophesizing his future.

Anonymous said...

YES
Signed,
Green and White Villager. J section Ken and I share the same opinion.

Anonymous said...

Now that he pissed off nsecjoe is he gonna get a ticket for his grass being too tall?

JCFD24YRS said...

What is it with the Aberdeener and his grass? This Anonymous idiot has nothing else better to do than lie about the lawn at Joey W's house. The grass is not too tall as I just drove by it on my way home from church. I took the time to check it out having read the so brave anonymous accusation you put on here earlier today. So stop the BS Anonymous and grow up while you are at it. Better yet put your address on here and let us come by your pig sty. You are an idiot plain and simple.

Anonymous said...

Ahhh, how refreshing...another moron who thinks that if you create a fake name on here, it makes you less anonymous, unless your mom named you jcfd, you are anonymous too...stupid

Anonymous said...

Since Aberdeener works off of what he believes to be true, I will also believe that his lawn grass is too long and unless you can find me other grass that is longer in equal housing within similar communities I will continue to believe that his lawn grass is too long.

Anonymous said...

Where is the Asbury Park press on this outrage that was put on the taxpayers of our community by this administration and board of education. They cover all these other towns that are giving 3-4% to administrators, yet nothing when a town gives more than double that. Nsectionjoe we need you to do one of your editorials to this paper that you do so well and let the community know what just happened. If not these scoundrels may have just gotten away with putting it to the taxpayers without them even knowing it.

KarenS said...

Anonymous GRASS MONITOR. You are an idiot! With all that is going on in our area with corrupt and controlled public officials you need to highlight grass that might be a little tall at a time when it has rained 20 out of 25 days. You
anal retentive jerk. Go organize your toothpick collection.

NsectionJoe said...

Just to let all of you know I have sent letter submissions on varying subjects into the Bayshore Independent quite often in the past few years. None have been printed. I stopped writing although I have been told quite often that my past letters were enjoyed and often looked for. I can assure you public officials and others I wrote about were not big fans of my writing. For obvious reasons of course.

Some might say it is because the papers have become more centered and less community informationally based. Dare I say it perhaps more politically correct. I have sent informative letters and even personal correspondence, ideas on articles or subject matters some even to highlight efforts and undertakings in my position for Aberdeen. Such information was sent directly to Greg Bean, to no avail. Not once were they responded to directly. So be it.

It is truly unfortunate that with all that is going on in our area Mr. Beans paper as well as the Asbury Park Press, which has also failed its readers and the citizenry in many communities far too often, has seemed to have changed priorities. These newspapers have not really been informative since Randy Baumgartner who wrote for the Asbury Park Press unfortunately passed away, as well as when Ms. Lauren Jaeger who left the Independent to become a Mom. These two reporters and the then editors supervising at the time were thirsty , driven and looking for informative topics that effected its readership. Obviously and unfortunately editorial priorities have changed. Maybe Editor Bean does not have the money to send his reporters to council or educational meetings, to possibly dig far beyond the pablum that officials and educators feed them, after such meetings have occurred. Let us all look at the Bayshore Independent this week to see if these outrageous educational raises get reported on, and to what if any slant they put on them in these tough economic times.

"Too often ineffective, corrupt or controlled leadership is unfortunately far too often sustained by the inactivity of the media". JPM 2009. Our recent vote for minimal improvement increases may be proof of that. We shall see?

Perhaps it is the commercial advertisers dictating their own needs and desires to these editors, that have brought about what I and others may perceive to be the negative change in print. These two papers are now and for far too long are merely fluff. Just look at the police blotter sections as one example, Aberdeen does not even get a mention in newspaper "Police Blotter" sections, for years now. It would be nice for the public to be alerted and better informed as to what incidents or crimes, might have occurred in our area. Maybe if Aberdeen was listed we could be a better informed and more security minded public. Sure it might just be a car being broken into here or there, or a kid grabbed up for graffiti, but at least we could then know what might be going on in our own community or street. Many other communities in our area routinely have significant police blotter entries, both of minor and major events, in such papers or at least in the once a week wrap-ups.

Like they say "the times they are a-changing". Not for the better if our newspapers cannot keep a community truly informed. Some say print is dead. Maybe they are right. I think the newspapers own staff and supervision may be the root cause for their own demise. Due in great part of course to the changes they allowed within their own structure or just as simply being caused by the subjects that were or were not reported on.

Questionitall said...

It appears Nsecjoe is on vacation. Have a good one. I liked your last post.

Anonymous said...

Nsec once again right on the money. Vacation? They let Joey take a vacation? I bet the Margariterator is working soon. Where is our invitation?

Anonymous said...

The MARSD school board seems to think that the economic downturn in the real world doesn’t affect Matawan/Aberdeen taxpayers. But then again, the MARSD board doesn’t live in the real world. This was more than apparent by their (almost) unanimous vote to give Dr O’Malley and Ms. Irons a 7 and 9 percent raise, respectively (I use that term loosely)
As for O’Malley’s raise - that is disgusting as we haven’t seen results since his appointment. Ms Irons may be doing a good job but 9 percent? In these times when your friends are loosing their jobs and can’t pay their taxes I would almost say the action of the board is insane (it should be criminal).
Those that voted YES for the raises should be inundated with phone calls, petitions, e-mails protesting the vote starting with the board president, Mr. (whatever you want, Rich) Kenny. His two yes men, O’Connell and Donahue should also be put on notice. As a matter of fact, Donahue’s dance was so good I now refer to him as “Mr. Cellophane”. As for Mr. O’Connell, well, he is just another elitist who will drive your taxes up with unreal goals and micro-management style until even he will have to move out of Aberdeen. Mr. Warren should know better as he purported to be a savior of the taxpayer, uncovering all kinds of conspiracies with his “investigative” reporting, etc, what a farce! Mr. Warren is not a friend of the taxpaying public and he proved it by his vote. Neither is Ms. Loud.
For the two holdouts on the board I would say “hang in there.” I admire your stance and can only guess that you were under immense pressure to cave-in. I am disappointed with Dr. Gambino’s vote for Ms Irons. For a moment I thought Gambino was on the taxpayer’s side until he voted for Ms Iron’s raise. I think Dr Gambino is due for an election next April so enough said here.
Now, for the two dedicated public service employee’s, Dr. O’Malley and Ms. Irons, I would like to say this. How can you be part of the community when you are looking to fleece it for all you can get? What even possessed you to ask for such an increase? (Especially when people in this town are loosing their jobs.) What are you going to tell other administrators looking for a raise? What are you going to do when the teachers’ union contract comes up? Are you going to ask them to take one for the team? Why would they? You obviously are not willing to yourself. You have shown your true colors by asking for an enormous raise. You asked for it and Mr. (whatever you want, Rich) Kenny willingly gave it to without so much as a ‘what’?
In April, and every April thereafter, I will remember those that voted YES for this raise and I hope the other overburdened taxpayers of this community remember, also. (Rabbit)

Lime, salt, tequila and island tunes said...

The two holdouts probably were in line with all of the others and held out for elective purposes. Be real. We applied a significant amount of pressure and they bailed. Politics 101 like has been said before. They saw their chance to know the votes were there to approve so they took the road less traveled. Just that simple.

Onto another and more important subject. Did someone say margaritas? I'm in. Have tequila will travel.

Anonymous said...

Margaritas? Where?

Anonymous said...

Mr.Warren,
Do you have an explanation for why the podcast is not on the school website? Before you were on the board you wanted the meetings on the website and in good quality. I hope things are not going to change since some of you may have a problem with the red face test. You know the one that after the public becomes aware of what was done it may be harder to face them without being embarrassed. Editing should not be a factor. We want to know if all of you who voted in favor of these raises are drinking the same Kool-aid.

Play ball said...

And we want to see all of the amendments, changes or whatever may go on behind closed doors that somehow mysteriously NEVER makes it into the TAXPAYING PUBLIC DOMAIN.

Bernie Madoff is not the only one who screws people over. Right taxpayers of Matawan and Aberdeen?

Bernie Madoff gets a 150 year prison sentence and still Norman Kauff remains free?

Life, corrupt polticians and power bosses live like nothing is wrong. Ain't it a bitch!

Aberdeener said...

The first portion of the meeting is on the website. These things usually take a couple days and the meeting only took place on Thursday. I'm confident the rest of the video will be available this week.

The videos are only edited for format, not content.

Ms. Rubino requested committee of the whole meetings be recorded as well and I support her suggestion.

We're also in the process of filling the technology director's position. Once that's done, I'm hoping we can have a full archive of video, minutes, and agendas, rather than just the recent stuff currently posted.

As for me, I believe this blog has far more traffic than the BOE page on the school website and I will keep pushing to keep the public informed.

Anonymous said...

The meeting is on ch 15 tonight and Thursday night.

Anonymous said...

How much money did we save when Mr. Kleinman left. I am willing to bet his replacement comes from North Jersey and will cost us considerably more in salary and benefits. Right Dr. O'Malley? School Board members need to check this one out. It did not pass the smell test even to my teenage daughter.

Anonymous said...

Who is Kleinman?

Anonymous said...

Seems like Ms Rabino is the only one that is in touch with realality when has doing the job you are paid for not enough. I hope to play board of Ed meeting to my boss so he understands that he needs to give his employees a merit raise

Anonymous said...

After watching the meeting, Donaghue stated O'Malley wanted $185,000 to come to Matawan and negotiated with then president O'Connell. That means he was promised the $185,000 after the first year because a minimum was in the contract not a maximum. We where set up all along to pay him that much money without any results. No matter what this guy does they will spin it to make it look like the choice they made was the right one. I hope Mr. Warren is better than this bunch of deceivers and will hold O'Malley to a higher standard that makes him prove his worth to our community.

Anonymous said...

Don't count on that, it seems like he goes out of his way to kiss O'Malley's butt every chance he gets.

Anonymous said...

Looks like you're becoming very unpopular Joey...and it's your own website. Do us a favor and move back to Brooklyn. There was a time in this community when it was just Matawan - the borough and the township. It was a much nicer place before Aberdeen and the Aberdeener existed.

You're a joke.

Anonymous said...

AMEN.

Anonymous said...

Why hasn't the Aberdeener changed the subject? Posted a new entry discussing a completely different topic? I guess he realizes the comments will take on a life of their own anyway. Sorry, Aberdeener, this betrayal will never go away. You'll have to fill out your term like the People's Super Hero Boardmember from now on to even begin to get over this.

LakeBlvdResdnt said...

Kleinman I think was the audio-video guy. Rumor has it he is out and a friend of someone high up in school leadership just so happens to be on the way in. Coincidence?

Did they replace the chorale director yet? They hired someone who does not even play the piano. Looks good in those jeans though.

Anyone find it ironic that O'Malley got exactly what he was looking for from the start with little if any results on which to base such a raise on. Maybe O'Connel is psychic. Maybe it is an O' thing? Like the good O'l boy network. All is not as it seems inside the operational workings of our district you can be sure.

As for Rubino I would put money on it that she was a yes vote not long ago and then she bailed knowing she did not want that salary increase stink on her. After all she is just starting to feel some relief now that Barbato and CZ are DOA.

Anyone miss those two egomaniacs? Not me and mine I can assure you. And Quinn where is that genius? Probably with that other idiot Bob Shea. He is another mental midget on to bigger and better.

WE ARE DOOMED !

Champ said...

1) Are the savings sustainable?
2) Making savings is part of their jobs. Incent them with bonuses instead and make them based on 'SMART' goals.
3) There are still a lot of expensive nice to have positions in the district office.

Aberdeener said...

The savings establish a new baseline so they are sustainable. To achieve the savings, there were across the board cuts in discretionary spending and a reduction in administrators.

I, too, would have preferred a mix of raises and bonuses but, in the end, it wasn't an option and I had to vote for or against the raises.

Given the stories I've heard, I'm not yet prepared to cut the financial office but there may be other places we can cut.

matawan advocate said...

We were opposed to the raises and continue to believe they were unnecessary.

Sorry Aberdeener, we agree most of the time. However, this is not one of those times.

matawan advocate said...

Check out the editorial in the Asbury Park Press today. Apparently, we are not the only ones who believe the raises were unnecessary.

Champ said...

How were the percentages arrived at and why only these three?

Goals and rewards for achieving those goals should both be determined at the start of the year.

$600K is a 1% savings. There is a lot more. A 10% reduiction would warrant those increases. Even that is low hanging fruit in this budget. IMHO.