December 7, 2006 - 7:58pm
Press Release

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State Senator Joseph M. Kyrillos, Jr.

BRAC STYLE COMMISSION NEEDS CHANGES

Senator Joe Kyrillos, (R-Monmouth/Middlesex), a member of the Joint Legislative Committee on Government Consolidation and Shared Services issued the following statement regarding changes to a bill that would mandate municipal consolidation.

"Somewhere along the way, the recommendations of this Committee went from ground-breaking to watered down, particularly in the case of my proposed Municipal Alignment, Reorganization and Consolidation Commission.

My original proposal was that this authority would be styled after the successful military base-closing commissions created by the federal government and would present their consolidation plan to the Legislature for an up-or-down vote to compel and enforce mergers. Now, the bill no longer resembles that initial plan.

In order to enact the changes needed to deliver sustainable reform, this legislation should be changed so that it broadens the criteria for member selection; allows the Governor to nominate all members; eliminates the secondary review by the Legislature; puts the recommendations out to a regional vote, rather than giving each affected town a veto; reevaluates the amount of money appropriated for staff resources; and addresses school consolidation.

Additionally, this bill now provides carrots for municipalities that enact shared service agreements. If this bill is going to allow for carrots, it should also allow for sticks for those who reject a positive shared services attitude.

No one should confuse activity with accomplishment. "

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COURTNEY A. FAGAN can be reached via email at CFagan@njleg.org.

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