Tom Bodall has resigned from the Jamesburg Borough Council and will remove his name from the ballot because of this.
Tag: Jamesburg
Unfortunate news
Jamesburg Borough Councilman Thomas Bodall was arrested yesterday and faces charges related to an investigation by the Bergen County prosecutor’s office. According to a release he allegedly
engaged in conversations via the Internet, specifically chat and instant messaging, with what he believed to be a 14-year-old girl. During the course of those conversations Bodall initiated sexually explicit dialog. On several occasions, Bodall transmitted pictures of his exposed penis to the presumed child.
I don’t want to prejudge this, especially since we have not spoken to Mr. Bodall. But I would encourage Mr. Bodall to end his re-election bid and give the Democrats a chance to replace him on the ticket (they have until Sept. 14).
My reasoning in simple: It will keep the charges from being an issue in the campaign. This would allow Mr. Bodall and his family to deal with what has happened and allow borough residents to maintain their focus on that issues that are most important to them.
Bringing the farm to Jamesburg
Jamesburg is considering whether to hold weekly farmer’s markets downtown — on West Railroad Avenue between Church and Harrison streets on Saturdays from July through October — similar to those held in West Windsor at the Princeton Junction Train Station or in Metuchen.
On first blush, this is a good idea. Farm markets become like mini-flea markets, drawing shoppers into town and creating the kind of foot traffic that small towns like Jamesburg need to remain viable.
Police Chief Martin Horvath has concerns, but I just don’t see them as being that big a deal. Chief Horvath, in a letter to Councilman Otto Kostbar, said
he is concerned about safety issues related to shutting down the road without proper police coverage; a staff of market volunteers who pose a liability to the borough because they would not be properly trained in traffic safety; the cost of overtime needed to pay for police; and the collection and cleanup of garbage along the road. He also said residents of four homes would not have access to their houses during the market, which is slated to run from 7 am. to 2 p.m.
”West Railroad Avenue may seem like a lightly traveled roadway, but to the contrary, it is quite a heavily traveled road, especially on a Saturday during the summer,” Chief Horvath stated in the letter. “This roadway acts as a secondary route through town for many motorists, pedestrians and emergency vehicles. Closing down this stretch of roadway will certainly (affect) traffic flow through the borough.”
The letter also said that closing a roadway without police presence is “not permissible” and that that the expense of providing officers at the market would cost the department around $14,400 in overtime, which is “not acceptable in these times of tight budgets.”
These should be easy to deal with. As Councilman John Longo said,
“Let’s find a way to get it done as opposed to finding a way to not get it done,” said Mr. Longo. “We’re trying to bring people into town. Money is leaving Jamesburg that’s in Jamesburg because people are leaving to go to Monroe and East Brunswick and other places to do their shopping.”
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
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Bitter over local school budgets
While a majority of school budgets apparently were approved by voters Tuesday, voters in three of the four districts we cover here in the Princeton Packet’s Dayton office nixed their budgets — Jamesburg, Monroe and South Brunswick — a rarity around here.
We’ll have full coverage over the next two days and I’ll have a column on the flaws in the process, which is part of what I think happened. All three budgets were pretty tight, but voters are angry — property taxes are the issue of the moment in New Jersey, as it should be — and the school budget is the only one they can take it out on.
So, periodically, we get these votes, even in towns with a history of supporting their spending plans.
Read more tomorrow.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
E-mail me by clicking here.
Editorials: budgets, budgets, budgets
We did editorials this week on the South Brunswick municipal budget — too much surplus being used — and the unfairness of the carrot-and-stick use of aid by the governor.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
E-mail me by clicking here.
Hank Kalet 