Freehold Borough council approves SID budget
Two partnership members speak out at recent meeting
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer

FREEHOLD - Borough Council members adopted the 2007-08 budget of the municipality's Special Improvement District (SID) in June, much to the chagrin of at least two SID members.

Larry Sorcher, who owned and operated Al's Bootery on West Main Street for many years, attended the meeting to express his disapproval of the $320,270 budget that was unanimously approved by the council.

The budget is supported by an assessment on properties within the SID.

Sorcher, who still owns the building that once housed the shoe store, said he believes the budget is exorbitant. He also said he was not happy with the way the borough was being marketed in the area. He expressed concern about closing streets for events such as Kruise Night.

"The idea is to keep the streets open," Sorcher said, adding that he worries about the possibility of a tragedy occurring because the fire department would have difficulty accessing streets if they are closed.

Sorcher also asked why events such as the Antique Festival could not be expanded to include South Street and Throckmorton Street. He urged that the SID budget not be passed due to what he believed was a "ballot situation and voting irregularities."

"All is not well with the Special Improvement District," he said.

Joseph Boguslawski, who owns Mr. Cycle Parts, Throckmorton Street, said that out of all the SID meetings he attends he rarely sees any borough officials or police officials in attendance.

Boguslawski said he believes there are problems in the downtown area, including finding damaged American flags at Gere Park, Throckmorton Street.

"For our flags to be handled this way is disgusting and the Freehold Center Partnership (which oversees the SID) does nothing about it," he said.

Boguslawski also said rocks had been thrown through his window and that he found people urinating in the street. He said he had no response from the partnership.

"This is total disrespect for our town," he said. "I clean my property every morning and every night. I know I've done what I could do."

In response to Boguslawski's comments, council President Kevin Kane, who is the governing body's liaison to the partnership, said he had attended the previous partnership meeting.

Jayne Carr, executive director of the Freehold Center Partnership, said all of the partnership members had a chance to vote on the SID budget before it was sent to the council for final approval. Out of about 400 eligible voters, there were 10 yes votes and two no votes for the budget cast by partnership members.

Carr said if the budget had been voted down by the partnership members it would not have gone to the council for a public hearing and adoption. She said she would like to see more members participate in the vote.

Freehold Center Partnership Chairman Mike Page said everyone has a right to an opinion.

"I feel like we also have a right to assess what has been said and act in a manner appropriate for the majority of the partnership," Page said.

Page said all eligible partnership members, about 400 people, are eligible to vote on the budget. He said each partnership committee initially prepares its budget for the year, which then goes to the executive committee for review and then to the Board of Directors.

"The budget is voted on at a general meeting and open to all members," Page said.

Each member receives a copy of the budget and can vote in person or by mail.

Page said each voting member is given a pull-away stub with the name, business and a number on one side. The other side of the ticket is for the person to vote yes or no on the budget.

After the vote is placed into a box the name stubs are kept by the partnership. He said no one can connect the name or number of the ticket with a yes or no vote in the ballot box.

After the vote is taken, partnership officials notify the Borough Council of the results.

The council has the final say and the power to approve or reject the budget. Based on the vote they see from partnership members, council members make their decision on the spending plan.

The vote is monitored by members of the Western Monmouth Chamber of Commerce, not the partnership.

In regard to Boguslawski's comments about the lack of a council presence at meetings, Page said Kane is a strong addition to the partnership and has attended a vast majority of the meetings.

Carr said she went to Gere Park on Throckmorton Street and fixed the American flags. She also notified authorities about the rock that was thrown through the window of Mr. Cycle Parts.