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August 23, 2008 The Downe Truth Almost Every Saturday |
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August 23, 2008 Welcome to the DDT Newsletter! My intention is to update this DDT page at least once a week and have the current version available every Saturday morning. Tax exempt land issues In the same way that a group of Dividing Creek fought o keep the identity of 08315 so must we all get together and fight the issue of continued take exempt land transactions. We can do this with eminent domain. In, Out, Up & Downe The navigation bar at the top of the DDT page or the underlined links below will take you to the page which is specific to the section. Everything is in most recent first order. That way you can read down a page until read something familiar. Sections of DDT WiredUpDowne: This section tells how we can bring high-speed Internet to Downe Township. Unfortunately, there is little interest in pursuing this. I tried. Township: The Township section deals with issues relating to the Downe Township Committee; the operation of the municipal office operation; the positions of Tax Collector, Tax Assessor, Chief Financial Officer, Zoning Officer, Township Clerk and any other positions that I've missed The Township section on the web also covers issues related to the Planning and Zoning Board and the Recreation Committee. Specific issues covered more often and in greater detail are those dealing with tax exempt land, trash and our dwindling tax base.
School Board: The School Board section of the site covers issues related to the Board of Education and all things related to the Downe Township School. Seniors: Downe Township has a high percentage of senior citizens and retirees. Environmental: Environmental issues within Downe Township are covered in this section. DDT Archives: The archives have all the old articles. Some are of scans of the original print edition of the DDT Newsletter. Facts About Downe Township As of the 2000 census:
The Downe Township population density is 12.4/km² or 32.1/mi². The Downe Population density compares to these countries:
World overall population density presently averages 42 persons per km². There are 1,134 housing units at an average density of 8.6/km² (22.3/mi²). Racial makeup of Downe Township
3.37% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 658 households out of which 26.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% are married couples living together, 10.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 33.3% are non-families. 27.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 14.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.48 and the average family size is 3.03. In the township the population is spread out like this:
The median age is 42 years. For every 100 females there are 107.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 96.7 males. The median income for a household in the township is $34,667, and the median income for a family is $39,375. Males have a median income of $35,000 versus $26,397 for females. The per capita income for the township is $17,366. 13.1% of the population and 11.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 21.1% of those under the age of 18 and 14.4% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. This publication is written, edited and paid for by Bernard Sayers. If you think I have over-stepped the boundries of social propriety, distorted facts, fabricated information or have written material which is based upon incorrect facts please contact me via email. See full disclaimer HERE Bernard Sayers |
August 23, 2008 The Burning of Mr. Taylor's Ears My guess is that
School Board President
Stultz Taylor had multiple ice packs on his ears Wednesday night. His
ears weren't burning...they were seared to blackened stumps. People were definitely talking about him. Mr. Taylor and
the Downe Township
school budget were the hot topic of the evening during the Township
Committee meeting on Wednesday night. The meeting
started at 7:00 and
ended at 10:30. Three and a half
hours. I complained to Mayor
Blizzard that we need to establish potty breaks at the 3:00
hour point. I told the
audience that I felt like I was in a FlowMax
commercial. People laughed at my comment but...the tone of the evening was, for the most part, tense and combative...and mostly directed toward Mr. Taylor and things the BOE had done--or not done--over the years. Back to the scorched ears... At issue for
most of the evening was
how we--the general public--feel
and think about issues related to
the Downe Township school budget and position statements by the Board
President. Most speakers
said they now realize, for sure, that we
have been lied to by “the school.” One of the many
things which
impressed me about the meeting was how indignant
and disgusted the speakers were. I certainly
reached the disgusted point when I heard Downe School administrators
say, "This is a bare-bones budget" or their old classic "There is no
air or fluff in this budget" and then I realized they had
enough money left over for tax relief during the next year. For how many
years did we hear that prattle about "air" only to find out there was
plenty of it...and mostly hot? Three ex-Downe BOE members spoke about issues of theirs with the school. If we count Mayor Blizzard in the number of ex-school board members who spoke, the number of is four. Jean Nocon, Rose Reed, Mayor Blizzard and Bernie Sayers spoke. [I feel very lucky to have my name in the same sentence with these ladies, by the way.] We were not the only ones to speak. Most who spoke felt betrayed by the school concerning how money was budgeted and accounted. "The School has lied to us. Simple as that." Confirmation of the lies is buried deep in a letter to Downe Mayor Renee Blizzard from Lucille E. Davy, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education dated July 14, 2008. In her letter to Mayor Blizzard, Ms. Davy writes the following:
“You
are correct that current year funds should not be used for subsequent
year expenditures, and you are correct that the department does not
condone underestimating of surplus or over budgeting of
appropriations. It does appear that historically Downe has
overestimated appropriations and regenerated surplus, but it also
appears that such activity has been reduced.”
I'll translate her words from
esoteric EduBabble into
regular English and reformat it for easier reading:
You
are correct that the Downe school lied when they did the following:
You are also correct that Downe has historically lied when they:
It appears that although they are still lying to the residents of Downe Township they aren't doing it as much. The Bridgeton News
considered the letter to Mayor Blizzard from Commissioner Davy to be
important enough that they printed it completely. Although, given the
very difficult reading within the letter, they probably couldn't figure
out how or where to edit it for publication.
As far as the ability to write an
incomprehensible letter, Commissioner Davy has beaten our own
Fortescue resident, Dave Patterson, hands
down and Dave is one of the best.
August 10, 2008 We do have a number of issues going on in Downe Township, don't we? It's quite amazing, actually. Roughly 1650 people in the township but lots of opinion and lots of public concern. Over the next few weeks I'm going to attempt a large uploading of Downe related documents that you may find interesting. Right now, things are chaotic. One of the things I love about Downe Township is the sunsets in Fortescue. Wow! We are so lucky to have that in our backyard. The file name for the picture above is "JulySunset.jpg" because it is a July sunset on the beach at Fortescue. My daughter and I drove to Fortescue on Saturday and the place looked like the beaches at Ocean City or Sea Isle City. Beach chairs and umbrellas and kids sitting building sand castles. Dozens of cars. It was bizarre. And real scary. To those readers not from Downe Township or those who know nothing of the area, you won't appreciate how unusual the describe scene really is. Downe Township is famous for fishing, eagles and insects. The only reason Fortescue resembled Ocean City is because "the bugs" are not like they were a few years ago. Or for that matter a month ago. The greenheads, deerflies, gnats and mosquitoes have been less over the last 2-3 years than they have in over 50 years. The early Swedish settlers of this area referred to the area as Myggenborg which meant "Mosquito Castle".
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Please forward this page to anyone who lives in Downe Township or who wishes they lived in Downe Township. A DDT Newsletter was originally published in a print addition of one or two pages in the early 1990s and distributed by mail with a bulk mailing permit. The original DDT Newsletter was one man's attempt to change Downe Township's political atmosphere by informing the residents in a humorous way that our township could be administered better to everyone's benefit. See scans of early print newsletters HERE. Downe Township is a very special place to me. I have lived here for 42 years. My daughter attended the Downe Township School. I have every reason to continue to work toward making Downe Township an even better place to live. This new Internet version is now the DDT Newsletter Online. "God put the bugs in Downe Township to keep out those people who aren't serious." The Newporter, David BurnightWrite to us: Disgruntled312@gmail.com Comments to the DDT Newsletter Online are welcomed but must not be anonymous. Publication of email to the DDT is at the sole discretion of the publisher. © 2008 Bernard Sayers
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