I’ve held off on this, but I have to agree with library supporters: The library is too important to close.
Proposing its closure is foolish.
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Dispatches is up — on the proposal to close the Jamesburg library and the problems posed by small towns in a state with too many local governments.
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The Jamesburg Borough Council is considering closing its library.
The reasons, according to borough officials, are a collision between state library funding rules and a new state tax levy cap that limits what towns can spend.
As we’ll be reporting tomorrow, the council is considering placing a referendum on the November ballot that would ask voters whether the library should be closed, the idea being that eliminating the library and its mandated increases will give the borough more flexibility in crafting a budget.
I think Mayor Tony LaMantia and the Borough Council are fooling themselves. The problem is not the library or even the state cap levy law. The problem is the borough’s size and the fact that it is built out, that it tax base is stagnant and that costs in general are rising.
The way to fix it, borough officials constistently say, is for the state to ease of its requirements while also pumping more state money into Jamesburg. That approach, however, would do little more than allow Jamesburg to exist as a shell. Already, borough residents maybe facing life without a library. They have a barebones recreation program run by volunteers that offers a small fraction of the programs offered by their larger neighbors.
The issue, it would seem to me, is one of share services or — perish the thought — full municipal consolidation. While the mayor keeps making excuses to the contrary, Jamesburg residents would benefit from being part of a larger community, from the economies of scale it offers.
Consider this: According to state figures, Jamesburg spends about $22 a person on its library — compared with $78 for Monroe. Monroe and South Brunswick have massive recreation and senior programs; Jamesburg offers what it can.
Failing this, Jamesburg needs to explore either a shared library with Monroe or some kind of contractual arrangement under which the Monroe library would treat Jamesburg residents as if they lived in Monroe.
The library is an important resource — especially when you consider that Jamesburg kids attend Monroe Township High School. Closing the library will leave Jamesburg’s high school kids without the same resources available to their classmates.
There a lot of options out there. Closing the Jamesburg libary should be a last resort and even then I’m not sure it’s worth it.
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Things have been quiet on the MOM line front for a while, but as we reported a few weeks back, a rally is scheduled for Friday in Manalapan designed to get the ball rolling on the train line again.
The Asbury Park Press weighs in today with its standard editorial supporting the project and encouraging rail supporters to turn out in force.
It essentially mirrors our argument of a few weeks ago, when we called for MOM opponents to set up their own counter rally. To my knowledge, however, nothing’s happening.
That’s unfortunate — and foolish. The Manalapan rally will help create the impression of grassroots support that will have no counterweight without an anti-MOM rally.
That could give gives MOM supporters a leg up, as we argued in April:
What is needed is a competing rally, bringing residents of the three Middlesex County towns together to remind NJ Transit that the western route is not only the most expensive but also faces serious opposition.
The key is to remember that:
Supporters are hoping to control the terms of debate. Opponents in Middlesex
County shouldn’t let them.
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Hank Kalet 