I think that it is too much to ask of our town trustees to answer the same questions online over and over. I think that's why most have pulled back. They were spending huge amounts of volunteer time answering questions better asked of paid staff or simply looked up on the towns web site.
Sheena used to engage on MOL all the time. Some outraged SO resident would come here and rant about the latest apartment building proposal and how greedy developers are getting rich with tax breaks and overcrowding our schools. She would write lengthy, highly technical and detailed explanations about planning and development financials, and describe studies showing how few children are added to the M/SO schools from apartment buildings. Really excellent information. The resident would either disappear or accuse Sheena of being in the pocket of Big Development. Two weeks later, a different outraged SO resident would post the exact same rant. Who can blame her for stopping?
If anyone wants to learn about planning and development (not just in SO, but in NJ and in general), looking up Sheena's posts from her early years in office would be an excellent place to start.
I worked with Furry Hearts to do TNR in Maplewood durin the time I also had my own rescue Morgan Le Fay Cat Rescue.
People for Animals then contracted with South Orange and Maplewood to do it but their hope was that residents would participate. They also offered to take over the empty shelter but that didn't happen. They then ended their contract and St. Hubert's took over. They did it all, you called for an appointment, they trapped on Thursdays, spayed/neutered on Friday for free to our two towns, scheduled to deliver. They made a huge difference but they handled 19 towns so they made the decision to discontinue ACO and TNR services to alll 19 towns.
For residents to do it, they would have to get an appointment, trap successfully on that day, and get to Newark (free) or People for Animals, (65 - 80) Hillside in the AM then pick up about 5, then hold the cat through recovery, and at last release. It gets complicated when you find kittens or pregnant females.
I just held our first of the year a few weeks ago that a resident trapped.
Thank you for the clarification. I wasn't aware of St Huberts taking over the TNvR program. That is indeed a major loss.
I used to read Sheena's patient and rational responses to disgruntled residents on Nextdoor with great interest. I wonder if she still posting on Facebook, or whether she stopped that, too.
The Health Dept. would tell you that in Maplewood, St. Hubert's was not contracted to provide TNVR services. However, St. Hubert's employees would help people trap cats without being contractually obligated. Not any more.
Our two towns are fortunate that we have dedicated animal lovers like Morganna dealing as best they can with the community cat population. However, relying on private rescues should not be municipalities' only means of addressing the need for TNVR.
The stray cat problem has been around for a long time. TNvR and caring for established cat colonies were developed as a means of dealing with the problem.
I used to read Sheena's patient and rational responses to disgruntled residents on Nextdoor with great interest. I wonder if she still posting on Facebook, or whether she stopped that, too.
Sheena's on FB frequently, posting important stuff for Villagers whenever there's a need... Sheena rocks.
I used to read Sheena's patient and rational responses to disgruntled residents on Nextdoor with great interest. I wonder if she still posting on Facebook, or whether she stopped that, too.
She still posts a lot, both on her personal Facebook account and her Village President account.
I used to read Sheena's patient and rational responses to disgruntled residents on Nextdoor with great interest. I wonder if she still posting on Facebook, or whether she stopped that, too.
The Health Dept. would tell you that in Maplewood, St. Hubert's was not contracted to provide TNVR services. However, St. Hubert's employees would help people trap cats without being contractually obligated. Not any more.
Our two towns are fortunate that we have dedicated animal lovers like Morganna dealing as best they can with the community cat population. However, relying on private rescues should not be municipalities' only means of addressing the need for TNVR.
Bob Roe was very helpful and had meetings with several of us to discuss TNR. He was an amazing Health Officer. Since John Festa retired around June, Maplewood's current Health Officer Candice Davenport is our South Orange acting Health Officer as well. St. Hubert's ending all of their contracts has left 19 towns scurrying, when there is simply no room. I don't envy Ms. Davenport's position. Most Health Officers do not expect to have major ACO problems to solve.
Maplewood and South Orange had very compassionate ACOs I miss both Debbie Hadu and Dick Ash who I met 27 years ago and loved working with. I still reach out to Debbie. Not many ACOs, are also raccoon rehabbers.
St. Hubert's was not initially contracted to do TNR but after People for Animals ended their agreement, St. Hubert's in time they made it their policy.
The dispatchers at St. Hubert's were very proud of their efforts and spent a great deal of time with me on the phone explaining the process and specific days they were available for trapping.
I've never been clear on who should have spread the information. I thought if they did a mailing, the cost of the mailing would be balanced by the donations they would receive if they included an envelope.
On the other hand the info could have been included in a town mailing. But I told anyone who would listen on social media, how to go about getting help. I've also learned how to make nifty feral cat shelters.
The saddest problem with a swelling cat population is the number of kittens that suffer and even die in the process.
Just for fun go over to nextdoor and look at the revaluation thread. It's a cesspool of ignorance.
There's threads on nextdoor? Whenever I fire it up I just see posts about missing poodles in Paramus.
I haven't seen NextDoor recently, but there was a lot of ignorance in the Q&A on the recent webinar about it. People just do not understand that they are assessing at Market Value in order to fairly redistribute the tax burden. Yes, there may be questions about whether that is really fair given the recent market and, yes, the taxes will go up for more people than down just because the budget being funded goes up every year and people will be comparing to the previous year, but if you apply the adjusted allocations to the previous year before it goes into effect, the process is designed such that the total is the same as whatever total was paid based on the old assessments. A high percentage of the questions in the webinar (to the assessment contractor) were about why our taxes are so high and now they are doing this to raise them even higher.
Anybody who feels like disseminating solid, official information. I can't remember who conveyed the info from Facebook that shredded paper can now be included in the fiber recycling, but it was helpful. Would never have known otherwise, as it's not mentioned on the recycling flyers.
Just for fun go over to nextdoor and look at the revaluation thread. It's a cesspool of ignorance.
There's threads on nextdoor? Whenever I fire it up I just see posts about missing poodles in Paramus.
You need to choose your neighborhoods. As for the cesspool of ignorance that is Nextdoor, informed people can help correct misinformation. It's exhausting and the ignorance is never ending, but if there's any positive to social media, it's that people can share facts with each other. Whether they absorb the facts, instead of hanging onto the misinformation, that's another story.
I've been reading the Nextdoor discussion. For every person who hangs on to their erroneous contentions about the reval, there are multiple lurkers (like me), who are taking in what is clearly correct and finding reassurance in the facts. My one remaining concern is that there are houses in my immediate neighborhood, not that much different from mine, that recently sold for twice the price of most of the other houses. Seems like that could skew the comps, but perhaps they'll throw it out as an outlier.
I've been reading the Nextdoor discussion. For every person who hangs on to their erroneous contentions about the reval, there are multiple lurkers (like me), who are taking in what is clearly correct and finding reassurance in the facts. My one remaining concern is that there are houses in my immediate neighborhood, not that much different from mine, that recently sold for twice the price of most of the other houses. Seems like that could skew the comps, but perhaps they'll throw it out as an outlier.
As long as every other neighborhood in town saw a similar increase in sales prices, it should be wash as far as municipal and school taxes are concerned. Where we may see a rise is in our proportionate responsibility for County taxes if other municipalities in Essex County did not see a similar or higher increase in real property values.
Exactly! For example, this thread about Vlad’s interest in landscaping caught my eye this morning.
ETA: Which is to say it caught my eye which I suppose is what you want in advertising.
I just wanted to post this to see if anyone can beat my score of unread What does Putin want posts.
Since I have never, that I can recall, been to the politics sections- my score of unreads is the current total f posts.
The political hate fest of 2016 and beyond went a longgggggg way in damaging MOL. I greatly reduced my visits here for quite a while, even after the separation of the threads.
Since I have never, that I can recall, been to the politics sections- my score of unreads is the current total f posts.
The political hate fest of 2016 and beyond went a longgggggg way in damaging MOL. I greatly reduced my visits here for quite a while, even after the separation of the threads.
As I said to joan_crystal, bragging that you never opened a thread is cheating. Also, if you think S:AP is a hate-fest, you've never ventured into the Education category.
Today’s Times has a potpourri of suggestions on the hidden problems of living in today’s winner take all mentality. The topic was here a while ago, but then dropped off the radar. Could MOL have lent a hand?
Today’s Times has a potpourri of suggestions on the hidden problems of living in today’s winner take all mentality. The topic was here a while ago, but then dropped off the radar. Could MOL have lent a hand?
I had no idea about the situation described in today's article. How on earth did I miss it? Was it talked about on Facebook, but not here? I would have contributed to this poor, benighted human being's GoFundMe, although it probably wouldn't have done much good.
This is the second time you have misused this unfortunate person's plight for your own purposes.
I reported your comment.
Have no idea how thoroughly YOU CAN misconstrue my intention— I placed todays account on Jamie’s post seeking ways MOL could reach out to those so desperate!
When I read that she was released after a month in jail, alone, in borrowed clothes, and took public transportation to get to a friend’s house, I had tears in my eyes. You, on the other hand, lash out at me. Better cancel your NYT subscription— don’t watch TV tonight, either.
This is the second time you have misused this unfortunate person's plight for your own purposes.
I reported your comment.
I also reported it.
Ell_Cee, there is a lot of backstory to this that involves a particular poster using another persons misfortune to further their distasteful agenda. Ugly stuff.
Sheena used to engage on MOL all the time. Some outraged SO resident would come here and rant about the latest apartment building proposal and how greedy developers are getting rich with tax breaks and overcrowding our schools. She would write lengthy, highly technical and detailed explanations about planning and development financials, and describe studies showing how few children are added to the M/SO schools from apartment buildings. Really excellent information. The resident would either disappear or accuse Sheena of being in the pocket of Big Development. Two weeks later, a different outraged SO resident would post the exact same rant. Who can blame her for stopping?
If anyone wants to learn about planning and development (not just in SO, but in NJ and in general), looking up Sheena's posts from her early years in office would be an excellent place to start.