This is Steve's way of saying, "you want to screw me by voting out my minons? Then I will screw with your way of life and make you sorry".

To translate " I am taking my ball and going home and I am going to tell my mommy on you!"

why do you think he is taking $1......you union guys are screwed......he is doing exactly what he should have done last year.......i guess he listened to scott pezarras and now realizes that was a dumb dumb mistake.......better late than never, but he is a dead man walking (politically)

FiRE SCOTT PEZARRAS

Leave our DPW the way it is! They do a fantastic job in this town. For those who have not had to deal with private haulers, perhaps you do not realize how good we have got it!

Ok didnt Steve tell us just last week or 2 weeks ago he was buying 3 garbage trucks from Rumson? Seriously Steve get your stories stright before you OPEN MOUTH AND INSERT FOOT!

The people who voted yes in April apparently didn't understand how many times this mayor has lied and deceived the voters, especially the public works employees. Just because the referendum passed, doesn't legally bind the mayor from changing his mind and still layoff people, reduce a department, cut hours, etc. It gave him an extra 8.6 million to spend over the cap. There is nothing to legally stop him now from doing what he THREATENED us with in the first place; take aim at our trash collection. This is just another example of how downright SPITEFUL he really is. I can't wait for 2013 to vote him out once and for all !!!!!

First job to be cut, MAYOR.

no the people didn't speak, the senior citizens in this city were terrorized by being told they were going to lose all services and since they already pay low taxes in their developments they didn't care...so yes roll back taxes and cut departments. i really do not need to see two cops sitting in cars window to window chatting up a storm in the parking lot of the funeral home on hooper...if they have nothing to do than send some of them home.

sure, now that point has gone and messed up his and pezarras master plan.....get ready people, 2012 is going to make 2011 look like a walk in the park

could be poetic justice for all the public employee yahoos.....they banded together here at the patch (and elsewhere) and scared, bullied, lied , etc.......to get the referendum passed to save their jobs at the expense of the brick taxpayer (which most of them are as well).......now they may still lose their jobs and be stuck with the 24% municipal increase on their property tax bill ...............OUCH !

What is wrong with you people? Uncle Stevey is no longer Mayor he has elected himself Ruler of brick. It amazing to me that he just does not get it. We the voters have spoken we want our garbage collections and we want our police. What we do not want is a double dipping lying worth less arrogant excuse for a Mayor. He did not offer to lower his salary till his friends lost the election and the dems where going to do it for him. Remember when he took the job in TR told us he does not take medical benefits form the township. What he did not tell you was he gets them from his wife a teacher in Brick. So I guess we the tax payers are paying for them anyway huh Uncle Steve. This vote in town was not a vote for the Democrats as much as a vote against you Uncle Steve.
Morrissey the mayor and council lied to you not the public employees or the TWU. The people who work for this town work hard for the people of Brick. Wait till the next big snow storm or hurricane TRY CLEANING UP WITH NO PUBLIC WORKERS !!

Ya know, I'm old and feeble and can't get out too much. Sometimes make a small comment on here,But to all you constant loadmouth complainers I have one word for you.....RECALL......Who amongst you wants to start it. If you have time to make all these comments, you must have time to start it. Go for it should have no problem gathering signatures.

so sanitation has a union, well, there is the problem...collective bargaining for public employees. not enough money or space to fill in the why..however, apply common sense...starting with unions, rape tax payers without concern for the people or consequence.

if you looked at the ballot a no vote became a yes vote the way it was layed out.So the referundum really failed.

The Mayor knows he has one foot on a banana peel and one foot out the door after his "team" He should do something decent for Brick and resign. He is the most unpopular Mayor this town has ever had, including Scarpelli even when he was in jail.
Time for a recall.

the results of the April referendum election were flawed for many reasons that have been publicly stated. the most obvious one being the greater number of those who voted for the school budget over the highly publicized referendum. the larger turnout and results of the general election was a referendum that the people of Brick are tired of paying higher taxes and were not happy with being one of two towns who exceeded the state cap. The union boss will cry that his people deserve their jobs no matter what the cost to the residents. In my opinion we missed the boat in April. it was our chance to privatize public works/ sanitation and rid our town of the constraints of the union which we all know are preimer health benefits, vacation time, sick time and pensions that the private employee doesn't get in there job or the average citizen can't afford. if privatizing didn't work then we could have then restructured these departments in favor of the taxpayer not the union. Privatizing these departments have been tested in other towns and have worked. Its obvious the TWU official doesn't want to see his people in the private sector and be like the rest of us.

And, we should not be paying someone more than $63,000 in salary, plus the exhorbitant benefits you mention in your post, to collect garbage!!

Prior to any election, the residents receive a sample ballot. The purpose of this is to have the information in advance to make a informed decision when casting your vote. Votes were cast and the decision was made. The Mayor is an arrogant and vindictive man who has lost control of the council. His days are numbered, and before his term ends he will look to take down and punish everyone who did not bend over and kiss his feet. Public works employees have made many concessions every year to keep their jobs, and he is still out to get them. Next time we have elections, take a good hard look at the sample ballot, make your decisions and do not push any buttons to cast a vote until you READ what is on the screen. If the screen is too confusing, ask for help. If you missed something because the screen was confusing, it was nobody's fault but your own!

I think a lot of people are forgetting what unions did for this country. First and foremost, they made the work environment a safe place. They gave people a LIVING WAGE. They inspect our food quality and I could go on and on. What the government wants is for people to go back to sweat factories making $1.00 an hour. Wake up people!!!! Different days, different times. If these idiots in office can make hundreds of thousands of dollars AND leave with a pension, why shouldn't a working man earn a fair and decent wage?????

Knarfie....I would take Scarpelli back any day over this one!!!!!!

To most of you protestors,
You are all leaving the electoral door wide open for Bullet Dan Toth, (R) to be able to RICOCHET in and seek the position of mayor as an INDEPENDENT or even a DEMOCRAT. He likes to change color like a camellia does to avoid his flubs and abstentions. You have been forewarned. He knows how to change parties and has a good teacher who went from (R) to (D) as a Brick council person. Take heed what I'm saying. Keep your eyes open. A lot will happen in a few months concerning the Bullet Man.
Art Sholty (real name)

I think Brick residents are tired of paying ridiculously high taxes and receiving nothing for their money. Time for a change!!!! Hmmmmm, I think I have heard that before.
These politicians are all alike but someone new would be a welcome change.

Mark....that comment was disturbing. EVERYONE is entitled to their opinion!!!! Even
Idiots like you!

The problem is less the unions and more the leadership of this town. Keep the hardworking DPW and get rid of the vindictive mayor!

Amen

morrissey!, not enough space to tell you how wrong you are about unions. Read history, esp. the nineteeen thirties. We at least had a Roosevelt duiring the last Depression, and that is not a knock on Bush or Obama. It is just a horrible, horrible time w/ the politicians, bankers, and powers that be locally, nationally and abroad. At least it ends w/ abroad.

KC read your history !!!!!!!!

Public sector unions were banned by law and for good reason.

JFK lifted the ban by executive order because he saw how they would help the Democrat party.

FDR spoke out against any unionization of public employees for obvious reasons.

Private unions work in favor of the employees, public sector unions can only get what they want by demanding higher taxes. An obvious conflict of the interest of the people

Can they in fact do that?

@JAM, they sre can. The actual vote on the referendum authorized the mayor and council to spend $8.6 million dollars OVER the gov's 2 percent property cap. It does not specifically earmark those funds for specific things. If you read the sample ballot there was not a list or menu of things to vote on. Just the authorization of the 8.6 million over the cap. Nowhere on that ballot was there anything about keeping 29 policemen, and not laying off other municipal workers. If the administration changes their minds on how to budget that money and use it for something else, it's perfectly LEGAL!!!! That was my biggest reason for voting no. I didn't TRUST them with the extra 8 million and i thought the purpose of the funds would ultimately go for something else. My reasoning back in April seems to be coming true since the mayor and BA are supposedly crafting a new layoff plan right now. I told so many folks they weren't to be trusted with that money.

Where was the promise of job security worded in the referendum?

Bottom Line: The tax increase only made it more difficult for people to live and local small businesses to thrive here in Brick. -- This is why people are upset with the current government. It is going to be very difficult for the current administration to dig themselves out of this hole.

On the very night that Acropolis said the newly elected Democratic Council members should roll back the 24% tax increase, all 7 Acropolis Team council vote for a $5.9 million bond ordinance that includes $3.5 million for Traders Cove. It wasn't bad enough that they were increasing the debt but they tried to sneak it through without letting anyone know it was taking place. When Councilman DeLuca asked Scott Pezzarus what the ordinance included, Scott said "the largest item was $650,000 to refurbish the firing range". Absolutely no one corrected Scott. Not the Mayor, not any of the 7 Acropolis council members. Yet the Acropolis Team will put the word out that the Acropolis Team is divided. If that were the case, how come they all voted for this money pit increase to almost $18 million? How come not one of them corrected Scott? Because they are all Acropolis Team players, not Brick Taxpayer team players.
Later Councilman Thulen said there was $10 million in a separate account to pay for this. I don't want to make a comment about Councilman Thulen's state of mind. There is no such account.
This is exactly why taxes were raised 61% in 4 years. Mayor and Acropolis Council, you can't roll back debt!!!

Hey Markie....Waiting to hear from you....publicly!!!!!

Art seriously? You are acting like a spoiled 5 year old. You attack, you attack people you dont even know because they believe differently then you. Remember Art, God said, just not lest ye judged. I feel bad for you, honestly, I cant imagine living through my senior years so alone and filled with hate, May God Bless you and free you from your pain!

Sal Petoia, this is for you especially. The interesting thing about a recall now is that less signatures will be required than what was necessary for the Ocean Ice Palace petition. I believe 15% of the total vote count in the last election is the amount needed.
A recall election is different than the regular partisan election. The election is conducted like a Board of Education election. There are no party lines and running mates are not grouped together. Even in a non partisan election running mates share the same line. Not in a recall.
The candidates for the office of mayor and council, if they are recalled, can get 50 signatures from any member of any party. The candidates draw for positions on the ballot individually. So the mayoral candidate can be A4 and the three council running mates can be B6, C10, and D7.
There is no runoff election. The highest vote wins, even if it’s only 20%.

Roseann, that's just it. There is no concern about available funds for either 2011 or 2012 or the future years. The added debt will increase our taxes above the 2% but debt is not subject to the 2% CAP.
If the mayor decides to layoff people than he will have to cut services and reduce our taxes. The residents want the mayor to go, they are tired of his tactics. A recall would be easy to obtain. The council joins him, then they should be recalled as well.

if the will of the people voted for the referundum why did they vote out the republicians who made this referendum.

Those who have clearly demonstrated they can't be trusted need to go, and we the people should make that happen SOONER, rather than later.