Little Government Returns To Highlands
By Art Gallagher
After being absent from Borough of Highlands Council meetings for much of the year due to her congressional campaign, Highlands Mayor Anna Little swept into the Council’s public meeting last night in order to vote with her Democratic colleagues to prevent police layoffs. Little skipped the Executive Session in lieu of attending holiday parties sponsored by the Northern Monmouth Chamber of Commerce and the Monmouth County Affiliated Republican Club.
Little voted for a resolution offered by Democratic Councilman Christopher Francy and seconded by Democratic Councilwoman Rebecca Kane to amend the PBA contract to accept concessions by the police union in exchange for penalties to the borough should there be layoffs through June 30, 2012.
The police have given up a 4.25% salary increase, retroactive to July 1, 2010, have offered to accept comp time in lieu of overtime payments, and have agreed to join the rest of Highlands employees in having their health insurance transferred from the borough’s contract with Horizon-Blue Cross to the NJ State Health Benefits Plan, in exchange for a no layoffs pledge through June 30, 2012.
Should there be any police layoffs through June 30, 2012, the borough will make cash payments to all members of the PBA for the conceded salary increases and for overtime incurred, under the proposed agreement.
Highlands Chief Financial Officer Steven Pfeffer told MMM that the salary and overtime concessions would save the borough $90,000 in the current fiscal year through June 30, 2011 and another $60,000 in the following fiscal year. The Borough is saving $300,000 by transferring all of its employees to the state health benefits plan, according to Pfeffer.
Republican members of the Council, Frank Nolan and Richard O’Neil voted against the resolution. Had the resolution failed, 3 police officers would have been laid off, resulting in a savings of at least $250,000, according to Nolan.
Nolan will succeed Little as Mayor on January 1st. O’Neil is Little’s predecessor.
Nolan and O’Neil are in the early stages of negotiations with Middletown to share police services with Highlands. Should the two municipalities enter an agreement that has Middletown taking over policing Highlands, the savings to Highlands taxpayers would be reduced by the penalties the Borough would have to pay to the PBA members.
The deal with the Highlands PBA must be ratified by its members and be approved by the Council again, presumably at the December 15th meeting, before it will take effect.
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As a Middletown taxpayer, l want nothing to do with the failed town of Highlands. Atlantic Highlands already has high taxes and should merge with the black hole of Highlands and leave us alone.
Not sure what to make if this. Is she great for saving jobs, or bad for maintaining bloated payroll?
the lady has just the rest of this month as an elected official, after a grueling and exhaustingly good effort at trying to topple a giant, and who endured her hometown loss when her former supporters abandoned both her and her efforts, which, had she won, been totally amazing!….besides winning the long-shot nomination, she once again bested the skeptics, by raising more, doing more, and realizing more actual votes against that dolt, than anyone else, in many years!.. all this, with many “brand-new-to-politics” loyalists, that made the rank and file very jealous, and rather nervous: will THEY show this much enthusiasm next year??.. will THEY knock on thousands of doors, with a mere tweet or quick e-mail, to rally dozens of people in a flash?.. how to make such election magic for themselves, like Anna was able to do??.. take a page out of her book, is my advice!..it was fun to see the “big-whigs” suddenly pay attention, and show up with her at the end, just in CASE she made it, they could say they “were there to help!”..( of course, most had gone the safe-route with the money-lady and the Rumson address, in June, didn’t they?).. also, Highlands is Highlands, a scrappy, in-fighting, horse -of-a-different color kind of unique little town, and, folks, all you who want lower taxes and shared services: you may HAVE to accept regionalization, by choice and agreement, before the state IMPOSES same on us all!.. so, no snooty “selectivism”, it’s unproductive and unkind, and, fiscally, dumb!..good luck Highlands, please be kinder to each other now, and good luck, Anna, in all your future endeavors: you have more guts,focus, and intestinal fortitude than most I’ve ever met in this wacky business!