Jim Mangin

When have I ever not backed up what I wrote with verifiable sources? The question is, will you believe your own eyes or are those eyes suffering from "Santosian blindness"? In this response I'll just address your question on the bond rating. First let me correct my two errors. Kearny's bond rating is Baa3, not Baa. Big difference. Second, Kearny actually has the worst bond rating in Hudson County, not second worst. Kearny is tied with Jersey City for the worst. The bond ratings ranking according to Moody's (2003) is this: Hoboken Aa2 Secaucus Aa3 North Bergen A2 West New York Baa2 East Newark Baa2 Guttenberg Baa2 Bayonne Baa2 Jersey City Baa3 Kearny Baa3 Harrison not rated Union City not rated Weehawken not rated Still don't believe me? E-mail me at jimmangin@aol.com and I'll be happy to send you the article. But, for some reason I just get the feeling you won't. Jim Mangin ps - I'll answer the rest of your "post" in another reply.

QUOTE(A. Realist @ Jul 6 2005, 08:45 AM) from the thread "weekend fire" PS Mr. Mangin was "mistaken " when he said that the payment from NJMC was not received by the Town of Kearny. It was; and therefore is a legitimate revenue of, I believe, around 2 million dollars in the budget. "Thank you, Mayor." Hey, this is great! You questioned the Mayor on a financial matter! I love it! It's like I never left. Congratulations! And the Mayor told you that on the last day of the fiscal year we did receive the $2,250,000 pay-off from the Meadowlands Commission to let them re-open the Keegan dump. Ok, next assignment. Now ask the Mayor how we can we accept a lease payment without a signed lease agreement? (unless he signed an agreement behind closed doors). Ask him how he knows there will be enough money in the escrow account to close the landfill. Ask him why he won't put that money where it belongs - in the Town's Landfill Closure Trust Fund (it currently has about $4 million in it). If he put the money there then we would be sure there will be enough money in the escrow account to close Keegan properly once the Meadowlands Commission has made enough money from it. Seriously - that money should be put away to do the one thing we all agree on - keep the contaminants in Keegan from further polluting the Kearny Marsh. That's the right thing to do. But sadly - it's all about the money! Jim Mangin ps - "legitimate revenue"? It's blood money.

I never said Kearny's bond rating was "junk bond" status. I said it was BAA and that rating is the second worst in Hudson County. You can't spins facts ole friend. As for my offering no alternatives to bonding - wrong again. See my post of Dec 12, 2003 regarding my list of about $400,000 in budget cuts as an alternative to the 2003 bond. And in March 2004 the Mayor and I got in a heated discussion over the 2004 Bond Ordinance. I showed him that we were sitting on $1.2 million in surplus funds from our Capital account that we could use instead of bonding. The Mayor said that the $1.2 million didn't exist. I showed the documents to a Jersey Journal reporter and two days later the Mayor admitted he was wrong. Another fun fact regarding our massive municipal debt - Did you know that every year that Mayor Santos has been in office the Annual Debt Statement we file with the State has been incorrect? In fact, in 2003 and 2004 we had back-to-back mistakes of $10,000,000 each that I uncovered. Do you still think the Mayor has a handle on this Town's finances or our debt? Jim Mangin

The program you're talking about is The Municipal Qualified Bond Act. It was designed by the legislature to help desperate communities (specifically Camden and Newark) by allowing them to pledge their state aid against what they borrow. Creditors did not want to lend to such fiscally-strapped cities. Under this act they are guaranteed their money or the municipality doesn't get its state aid. As for Kearny's bond rating - our BAA rating is the second worst in Hudson County, only Jersey City has a lower bond rating. Remember, in July 2002 we held a bond sale with documents showing how strong we were financially. In August we found out we were really $6 million in the hole (the deficit would eventually reach $9 million). We had to pull that bond sale which triggered a 6 month credit watch by Moody's and a lowering of our bond rating. Still, we continue to bond year after year. The Municipal Qualified Bond Act is expensive. The State makes it very costly for financially-unstable communities like Kearny to borrow - but we borrow anyway. How did we evenutally get close that $9 million budget gap? We borrowed our way out of it. Jim Mangin

Rad, Why does it have to be a solution that the Town can afford? Sufficient documentation exists showing who the responsible parties are and they are the ones that should pay for the closure, not Kearny. The Santos administration will not go after them because then the Town will not receive any money in return. The NJMC will give us money today, if we let them re-open Keegan which then makes money for them. So there two options. First, make the responsible parties pay for closing Keegan properly. If we do that, the landfill stays closed, but the Town doesn't get any money. Second, let the NJMC re-open Keegan and operate it for 10 years, and give the Town $2 million a year (for the 1st 3 years only). My problem with all of this is that the first option was never even considered. Tell the truth, did you even know another option existed? Jim Mangin

While I may not have been the answer, that's never going to stop me from asking the question. In my opinion my 2003 campaign against the Mayor was actually a success. At the time I could see the direction the Town was taking in terms of our increasing debt and I knew it was just a matter of time before the Board of Education jumped on the bonding bandwagon. Back then it seemed I was the only one concerned. Since that election it appears to me that many more people are now more concerned than ever about Kearny's future and our ability to re-pay the massive debt we've accumulated under Mayor Santos's watch. One of my goals in that election was to increase the public's awareness and think we succeeded in that. Jim Mangin

When Mayor Santos took office in 2000 the municipal tax levy was $14,827,243.29. In the last adopted budget the municipal tax rate was $21,511,373.65. This averages out to be about a $1.33 million increase per year. Jim Mangin

In 2001 the Town commissioned Neglia Engineering to study the flooding problem in the Schuyler Avenue section of the Second Ward. That study shows that the flooding problem was caused by the Keegan Landfill. "We have conservatively estimated the potential for storm water in the Keegan Landfill section of the Kearny Marsh to be approximately 100 acre-feet, which is equal to 25 football fields, 3 feet deep. In 1972 when the landfill was closed down, aerial photographs show the landfill changed the course of water which flowed through this area. The previous open system of swales and railroad culverts was virtually eliminated by the landfill. This created a wedge which blocked the drainage from the upland and Kearny Marsh systems, thus raising the water elevation in the Kearny Marsh, which in turn caused flooding along the fringes of the developed areas [shuyler Avenue]. "Storm Water Elevation Study - Town of Kearny," prepared by Neglia Engineering, Jan. 2001 Sheet 24 of 38 I hope this clarifies the cause of the flooding once and for all. Jim Mangin

I don't argue with anyone. I have opinions on a lot of subjects and I'm not basful about expressing them. That's what a forum like this is for. I will always argue with anyone, like yourself, that blindly believes everything the Santos administration tells you about how great everything in Town is. It's not. And if you took the time to look at issues objectively and long-term you would also see that absolutely no consideration is ever given to tomorrow - only today. That's why our gross debt has doubled since Santos has been in office and the Mayor will gladly accept money from the Meadowlands Commission today, and to hell with the fact that our kids will pay the price ten years from now (just like they'll be paying off our bonds from today). It's the same old Santos story. Jim Mangin

You need to check your facts. The 1992 plan to re-open Keegan was the exact same concept as today's. There were plans to include a leachate collection system (like today) which would be transmitted via a KMUA feed to Passaic Valley (like today) and trucks would access via the Bergen Ave extension (just like today). Don't believe me? I'll send you a copy of the videotape of the public hearing from 1992. You say there were "no thoughts to recovering the land," - wrong again. The 1992 plan was to open the area to development once Keegan was finally and properly closed. Today's plan is to turn the Keegan area into a recreational facility once properly closed. You are correct about no money being set aside for the Town. But, the 1992 plan didn't shift the liability for closing Keegan to the Town of Kearny like today's plan does. That means that if the escrow fund falls short (which it surely will) the Town will have to pick up the tab to properly close the landfill. Big difference from 1992 - and one that should be red flag to anyone to Kearny. This plan is nothing more than a short-term infusion of cash with a huge price-tag down the road. A plan, not unlike the decision in the 1960's to allow dumping in the first place, where money comes in right now and everyone's happy. But the long term consequences impact our health and our pocketbook. Right now there are "responsible parties" that, according to the law, are required to pay for the proper closing of Keegan. And those parties have a lot more money than the Town of Kearny. Why should we have to pay their bill? Jim Mangin

Excellent question! Because it is these "others" that Kearny has to watch out for. The ones making the profit will be the NJ Meadowlands Commission. Think about it. The NJMC is planning massive projects for the meadowlands - a new Giants Stadium, the Xanadu project, EnCap golf courses. These massive projects will generate massive amounts of construction debris. The NJMC will then dictate to the construction companies where they are to dump their debris. And they can set whatever price they want. As a result, the NJMC makes enough of a profit for them to stay in business. Remember, the NJMC receives no money in the State budget. They are completely self-sustaining. If the NJMC doesn't make money, the NJMC ceases to exist. We in Kearny need to keep a close watch on who the next Governor appoints as the new Chair of the Meadowlands Commission. Susan Bass Levin recognized a long time ago that re-opening Keegan was the only way the NJMC could stay in business. And she successfully pulled Kearny's elected officials over to the dark side. In the mid-90's Kearny residents fought the re-opening of Keegan. I remember arguing with former Chairwman Harriet Derman at several HMDC meetings. It wasn't until she was finally replaced as Chairwoman that the project was finally scrapped. Hopefully this will happen again. Jim Mangin

Frank's was on Kearny Avenue, just south of Midland Avenue, next to the Royal Meat Market. It was owned by Frank Ianello and his son Donald used to bus tables. I delivered the newspaper there about a thousand years ago. Jim Mangin

Karen's Kloset was owned by Karen Yagiello. I remember boxing at PBC with her brother Stanley when we were kids. JIm Mangin

The electronics store was Parts Unlimited. They moved in after A&P closed. Before there they were located at the corner of Kearny Ave and Quincy, where La Siena is now.

The links on your Environment Page are pretty comprehensive. But, there is one important link for Kearny residents and taxpayers that you should include: http://rothman.house.gov/news_releases/rel_092503.htm People should know - the threat is REAL! You can choose to ignore it if you wish, but hasn't there been enough ignored threats over the last few years? Disagree with Frank Ferreira if you choose, but on this issue he is 100% correct and he has received 0% credit for bringing it to light. Councilman Jim Mangin