You may have heard that the Montclair Township Council adopted its budget last night without allocating PILOT money to Montclair Schools
Here is what you can do about it.
SHAME ON THEM!
However, this fight isn’t over. They can move money around in this budget. They can recover funds that are not being spent as fast as expected. They can audit timekeeping in the fire and police departments. They can cover teachers through the summer as a stop-gap measure. There is much they can do! However, if you believe council members when they say they cannot, they won’t do anything. It’s easier that way.
Let’s keep the pressure on the Montclair Township Council because they have the money and have been stealing it from our schools for too long. If they had redirected the schools’ fair share (57.04%) of only the non-affordable PILOTs to the schools last year, they would have received 2.6 million dollars, which would have been enough to keep all the 31 teachers we lost this week.
Bob Russo shared this text message he received from Princeton Councilwoman Mia Sacks yesterday:
“Although this is happening to various degrees around the state, Woodbridge is very far ahead as the model for this. They are the best model and our example. The answer is yes you can. And, imho, yes, you should. And what that resident wrote to you is accurate. The PILOTS are a way to get around the 2% cap.”
CALL TO ACTION
What you can do right now:
Join this newsletter to receive updates and calls to action here:
Sign our petition here.
Join the AWARE in Montclair group on Facebook (for Montclair residents only).
Read: https://montclairlocal.news/pilot-agreements-are-indefensible-letter-to-the-editor/
What you can do this week & next week & the week after:
Email members of the council. Their email addresses are listed below.
Join an action. We will be sending updates as we learn about petitions and student protests. Support them!
Join a debriefing and organizing meeting on Zoom:
Thursday, May 18th, 8:00 pm: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86014883434?pwd=akxjK3hBQnRhWExHVFhGVStGZFdWdz09
Saturday, May 20th, 4:30 pm: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87548532397?pwd=SkRiNDRveDZqdE01UUlvK0p0R2IvZz09
Monday, May 22nd, 12:30 pm: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82687705297?pwd=eEJaRTBIS0llTjRLd2czSFFzVkZFQT09
Organize an action. A student protest, a letter-writing campaign, or something else our endlessly creative students will decide to do.
Save the date: June 13, the next Montclair Township Council Meeting. BE THERE!
Township Council Emails:
Bob Russo rrusso@montclairnjusa.org
Peter Yacobellis pyacobellis@montclairnjusa.org
William L Hurlock (1st ward) whurlock@montclairnjusa.org
Robin Schlager (2nd ward) rschlager@montclairnjusa.org
Lori Price Adams (3rd ward) lpriceabrams@montclairnjusa.org
David Cummings (4th ward) dcummings@montclairnjusa.org
Sean M. Spiller sspiller@montclairnjusa.org